Why getting louder made him calmer
The most counterintuitive change in Carlos Alcaraz this season is also the simplest. He did not try to silence his emotions. He gave them a place to go. That shift, led by coaches Juan Carlos Ferrero and Samuel Lopez, coincided with the pair being recognized by the tour. Their camp has emphasized that his emotional expression on court is not a lapse in discipline. It is a strategy to reset attention in the seconds between points so he can make cleaner decisions under pressure. You do not have to be world number one to use it. You only need a repeatable script backed by process.
Ferrero and Lopez’s impact was validated by the tour’s year-end awards; see the official Coach of the Year announcement. The idea that shows up in every Alcaraz huddle is simple: if you can label what you feel, you can aim what you do next.
What changed in late 2025
Alcaraz closed the season with the top ranking and the most titles on tour. The box score is impressive. The underlying mechanism is more useful to you. In tiebreakers and deuce games his time between points looked the same whether he had just ripped a winner or sprayed a forehand. He followed the same three steps. That consistency inside the chaos of high stakes is a big reason he finished on top. For a concrete example, revisit Alcaraz’s 2025 US Open title, where he played the score more than the ball and kept to the script.
If you want a counterpoint in the same rivalry, study Sinner’s pressure reset in Turin. Different player, same principle: repeatable between-point routines travel under pressure.
The three-step routine you can copy
Below is the exact blueprint Alcaraz’s team drilled. Print it, teach it, and run it in every between-point window.
Step 1: Talk it out
What it is: A short, spoken label for the feeling or the mistake that just happened, followed by a framing phrase that points you forward.
Why it works: Naming an emotion reduces its intensity by recruiting language and executive control. In practice that means less rumination and a faster pivot to the next decision.
How to do it in a match:
- Keep it audible and brief. Five words or fewer. Examples: “Tight arm, shake it out.” “Late on return, shorten swing.” “Nerves up, play heavy.”
- Use a “then” phrase that moves you forward. “Then, cross first.” “Then, through the shot.”
- Face the back wall or your strings when speaking. That visual cue separates the last point from the next one.
On‑court cues you can use today:
- Touch cue: Thumb across your strings once as you speak. It is your reset switch.
- Foot cue: One heel tap at the baseline before you turn for the next point.
Coach’s tip: If your player is young or shy, prewrite a menu of four phrases on their towel tag. Choice beats silence when stress spikes.
Step 2: Breathe it in
What it is: One structured breath cycle to clear carbon dioxide, lower heart rate, and reduce motor noise.
Why it works: A single slow exhale increases parasympathetic tone. That is a fancy way of saying you feel steadier and your fine motor control improves when you exhale deliberately. For physiology and options, see our guide to breathwork that actually improves performance.
How to do it in a match:
- Use a 4–2–6 cadence. Inhale through the nose for four counts, hold for two, exhale through pursed lips for six. Time it with the fifteen or twenty five second clock.
- On serve, place the exhale on the ball toss. The toss becomes your metronome.
- On return, complete the exhale as the server starts the motion. You are calm as they accelerate.
On‑court cues you can use today:
- Visual cue: Pick a letter on the back wall and keep your eyes on it during the exhale.
- Sound cue: Exhale with a quiet “sh” to lengthen the breath without tensing the jaw.
Coach’s tip: If you only have time for a micro breath, try a “2 out, 2 in” cycle. Two counts out through the mouth, two in through the nose.
Step 3: Plan the next ball
What it is: A one-ball plan based on score, opponent tendency, and your highest percentage pattern.
Why it works: The next ball is the only decision you control. Committing to one intention converts worry into action and narrows your focus.
How to do it in a match:
- Use a rule of three. Choose one of three defaults that you have rehearsed.
- Serve points: body serve to jam return plus first forehand to the open court.
- Neutral rally: play heavy cross until a short ball, then change line through the middle.
- Defense: float high cross to buy time and recover inside the singles sideline.
- Clip the plan to the score. Up 40–0, extend the rally and make balls. Down break point, play your A pattern and accept the result.
- Speak it in four words. “Body plus forehand open.” “Heavy cross then line.” “High cross and recover.”
On‑court cues you can use today:
- Stance cue: As you settle, point your front foot where the first ball will go. Your body primes the pattern.
- Hand cue: Show one finger to your strings to remind yourself it is a one-ball plan, not a point storyboard.
Coach’s tip: Do not let players debate the plan once they pick it. The plan is a gate, not a court of appeals.
Building the routine into practice
Here is a two-week progression for juniors and college players. Each session lasts twenty to thirty minutes and slots before or after regular hitting.
- Day 1–2: Script. Write your four “talk it out” phrases, two breath cadences, and three one-ball patterns. Say them out loud while shadow swinging.
- Day 3–4: Pattern speed. Feed forty balls. After every fourth ball, stop and run the full three-step between-point routine, then restart on the next feed.
- Day 5–7: Score layers. Play first to twenty points with serve starts only. You cannot begin the next point until you have spoken your phrase, taken your breath, and committed to the one-ball plan.
- Day 8–10: Stress test. Coach or parent injects a fake bad call at 30–30 and 4–4. Player must run the routine and restart the point.
