Dr. Alicia Naser Interview: The Mental Game of Junior Tennis

A few show up again and again:

• Fear of making mistakes. Young players often play not to lose instead of playing to compete.
• Harsh self-talk. The voice in their head can be a lot meaner than anything an opponent might say.
• Tying self-worth to results. A loss starts to feel like a definition of who they are.
• Difficulty resetting. One bad point becomes three because the brain is still replaying the first one. Additionally, lacking the mental tools to know how to reset, respond, or perform optimally.
• Social comparison. Rankings and other players’ results become a constant measuring stick.

None of this means something is “wrong” with these players. These are normal human responses to high-stakes environments. The good news is that they are trainable.

Earlier than most people think, as long as it’s age-appropriate. Young children can learn the basics through play, like noticing how they feel, taking a deep breath, and using simple words to encourage themselves. At this stage, it should feel like a game, not a lecture.

By the time they’re competing at higher levels, the work becomes more individualized and data-informed, looking at how their thoughts, body, and behavior interact under pressure.

The principle is the same throughout. Skills are built through practice, just like a backhand. Nobody expects a player to learn a slice by reading about it.

More importantly, for anyone under the age of 18, parents should also work with a professional so they are advised on how to respond to their son or daughter in specific situations.

Practice and competition are two different environments, and behavior is heavily shaped by environment. In practice, the consequences are low. In a match, there’s an audience, a scoreboard, and a lot of meaning attached to the outcome. Contextual cues matter.

Several things tend to happen at once. Attention shifts from the task (where to hit the ball) to the outcome (what happens if I lose). Self-talk gets louder and more critical. The body gets amped up, and many players interpret that as “I’m nervous, something is wrong” instead of “my body is getting ready.”

The fix is to bring the pressure into practice. There are specific ways of doing this that are effective, of which I’ve developed in my practice and implement frameworks and methods rooted in behavioral science so players and coaches can expect their talent and skills to translate across environments, consistently.

At a young age, it begins with the parents or caregivers. How they are responding to their son or daughter matters, because at a young age, we cannot expect children to esteem themselves from within. Self-esteem comes from how those who are responsible for looking after us respond to our behavior (or performance) regardless of the outcome.

As one gets older and into higher levels of competition and is able to have more autonomy, confidence built only on winning is fragile, because eventually everyone loses. Sturdier confidence comes from things a player can control: effort, preparation, how they respond to adversity, and their ability to execute their routines.

One practical tool is to track process wins alongside results. Did I stick to my routine? Did I reset after mistakes? Did I compete on every point? Players can then say, “I handled that well,” even on a day the scoreboard didn’t go their way. Over time, that builds a belief that says “I know how to respond,” and that belief travels with them everywhere.

All of this, of course, is made more efficient and perfected by working with a trained professional.

First, a reminder: frustration is not the enemy. It’s information. The goal isn’t to feel nothing, it’s to move through it quickly. Even more important, the goal is to tolerate one’s level and ability to handle pressure.

There is no one-size-fits-all, which is why working with someone who is trained can be extremely helpful so they are able to develop and apply individualized techniques and strategies tailored for every athlete's unique needs and capabilities.

Make a list of everything that went well in your last match. When your brain has to choose between focusing on the good or the bad, it tends to lean toward the negative. So we have to give it proof. That proof is even more convincing when you write it down, because it becomes something you can actually see and hold onto. Keep this list as a reminder that you are capable, so any self-doubt gets met with real evidence.

I always start with this: the pressure parents create is almost never intentional. It comes from love and investment. But kids are really good at sensing it, and they often feel it as “I have to win to make this worth it.”

The most helpful shift is to separate your child’s worth from their results, and to say so out loud. Be curious about their experience instead of focused on the outcome. Ask what they enjoyed or what they’re proud of. Let the coach coach, and let yourself be the safe place that doesn’t depend on a scoreboard. Your child should never have to wonder if your mood changes after a loss.

Timing matters as much as words. Right after a tough loss, emotions are high and the thinking brain is not fully online, so it’s not the moment for analysis.

Try: “I love watching you play.” “Do you want to talk now or later?” “What do you need from me right now?” Sometimes the best thing you can offer is affection, physical or verbal, or maybe even some quiet until they are ready to talk. It can also be helpful if your child is one who wants to talk after a match, and they want to vent, just listen without the intent to respond. If you do respond, respond in a neutral tone and repeat back to them what they are saying without offering what they ‘should’ have done or, ‘why didn’t they-s’. For example, “It sounds like when you double faulted, that was really frustrating for you”.

Avoid: Instant breakdowns of what went wrong (“Why didn’t you go to the net?”), comparisons to other players, mentioning the money or time invested, and the car ride lecture. If there are lessons to be learned, they land much better a day later, preferably coming from the coach, with your child leading the conversation.

A few that make a big difference:

• Consult with a professional: It can always help to bring someone in who is an expert in their area to help you be even more of an expert in yours. I consult and advise many coaches on tour to help them with how to respond better to the athletes they coach, how to maximize compete level, ways to set up practice to optimize efficiency, and so forth.
• Reinforce effort and process, not just outcomes. What gets noticed gets repeated.
• Normalize mistakes (while maintaining a high standard). Treat errors as data, not disasters. How a coach responds to a mistake teaches a player how to respond to their own.
• Train under pressure. Add stakes and distractions to drills so competition isn’t a surprise.
• Be consistent, honest, and accountable. Predictable, supportive coaching helps athletes feel safe enough to take risks. Tell players what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

Burnout usually happens as a slow progression and then it hits. Watch for changes from a player’s normal: losing enthusiasm for a sport they used to love, dreading practice, changes in sleep or appetite, more irritability or tearfulness, frequent minor illnesses or injuries, dropping performance despite working harder, or pulling away from friends.

