Master your mind with Inner Game
Tennis can be a very mentally challenging game and the Inner Game approach shows you the way...
Let's introduce this term first. Timothy Gallwey wrote his first book »The Inner Game of Tennis« in 1974. He presented us with a radically different approach to teaching tennis (and other endeavors) as was the standard practice. He wrote his second book, »Inner Tennis – Playing the Game« in 1976, which somehow was not noticed as much, but is in my opinion even better than the first one.
He masterfully demonstrated the role of the mind in learning and playing tennis and how in most cases it is our biggest obstacle in reaching our peak performance. He also showed us some drills on court with which we can direct our mind to actually help us.
When one realizes that something in his mind is preventing him from reaching his full potential, he becomes the inner player. Now he knows what to work on. But most of the time – he has no idea HOW to do that.
He does understand though that errors in performance usually take place in his mind before they express themselves in actions. So his goal becomes getting rid of these limitations.
Here’s a short list of these limitations – inner obstacles:
- fear (of losing, not improving, looking bad in the eyes of others, …)
- lack of self-confidence
- self-condemnation
- poor concentration
- trying too hard
- perfectionism
- self-consciousness
- frustration
- anger
- boredom
- expectations
- a busy mind
- …
Although this list may look very discouraging, the solutions are few and simple. Some of them though may not be easy to practice.
The Fundamentals of the Inner Game of Tennis
Self1 and Self2
If we take a moment and listen to what is really going on in our minds, we will discover that there is a constant dialogue going on. There seems to be one voice doing all the commanding and criticizing and some other part being quiet and doing the actions.
We can quickly see that their relationship does not feel too friendly. There is one part, Self 1, which constantly tells the other part what to do. It seems to know everything there is about tennis – how to bend the knees, watch the ball, follow through and so on. And then there is the other part, Self 2, who is a silent doer.
And yet, the Self 1 doesn't trust Self 2 much and even takes things in its own »hands« and starts moving the body, tightening all sorts of muscles and makes the arm go where it thinks it »should« go. Since all the fluidity and timing is gone by now, the »arm« usually mishits the shot and Self1 gets one more chance to degrade Self2.
Trusting the Body
This is the first principle of the Inner Game. Tennis is very complex sport and our bodies (Self2) have a fantastic potential and ability to learn without conscious interference. Without the interference of Self1, Self2 shows such a great talent that we are often afraid even to identify with it, since it is so far from our normal expectations. When we actually experience that once in a while, we call these shots – lucky.
The first skill to play the Inner Game is called »letting it happen«. This means gradually building a trust in the innate ability of your own body to learn and to perform. It usually takes some time but you can start right now.
Here's an exercise for demonstration: stand on one leg. Just stand and »listen« to all the muscles in your leg working to keep you in balance. The more aware you are the more muscles you'll feel and how they move – contract and expand. And yet, this is not what you’re doing consciously. You can consciously raise and lower you arm, if you want to (so go ahead and do it). This is a conscious (Self 1) made movement. But these contractions and movements of the muscles in your leg are not conscious. They are subconscious or made by body or Self2.
So letting it happen means that you let the balance happen. You are not consciously holding the balance – you just want to be balanced. That’s the best role of Self 1. To give directions, goals and then lets Self 2 do its magic.
Quieting the Mind
This is the second principle of the Inner Game. Tennis game gives you sometimes just enough time to consciously think during ball exchange. But the capacity of our bodies to perform at their highest potential is in direct proportion to the stillness of our minds. When the mind is noisy, anxious and distracted, it interferes with the nervous system's silent instructions to the muscles.
The main goal of the Inner Game is to control and quiet the mind so that it pays attention to what is essential. As long as the mind tries to play the game, it will be too slow, make big errors and move the body in jerky movements.
If Self 1 gets absorbed by the ball, then Self 2 is free to perform at its peak. And that is the right relationship between Self 1 and Self 2. Only in this case you have control of your mind, able to use it as a tool when it is needed, rather than letting it use you.
One of biggest obstacles of learning is the constant Self1 activity. It prevents us to experience events as they are. It clouds our awareness and projects our fears and doubts into the event – the flying ball or even before that.
One of the main purposes of the Inner Game approach is to increase awareness of what is. If you want to change your tennis – or your life – the Inner Game approach suggests that as a first step you don’t try to change it, but simply increase your awareness of what is.
