08/18/2026
"It was never 5 mistakes. It was one you never let go of. Save this for your next match. 🎾"
Present Play
Mental performance coaching for women in racquet sports. Play with the calm you feel in practice. Free 10-Second Reset: presentplay.net/opt-in
Gary Ingram, 40+ yrs coaching all levels, WTA/ATP & ITF players at Van der Meer. 25 yrs directing tennisclubs.
08/18/2026
08/18/2026
Same strokes. Different brain.
Ever notice you're basically a different player in a match than you are in practice? Same forehand, same footwork — but somehow it all changes when it counts.
That's not your imagination. Practice brain and match brain are two different states. In practice you're loose, free, not thinking. In a match your brain starts narrating, protecting, tightening up — and your body follows.
The good news: match brain is trainable. You can teach yourself to bring your practice self onto the court when it matters. That's the whole mental game.
Which one shows up for you more often — practice brain or match brain? Tell me below. 👇
Take a breath. Trust your game.
08/17/2026
We've all been here. 😂 Save this for the next time you need a laugh at your own expense.
08/16/2026
Calm isn't quiet. It's controlled.
People hear "calm competitor" and picture someone passive, low-energy, going through the motions. That's not it at all.
Watch Elina Svitolina in a tight match. The fire is obvious — she fights for every ball. But she channels that intensity instead of leaking it. She feels the bad call, then lets it go in seconds. That's the skill.
The fighting spirit is what makes a competitor. The emotional regulation is what makes it last a whole match instead of burning out by the third set. You need both.
That's what "compete with calm" actually means — everything you've got, without the unraveling.
Who's the calmest competitor you love to watch — and what do you admire about their mind? Tell me in the comments. 👇
Take a breath. Trust your game.
08/16/2026
Your warm-up is lying to you.
Great warm-up, then you lose the first four games. Terrible warm-up, then you play out of your mind. Every competitive player has lived both.
Here's the truth after 40 years: how you hit in the warm-up tells you almost nothing about how you'll compete. Warm-up is about your strokes. Competing is about your mind.
So stop reading it like a fortune teller.
Ever had a great warm-up and then lost anyway? Drop a 🙋 below.
Take a breath. Trust your game.
08/15/2026
5 signs you're playing scared — and don't even know it.
Most players don't realize they've shifted from playing to win into playing not to lose. It's subtle. It shows up in where you aim on big points, how you react to their errors, what your second serve does under pressure.
None of these mean you're weak. Playing scared is just your nervous system trying to protect you. But protection mode is where matches slip away.
Which of these 5 do you catch yourself doing? Be honest — drop the number below. 👇
Take a breath. Trust your game.
08/15/2026
The mistake isn't what costs you the match. Your reaction to it is.
Watch any top player that's mentally tough after an error — the reset happens in about 3 seconds. No racquet slam, no spiral. Just a breath, a turn, and it's gone.
Frustration tightens your muscles, narrows your focus, and makes you rush — so the shot you're still angry about causes the next one. One mistake becomes three.
The pros aren't the ones who never miss. They're the ones who reset fastest.
Take a breath. Trust your game.
08/14/2026
Spent 2 nights courtside at the National Bank Open. 🎾
There's nothing like watching the best in the world up close — the level, the intensity, and especially what happens between the points.
That's the part I study. It's the part most players miss.
More on that soon.
Take a breath. Trust your game.
08/06/2026
4 mental game myths that are quietly costing you matches.
If you've ever been told to "just be more confident" or "don't think about the mistake" — that advice isn't just unhelpful, it's backwards.
Here's what's actually true:
Confidence follows action, it doesn't come first. You can't suppress a thought about a bad shot — you can only redirect it. Playing more matches without a system just rehearses the same panic. And nobody is born mentally tough — it's a set of habits you can learn at any age.
The mental game isn't willpower or personality. It's trainable. Once you see it that way, everything changes.
Grab my free 10-Second Reset — the first tool I give players to interrupt the spiral: presentplay.net/opt-in
Take a breath. Trust your game.
08/03/2026
Watching the National Bank Open this week? Notice something every top player does — a ritual between every single point. Same pattern, win or lose.
That's not a quirk. It's the mental skill that separates the top players from everyone else.
Most club players do the opposite. After a bad point they replay it, tighten up, and carry it into the next one. The pros flush it and reset in about 10 seconds.
The good news: it's a skill, not a personality trait. You can build the same reset into your own game.
Grab my free 10-Second Reset at presentplay.net/opt-in
Take a breath. Trust your game.
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