Can mastering your mental game truly transform your tennis performance? Karen Rembert thinks so, and she’s back for part two of our tiebreakers series to show you how. Get ready for an episode packed with actionable tips from Karen on staying mentally sharp during those high-pressure moments. Learn the art of self-talk, and discover how to maintain your composure. In addition, Karen gives a few advice for levels 2.5 to 4.0!

Karen was a National USTA Finalist in 45 Doubles, a two-time NC State 25 Doubles Champion, and ranked #11 nationally in NAIA Doubles.

Karen also runs the most amazing tennis camp in Costa Rica! Take a vacation and learn from the best coach — Karen Rembert!

Learn More About Karen’s Tennis Camp

Check out her Facebook page at Costa Rica All Inclusive Tennis Vacations, email her at kr.crdg@gmail.com, or listen to our episode: The Ultimate Tennis Vacation.

Here’s a Transcript of our Conversation with Karen About Tiebreak Mental Tips and Best Advice for Levels 2.5-4.0

Carolyn: 0:08
Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Erin and this is part two of our episodes on tiebreakers with Karen Rembrandt. In part one, Karen gave us a few strategies or her philosophy on tiebreakers, but here’s part two. Do you have any tips for not going away mentally? Because I’ve done that before and I’ve gone that before and I’ve gone into tiebreak and I go, I’m going to hit the ball as hard as I can for every single shot and I mean it’s so dumb or I’m tired, I go in tired and I’m super aggressive, even though I know I’m tired. I don’t know.

Karen: 0:39
And I think when we talk about, like, your actual strategy, it’s very dependent on who you’re playing and how you’re playing. If you figured out a way to win in the second set, you’re going to need to. You’re going to need to continue to put that pressure pressure on whatever it was If you were lobbying, if you were hitting short, if you were hitting through the ball you continue that pressure. If you drop that second set pretty significantly, if there was a definite momentum switch, then you’re probably going to need to change your strategy a little bit. We played a doubles match in a tournament in South Carolina and there’s also that debate of do you take a break or do you keep playing? Right, and there is. I have not figured out the answer to that, but we won the second set pretty handily. We took a break because I thought we were going to be a little too hyped up after winning the winning the second set so easily. I was like let’s just settle down and not have that letdown. Well, that gave them enough time to decide that they were going to switch sides. You know, the deuce player played the ad side and they came back and they kind of steamrolled us and so I was like, okay, well, we shouldn’t have taken the break, because then we gave them more time to work on their strategy, we had the momentum, probably, but hindsight’s 2020.

Karen: 1:58
But I think the biggest thing is the biggest thing is for your to answer your question about how do I not just get mad or be tired and and that’s all your self-talk, and I’m a firm believer in your thoughts If you take your thoughts to a stop sign and you have a choice, you can go left and you can go negative and you can feel sorry for yourself and you can mope and you can make it a miserable experience and you don’t give them any credit.

Karen: 2:23
Or you can go right and you can tell yourself she hit a good shot, I made a mistake, I’m good, I’m ready for the next point. It’s your choice, and I think that’s true in life too. It’s your choice. You can go left or you can go right, but you have to practice it. You can’t just say, okay, I’m going to go right, you need to, you need to. When you feel yourself going left, you need to stop and go. No, she had a good shot, I’m, we’re good, it’s you know, it’s six, five, we’re, we’re right in this. We, just we cannot. We cannot get down that slippery slope and not recover from it.

Erin: 3:00
Yeah, I think that’s why tennis is both amazing and frustrating too, because I definitely went left in my match this weekend because I didn’t like and I and we’ve done this podcast enough to know, like we’ve said this a million times, we should go right.

Carolyn: 3:13
I didn’t, no, no, no, it was more like I didn’t.

Erin: 3:15
Like you know, I played against a crazy good slicer. I could not like there was no rhythm, there was her and I have history. There was no niceties, like I was just like not wanting to be in that match but I still needed to win that match, right and for my own ego, let’s just say, you know, I needed to not go left and just say, and she is a good player, like I can, after the fact, give her big credit for you know, she wins a ton of matches because she plays super unconventionally. But man, we were just frustrated with both her and her partner, like emotionally frustrated with them, not even like what shots they were hitting, just like they’re frustrating to play against. And so, you know, after I was like I can give them huge credit for being good players and I see why they win a lot of matches.

Erin: 4:00
I didn’t like the way the tennis was going at the time and so I just went left and was like I do feel like the way the tennis was going at the time, and so I just went left and was like I do feel like usually I can kind of remember a tiebreaker and that one I just think I, I, I had that mentality of like I kind of just want off the court. I want to win it, but I want off the court. You didn’t want to do the you didn’t want to do the work.

Karen: 4:20
I didn’t want to do the work to get off the court very quickly. Yeah.

Erin: 4:24
I wish it worked like that.

Karen: 4:25
I wish we could just wish the win.

Erin: 4:27
I don’t want to do the work.

Karen: 4:28
I just want to wish the win.

Erin: 4:29
I know, and I do get that Like I shouldn’t be in this tiebreaker, I shouldn’t have lost the first set to even be in this tiebreaker and I have to like, keep a some sort of like card in my bag to pull out in those situations and say stop, stop your emotions right now in those situations and say stop, stop your emotions right now.

Karen: 4:47
All of those thoughts are not helpful for the situation. And then when you, when you look back and you go, well, what was I thinking? Why was I? Why couldn’t I just be in the presence and go? You know, a lot of times my self-talk is play a good point. Four balls in be here.

Karen: 5:04
Yes or it is what it is. If I’m not playing well, it is what it is and figure out a way to win not playing well, but be okay with the battle. And I think that that’s a lot of us is. We get tired mentally or physically tired and we start making excuses and we don’t just fight the fight and say okay at the end of the day. You know when it takes me a day to go all right, they played a good match, yeah.

