Connect with your partner after every single point. Whether it’s eye contact, a high five, a quick word or a racquet touch. It’s easy to do when you’re winning but harder and more important to do when you’re losing. When partners don’t talk, they start thinking the other is mad at them and get into their heads.

Practice your serve and return to own the opening exchange of a point. Most points in doubles are over in 4 shots, and one thing I see a lot in club matches is that the serve goes in, but the return is missed. Most club players aren’t great servers, so if you can improve your serve and hit a good return, you’re setting yourself up for success.

Hunt down the middle. Everyone worries about the alley, but it’s only 4.5 feet wide! 80% of the balls in doubles go down the middle of the court. People worry about that 20% too much.

Practice your volleys. If you can take high balls out of the air and put your forehand volleys away, you will win games.

Touch the fence. When people are losing, they speed up. I like to remind my players, “Win fast, lose slow.” I like a Brad Gilbert trick to slow things down between points: after each point, walk to the fence or net and touch it to reset.

Win “weird.” If you’re losing a match but not actually playing that badly, ask yourself: What can I do to make them play worse? Can I throw in some lobs and moonballs or take the pace off? I call it “Winning Weird.” You don’t have to play the whole match that way, but it can be a good way to change momentum in your favor.

We’re going to Wholefoods! I like to remind my club players, “We’re not going to Wimbledon, we’re going to Wholefoods!” People can get too worked up about little things during matches like bad line calls and silly errors—and then hold on to them. You must be able to flush these negative thoughts and move on. You can’t let yourself get involved in drama, especially when it spills over off the court. It’s important to keep firm boundaries and not get sucked into others’ emotions.