- Day 11–14: Blind choice. Coach calls out a score and a situation mid-rally. Player freezes, completes the routine, and then executes the next ball only.
If you train solo, film a short set against a wall and use voice notes between points. Say the phrase, breathe on camera, state the next ball, then hit it. You will sound odd at first. Then you will sound like a player who knows what they are doing under pressure.
How the coaches made emotion a tool
Ferrero is more exacting, Lopez brings levity, and together they pushed Alcaraz to talk more about what he felt on court. That surprised fans who expect elite players to shrink their reactions. Alcaraz did the opposite. He made the feeling explicit, named it, then moved. That is not theatre. It is a memory trick that tells the brain “we have turned the page.” The results speak. He stacked titles across surfaces and finished at the top of the rankings for the year. For more match-day applications of this approach, study Alcaraz’s Turin pressure blueprint.
The hamstring setback and why the routine still mattered
Late in the season Alcaraz managed a right hamstring setback that forced a Davis Cup withdrawal. That interruption could have dented his confidence heading into the off season, yet it became a chance to refine the same three steps away from competition.
Here is how the routine adapts when you cannot sprint or change direction at full tilt.
- Step 1 during rehab: Talk it out becomes a daily debrief. After each modified session, label a feeling and a fact. “Frustrated” is the feeling. The fact is something like “completed forty minutes of stable cardio at heart rate 140.” Feelings keep you honest. Facts keep you hopeful.
- Step 2 during rehab: Breathe it in becomes the warmup itself. Two sets of four 4–2–6 breath cycles before band work lowers muscle tone, especially helpful when the hamstring syncs with the lower back to guard and tighten.
- Step 3 during rehab: Plan the next ball becomes plan the next drill. That means prewriting micro goals for the next session. Two more minutes on the bike. Three more forehand shadow swings at full arm speed. Five more split steps on the line without pain.
Decision-making can atrophy when you are off court. To protect it, emulate what top teams do.
- Run video choice reps. Watch ten-point clips of your own break points and pause before the critical ball. Speak your phrase, breathe once, choose your next-ball plan, then press play and see if your choice matches what you did. Keep a tally.
- Practice pattern calls under fatigue. After twenty minutes of low-impact conditioning, stand on the service line and have a partner call out “body plus forehand” or “heavy cross then line.” Set your feet as if serving or returning and mime the stroke sequence.
- Scrimmage with constraints. Play mini tennis in the service boxes only, or green-dot balls from midcourt, and keep the full between-point routine. Limitation sharpens intention.
What parents and coaches should observe on match day
- Time. The window between points is a resource. Good routines take eight to twelve seconds. If your player is racing inside five seconds, their plan is likely reactive.
- Voice. You should hear the phrase. If you cannot, your player probably cannot either.
- Eyes. The gaze should go to a neutral target like the strings or the back wall during the breath. If the gaze is glued to the opponent, the mind is with the opponent.
- Body. The front foot should point where the first ball is going. Watch this in pressure moments such as 30–all and 5–all.
Common problems and fixes
- Problem: The phrase turns negative, like “do not miss.” Fix: Convert it to a direction. “Lift the net by two.”
- Problem: The breath looks forced and shoulders hike. Fix: Ask for a longer exhale and a quiet belly rise. Two slow exhales are better than one strained inhale.
- Problem: The plan drifts into a fantasy. Fix: Force the one-ball rule. Write “1 ball” on the throat of the racket with a removable marker.
- Problem: The routine disappears in long rallies. Fix: Use the between-rally cues. Heel tap before serve return, thumb across strings after any error.
A practice card you can screenshot
- Talk it out: “Late on return, shorten swing.” “Tight arm, shake it out.” “Nerves up, play heavy.”
- Breathe it in: One 4–2–6 breath. Exhale with a quiet “sh.” Eyes on a letter on the wall.
- Plan the next ball: “Body plus forehand open.” “Heavy cross then line.” “High cross and recover.”
Why this routine scales from juniors to pros
The routine works because it targets the only controllable slice of tennis. You cannot control the bounce or the wind or a tiebreak ricochet. You can control what you say, how you breathe, and where you send the very next ball. That is why it steadied Alcaraz in New York and during a marathon clay final in Paris. Copying the routine will not give you his racquet head speed. It will give you his order of operations.
Put it into your week
- Monday: Write your talk phrases. Shadow swing them for five minutes.
- Tuesday: Do ten serve reps with the exhale on the toss, then ten return reps with the exhale as the server starts.
- Wednesday: Play a first-to-twenty game, routine required between every point.
- Thursday: Watch ten points of your last match and run the choice reps.
- Friday: Constraint play for twenty minutes. Service boxes only or crosscourt only.
- Weekend: Tournament or practice set. Keep the routine at every score.
The bottom line: When Ferrero and Lopez were celebrated this year, it was not because they found a new forehand. It was because they helped their player make better decisions more often by giving his emotions a channel and his mind a script. You can run the same script. Talk it out to label the moment. Breathe it in to steady the body. Plan the next ball to turn intention into action. Start with your next practice point and keep it for a week. The routine will feel like a small thing. It will not play small under pressure.