Roger Federer: “Mental Strength is the Key Component to Success”

Although sports relies on talent, good fitness, and physical superiority, the main ingredient in winning matches is mental strength. The 20-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer also feels that the head plays an equal part as physical toughness in tennis.

In a meeting with the former World No.1 golfer, Adam Scott in Miami, Roger Federer talked about the role of mental strength on the course to success in tennis. Adam Scott asked Federer about how important the mental side is in tennis and how he works on it?

Roger Federer revealed that he does not have to work on his mental abilities but it certainly plays a crucial role. He said, “Thankfully I don’t have to work on it but clearly, like an everyday life you know mental is important about how happy are you? What do you want to achieve? What’s your mental strength? Can you endure hard days of not enough sleep whatever it may be with the kids, I don’t know. Losing, how do you handle that?”

The 37-year-old suggested that physical and mental strength are equally important to win matches in tennis. He continued, “So I think maybe tennis is 50/50 because it is very physical but it is also very demanding on the mind but what I like about tennis is that when you’re running around, sometimes you forget about mental stress because you’re focused on your feet moving and you’re focused on your muscles fighting being tired or whatever it may be.”

Roger Federer further added that playing tennis distracts you from mental stress. The Swiss explained, “Then it’s you go back to just playing, just try your best and figure it out and you don’t have much time. So I think it distracts sometimes from mental stress.”

“Whereas I think in golf, you walk up to the golf ball and you’re like long, I’m gonna make it and I am really confident about it or I’m gonna miss it I don’t care how close I am to the hole,” the World No. 3 added.

“Sometimes we feel the same if the match is going slow and are you playing a big server, so the points are shorter and you don’t get into these tougher rallies where it can distract.”

Federer suggested that it depends upon the player that they face but mental strength is certainly the key to success. He expounded, “So I think it really depends a little bit on who you play and how you go about it but sure my word mental strength I think at the very top at some point is a key component to success because doing the right things at the right time and time again I think is the secret to success.”

He continued, “Just that belief in yourself leaving your team believes in your fans but even the place you’re playing in all these things do matter and they decide I think the outcome of the game.”

Roger Federer further revealed that he feels in his subconscious mind if the good things or the bad things are coming and that’s where mental strength helps to get over the line. “Very often I feel like also in my subconscious, I feel it coming. If good things are coming or bad things are coming and this is where mental strength can really carry you sometimes over the line because we don’t feel equally good every single day, nobody does but you have to try to put yourself in that frame of mind that you can handle anything,” the Swiss said.

Roger Federer elucidated that a stronger mind can help you adjust the different conditions in tennis. “In tennis we have wind, we have rains, we have you know different situations, we have to battle through and this is where I think a strong will and a strong mind can carry you through.”