When you notice these, don’t wait. Have a calm, curious conversation, not a confrontation. Look at the schedule and see where recovery, rest, and fun can be added. Make sure the player has a voice in decisions about their training. And if the signs persist, bring in a qualified professional.

Habits are built by behavior and its consequences, not by willpower alone. All behavior is influenced by the environment so it starts with the environment. Often, we think we are acting on the environment but we are not. The environment is acting on us. Thus, it is beneficial to set our environment up in a way that will lead us to engage in the behaviors we want.

In applied behavior analysis, this is explained through the three-term contingency: antecedent, behavior, consequence. The antecedent is what happens right before a behavior, like seeing your racquet bag by the door or getting a reminder that your hitting session starts in an hour. The consequence is what happens right after, and it determines whether the behavior is more likely to happen again. Young tennis players can build habits by arranging both ends.

On the antecedent side, pack the racquet bag the night before, book the same court time each week, and schedule a consistent hitting partner so skipping feels less like an option. Remove anything that makes practice harder to start. This is called reducing response effort, and it can be as simple as keeping a ball hopper and a filled water bottle in the car. Take away cues that pull toward competing behaviors, like leaving your phone in your bag before a drilling session so it does not compete with your focus.

On the consequence side, follow the target behavior with reinforcement that is immediate and meaningful. That might be checking off a practice log, getting specific praise from a coach (“great split step on that return”), or tracking visible progress like first serve percentage or the number of unforced errors in a practice set. Behavior that is reinforced is repeated, and behavior that is repeated in the same context becomes automatic.

Reinforcement also needs to be matched to where the player is in the process. When a behavior is new, such as a revised serve routine or a consistent pre-point ritual, it should be reinforced often and consistently. As it becomes more established, reinforcement can be spaced out and made less predictable, which makes the behavior more durable and resistant to dropping off when rewards are not immediate. Coaches and parents can also reinforce effort and process, like showing up on time, completing the warm-up, and sticking to the between-point routine, rather than only the scoreboard. Tennis is a sport where outcomes depend heavily on the opponent, so a player can do everything right and still lose. Reinforcing the process keeps good habits alive through those matches.

It is also important to be realistic about motivation. Motivation is not a constant, and it was never meant to be. In behavioral terms, motivation fluctuates with what are called motivating operations, which are conditions like fatigue, stress, poor sleep, exams, tournament travel, or a tough three-set loss that change how valuable a consequence feels in the moment. Some days a player will simply not feel like heading to the courts, especially when it is cold, early, or raining, and that is normal, not a character flaw. If a routine depends on feeling motivated, it will break down on exactly the days it matters most.

This is where discipline comes in, and it helps to define it in a more practical way. Discipline is not superhuman self-control. It is relying on well-established behavior patterns that run whether or not the motivation is there. When the cues are consistent, the effort is low, and the behavior has a long history of reinforcement, a player can follow the routine on autopilot, even on a low-energy day. Motivation can then be treated as a bonus on the good days, not the foundation.

Comparison is a very human habit, but social media supercharges it. Everyone else’s highlight reel is being compared to your behind-the-scenes. Rankings can also turn a developing athlete into one who is hyper-vigiliant to how others are perceiving them.

It begins with the parents or caregivers for those under 18. Limit usage as much as possible in a way that does not cause friction or irritability. It can also be helpful for parents to remind their son or daughter that what you see on social media is not always reflective of real life. After all, no one ever posts the bad stuff. Everyone only posts their highlights or achievements.

Some practical protections: set boundaries around when and how often to scroll, especially around matches. Curate feeds so they inspire more than they drain. Use rankings as one piece of information about where you are, not a statement about who you are. And keep measuring progress against your own past performance. The most useful comparison is you versus you, albeit, this is easier said than done.

This is an important distinction. I separate mental performance (skills like focus, confidence, and emotional control) from mental health (conditions like anxiety, depression, or disordered eating). They overlap, but they’re not the same thing.

Normal competitive stress tends to be tied to specific situations, like pre-match nerves or frustration after a loss, and it settles with time and good coping skills. It’s a flag for extra support when things are persistent, intense, or spreading into everyday life. That might look like ongoing sleep or appetite changes, withdrawal, panic symptoms, hopelessness, talk of self-harm, or distress that doesn’t ease even away from the court.

If you’re unsure, it’s always okay to ask a professional. Reaching out early is a strength, not an overreaction.

To players: If your goal is to make it on tour and build a long career, you will not enjoy every moment of the journey. There will be days when you want to give up, and that is part of the path, not a sign you are on the wrong one. Remember that feelings are not facts. Thinking “I can’t do this” is just a thought, and it says nothing about what you are capable of. Do not let your self-worth rise and fall with your performance, because wins and losses will come and go, but you are the one constant. Take care of the basics that keep you steady: get good sleep, drink water, and ask for support when you need it. Asking for help is not a weakness. It is what strong, smart athletes do.

To parents: Remember that you were a child once. Likely, you also wanted to please your parents, feel loved without conditions, and know you could express yourself without the unknown of how your response would be met. Be the one place where your child doesn’t have to earn love or approval. That safety is the best thing you can give them, and it will have a profound impact on the man or woman they grow to be, within tennis, and life outside of tennis.

To coaches: They are a person first, then a player. Two things can be true at the same time: you can care for the person and be firm in your coaching tactics with the player. Find balance between the two and seek support from a professional as you need it. Coaches coach… and who is coaching the coach?