MENTAL POINT: born as a dream, to fulfill a need.
THE DREAM:
“There are those who know a lot about a little and those who know a little about a lot”.
I have followed the first premise from the beginning. I believe it is much better to be deeper than broader, so I have chosen to specialize in tennis in order to acquire as much knowledge as possible of that specific area to be able to provide a high-quality service.
I grew up with a racket in my hands, playing and competing from a very young age and being a tennis coach later on. Tennis has always been my passion and my main motivation that has led me to travel the world and step on a myriad of courts and academies.
I am a sports and clinical psychologist with extensive international experience and a true understanding of what it means to be on a court, to fight a match for more than two hours, to lose a grand final or to travel to participate in a tournament. I have experienced all this firsthand and I believe this has resulted in the huge sense of empathy I have towards the players I accompany today, and it has given me the knowledge to help them overcome their obstacles, work on their weaknesses and enhance their strengths.
Although I have experience in other fields and have received a lot of demand from other sports, I decided to focus my work on tennis in order to become a reference in the “yellow ball” world.
THE NEED:
Recently, elite sport has shown us that mental training is not only necessary to achieve athletic efficiency, but it can also be a decisive factor in the athletes’ performance in any given competition.
Many people have begun to recognize the importance of having in their technical team a mental training specialist who can psychologically monitor the athlete, as well as advise coaches and family members.
It does no longer come as a surprise that good psychological training and adequate preparation to face the competition can make the difference when it comes to obtaining sports results. More and more athletes are acknowledging it and using it, but there are also many people out there who take advantage of this trend and exercise it without being qualified to do so. These questions remain: Do academies and players invest in professionals who know how to do this job? Do coaches believe that they are capable of doing this on their own? Or are YouTube videos, magazine articles and Instagram posts enough to work on the mental aspect of an athlete?
Bloggers, coaches, youtubers, gurus... Too many people dare to talk about motivation, but they don't know how to train on it. Too many people say "focus" over and over, but they don't teach you how to achieve it. Too many people demand a better performance from the athletes on the court without even assessing the reasons why they might be playing below their level.
Of course I am not saying that coaches must have a psychology degree to help their players mentally. Eventhough there are many coaches very capable of this, I would like to highlight the importance specialization and academic training have when it comes to mental training of athletes, and I recommend anyone who wants to train psychologically to make sure they are doing so with the right professionals who know how to help them.
Mental Point will never cease to repeat its motto, which is "before athletes, we are human beings", and when it comes to working with human beings, the responsibility is immense and as a psychologists we have to know how to shoulder it.
I believe that my experience on the court first as players, then as coach, and finally as psychologist —with a BA Degree and a Master in sports psychology— gives me solid grounds to exercise my profession confidently and correctly. I am not exhausted in our knowledge, though. I know that training is neverending, so I am truly committed to continuing growing in my work every day.
The mental preparation of any athlete requires specific training and I am prepared to provide it. I am committed to being high quality professional for those sportspeople who want to put their mental training in good hands.
ABOUT ME
Mar Mainetti is from Argentina and from around the world really. She is 31 years old and since she was 26 she has traveled frequently for work and pleasure. Packing her suitcase —always with the racket inside— has become one of her passions. She has been playing tennis since she was 8 years old and still does with her friends as a hobby. She dedicated her studies to psychology for 7 years, obtaining a Bachelor's Degree in 2014 and later a Master's degree in Sport. She competed representing her university at the national level and while she was studying, she worked as a tennis coach in different places in Buenos Aires. She found a vocation in that profession that took her to Spain, Italy and Australia, where she trained junior players at the Australian Open ‘19. After that experience, she left the courts to dedicate herself fully to tennis-applied psychology.
She is currently the Head of the Psychology Area in one of the most important and prestigious clubs in Spain. In addition, she works as a psychologist at several international tennis academies in Barcelona and continues her work as a mental coach at the Athletic Tennis-Melbourne club. She is a trainer of coaches and psychologists, as well as a sports lover and a food & music enthusiast.
Mar Mainetti - Mental Point Founder & CEO.