Erin: 5:34
I told Carolyn that this morning.

Karen: 5:44
All the fluff interfere instead of just playing the ball, and a lot of and I’ve learned this lesson. Early is especially if you’re irritated with your opponent. They’re not your friend. There’s contention, play the ball, don’t look at them, don’t put your stuff near them, don’t think about them, just play the ball. But it’s the looking at them that can, can let your thoughts get under your skin especially if they don’t look like tennis players. You’re like what am I doing out here?

Carolyn: 6:10
You know I’ve gone there before. Like I’m really bad at this sport I played them a while ago the same duo.

Erin: 6:18
I played them and the whole time, and that one we ended up winning in match tiebreak. But this time I lost and the whole time I thought they need to take some lessons, like I just kept thinking about their technique and listen. I know Karen’s watched me play enough. I know I don’t look great, but I’ve taken a million lessons. You look good, don’t you doubt that I don’t know, but that was my mentality, that’s what you were thinking they need to take lessons In the first match, this match.

Erin: 6:42
I was just like I got stuff to do. They’re irritating me. I should have played the ball. I remember you saying that too, in Costa Rica, Play the ball.

Karen: 6:57
Then to do with that? It’s not easy, it sounds like it’s easy, but it’s discipline and practice doing that Right, and and it is, and it and it is amazing. I think I find myself, even now, when I’m drilling and doing a drill that I’m terrible at all, I want to do is get out of that drill and do something that I’m good at and it’s and it’s. And that’s when we need to really have the discipline and say, no, you’re doing this drill because you obviously need this drill right.

Karen: 7:20
And obviously, going and playing teams that you know all right, last two times we played were third set tiebreakers. It’s going to be a battle and I’m going to stay in it, and if you’re even, it’s going to. I mean, you play ten times. It’s probably going to be a five and five and five, and then you just hit the, hit the practice courts and work harder next time, but it’s, but it’s. It’s more about not beating yourself than beating them Right. And because if you’re, if you’re battling yourself now, you’ve got three opponents yourself and them Right, and your partner’s looking at you going, do you teach different philosophies or a different?

Erin: 8:00
way? Or I guess the better question is can you give what’s the best advice you can give to the different levels, from two, five all the way to maybe four, oh, to four, five?

Karen: 8:23
Yes. So there’s definitely. There’s definitely different advice and and and I think that I could probably say three or four things on thing. But what I find most helpful if I’m teaching somebody who’s just starting 2-5 is and this is true for all levels obviously have fun. That’s my biggest advice. It’s a game and there’s so much more than just the tennis. But the 2-5s I’m going to say really make sure you learn good technique. It doesn’t have to be great technique, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you can start learning with the right grips and have a decent swing path, you’re not going to be limited into how good you can get. So spend the time. If you take a lot of clinics, you might not get that individualized attention. Spend the time. If you take a lot of clinics, you might not get that individualized attention. I would rather you take one or two lessons a month, but learn good technique and that way you won’t be limited in the future.

Karen: 9:23
For my 3-0s it’s keep the ball in play. You’re going to win that match. If you can keep the ball in play and learn how to play the net, then right. So you don’t want to get the 4-0 or a good 3-5 and go. Oh, I wish I learned how to volley. Learn it. Then the 3-5s I would say start learning your weapons. Start being able to put your overhead away, have a decent first serve. When you get a high volley, make sure you can finish the point. So, learning your weapons. The 4-0s kind of have all of those things. That’s why you’re playing 4-0. So the 4-0 becomes more of a mental being able to adjust your fight, or being able to adjust your fight or, you know, being able to adjust your game plan and not go away mentally.

Karen: 10:21
And when I look at the difference in the 4-0s the 4-0s that have just gotten there and the 4-0s that are going into the 4-5s, they don’t come off the court going. All they did was lob me. You know I can’t play that game. If they had been a little bit better I’d have beaten them right. You know those girls by that time. They know you have to beat all types of players and that’s why you’re playing that level. So many times I hear these girls come off the court and they’re like I just wanted to hit the ball, like well, today wasn’t the day that you were just going to be able to hit the ball. Today was the day that maybe you needed to lob over Sally’s backhand and come in behind it and do something different because what you were doing wasn’t working right. So I think that would be my kind of the glossed-over version of what I like.

Karen: 11:10
But at the end of the day, it’s such a great sport and we have to have fun and we’re not making any money playing so and the friendships and the things that happen. And especially in our town, the tennis world is small and carry yourself well, good sportsmanship. And carry yourself well, good sportsmanship. Don’t argue over line calls, don’t be that person, because it carries with you. And that is what makes people quit.

Karen: 11:43
The game is when it gets more negative than positive and the positives are so big and so fun. And, like I told you, we were just setting up a cup and we got so much rain but we still had and so fun. And we, like I told you, we’re just setting a cup and we got so much rain, but we still had so much fun, and we were out there at midnight. Our last match came off the court at midnight and then we had to be back out at the courts at 730. And we’re tired and but it’s fun, it’s, it’s cause, it’s, it’s the friendships and it’s everything that goes around it, the exercise and the endorphins that it releases and the social. And so that’s my advice to everybody is be good out there, be a good person, be a good person, be a good person.

Carolyn: 12:28
Don’t be a jerk. Don’t be a jerk.

Karen: 12:32
For goodness sakes.

Carolyn: 12:35
Thanks again to Karen for coming on the podcast. We’ve included more information about her tennis camp in Costa Rica in our show notes. We hope you check out our website, which is SecondServePodcastcom. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.