The Mental Game
Writing on mindfulness and mental performance for tennis players. Practical, specific, grounded in 40 years inside competitive tennis.
Christian Straka
Pronouns He / Him / His
Email cstraka@usc.edu
Biography
Christian Straka is a Lecturer in the Department of Physical Education and Mind Body Health at USC Dornsife, where he teaches Introduction to Mindfulness and developed the course’s athletic performance emphasis. He is a mindfulness-based mental performance specialist with 40 years inside competitive tennis as a player, academy head coach, and professional coach.
His work focuses on integrating structured mindfulness training directly into how athletes practice, compete, and recover. He is co-founder of MindSize Sports alongside Julianna Raye, developed in collaboration with Unified Mindfulness. He is co-authoring a book on mindfulness and tennis with Mike Bryan.
His coaching has been present at defining moments in professional tennis. He worked with Victoria Azarenka through her junior Australian Open singles and doubles titles and junior French Open doubles title. He served as Mike Bryan’s mindfulness coach when Bryan won the 2018 ATP Finals alongside Jack Sock.
He is a certified Unified Mindfulness Teacher, a trained mindfulness facilitator through the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and a member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.
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- (Fall 2022) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 10:00am – 11:50am, GFS112
- (Spring 2023) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 10:00am – 11:50am, CPA107
- (Fall 2023) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, W, 05:30pm – 07:20pm
- (Fall 2023) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, W, 03:00pm – 04:50pm, THH110
- (Fall 2023) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 10:00am – 11:50am, WPHB30
- (Spring 2024) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 10:00am – 11:50am, CPA208
- (Fall 2024) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, W, 05:30pm – 07:20pm, DMC202
- (Fall 2024) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, W, 03:00pm – 04:50pm, DMC203
- (Fall 2024) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 10:00am – 11:50am, DMC208
- (Spring 2025) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, W, 03:00pm – 04:50pm, KAP165
- (Spring 2025) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 10:00am – 11:50am, LVL3V
- (Spring 2025) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, W, 05:30pm – 07:20pm, THH205
- (Fall 2025) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness – Course Emphasis: Athletic Performance, M, 05:30pm – 07:20pm, SOSB47
- (Fall 2025) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness – Course Emphasis: Athletic Performance, F, 10:00am – 11:50am, DMC110
- (Fall 2025) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 12:30pm – 02:20pm
- (Spring 2026) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, M, 05:30pm – 07:20pm
- (Spring 2026) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 12:30pm – 02:20pm, THH115
- (Spring 2026) PHED 119. Introduction to Mindfulness, F, 10:00am – 11:50am, LVL3V
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- EALC 350: Chinese Civilaztion, 2025-2026
- EALC 350: Chinese Civilization, 2024-2025
- EALC 350: Chinese Civilization, 2023-2024
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Book
- Straka, C., Bryan, M.The Mental Difference: Mindfulness in Tennis.
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- Introduction to Mindfulness with Athletic Performance Emphasis, PHED 119, 2024 –
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- Website, The Mental Game — writing on mindfulness and mental performance for tennis players. straka.la/blog
, 2026 –
- Website, The Mental Game — writing on mindfulness and mental performance for tennis players. straka.la/blog
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Office Hours
- Friday : 8:30-10:00am
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