Experience is the primary teacher in the Inner Game approach. You can learn everything you need to know in tennis through awareness only of your own experience. But to be able to experience events or yourself fully, you need to develop the art of non-judgment.
Non-judgment
It means getting rid of the concepts »good« and »bad«. As long as we look at shots as good or bad, we lose clear information of what happened. When the shot is good, we try very hard to make it good again. And when the shot is bad, we try very hard to do it better. Can you imagine trying hard to hold balance? What is the best approach to be balanced? To be quiet in your mind and let your body start finding the solutions of balancing you.
Can we achieve this state of non-judgment or are we so socially programmed that there is no way out? Yes, we can and we do it a lot, we're just not aware of it.
Demonstration:
Place a tennis ball 20 feet away from you on the ground and take 5 or 6 tennis balls in your hands. Now throw each one and try to hit that tennis ball on the ground. Just throw the balls one after another and try to hit the ball.
Regardless of the outcome, here are a couple of questions:
- Did you try any less when you missed the ball?
- Did you try much harder when you missed?
- Did you criticize yourself when you missed?
- Did instruct your body what to do for the next shot? (bend you elbow, make a bigger swing, …)
Most of the people say NO to all these questions. And when you play a tennis game?
Do you try less or harder when you miss? Do you criticize or degrade yourself? Do you keep telling yourself what to do next (watch the ball, racquet back …)?
Probably YES.
Let's see what is really happening. When you missed the ball on the first shot (assuming you didn't get very lucky ;)), what did you do next? For most people the answer is: «If I threw too short, I tried to throw further. If I threw too much to the left, I tried to throw more to the right. «
Exactly, and that is the perfect role of Self1. Just to give directions and to notice the outcome – the experience.
And then what happened – did you instruct your arm to move for a bigger swing so that you're able to throw a longer ball? No, you just »let it happen«. It happens automatically. Self 2 did this adaptation. You trusted the body!
And then you threw the next ball and noticed what happened and again let Self 2 do the correction.
The reason why you were able to become Inner Game master in this exercise is because you were in the state of non-judgment. Most people answer that they didn't criticize or degrade themselves. And most people would say that they didn't try harder or less, just adapted to the experience. This non-judgment approach to learning is the fastest way to improvement.
There is no faster way to learn how to play tennis. Our body and brain need many many repetitions to coordinate hundreds of muscles in our body to produce the movement which will bring desired outcome.
But there are hundreds of ways of slowing this down. And all these are made by the interference of Self 1. Either by constant mental activity which clouds our perception of what happened or by actually trying to move the body parts itself – taking the racket back and under the ball, bending the knees and so forth.
Judging one's performance is slowing or even stopping the growth and learning. But even more devastating is judging oneself. The player who decides that he isn't any good will soon be playing that way. But there is actually no connection between our performance and ourselves. You may be a good tennis player, but maybe you suck at bowling. Does that make you a lesser person? No, and so it doesn't mean, that there something wrong with us, when we miss a tennis shot.
We make these connections in our minds and we can also stay away from making these connections. They only hurt us and stop our growth. The Inner Game approach shows this way to freedom in performance, being in the state of acceptance – of the events and of yourself. And when we can make the transition from tennis court to life with these new acquired ways of looking at ourselves and events around us, we experience freedom.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Thick Skin for Success
If you understand what goes on inside most people's minds while they play tennis, you'll realize that you can win matches simply by having a “thicker skin” than your opponent.
Typically, we use the term “thick skin” to describe the ability to withstand criticism.
But in tennis, the term “thick skin” refers to the ability to withstand errors—and our reactions to them.
Pay attention and you'll see that the same pattern happens every time, whether you watch two players just hit for fun, play a match or whether someone is taking a lesson.
Here's what happens: the person comes on the court and starts playing.
He is usually in a neutral state—which means neither positive nor negative or in some cases, he might even be in a positive state—and being optimistic about the outcome of the match.
Sidebar: You may feel slightly anxious at the start of the match but you'll still be quite hopeful that you can win. That's still a positive state of mind...
But after a while, the person starts to become more and more negative and there's a very simple reason for that: he just made more errors.
When the player entered the court his error count was 0. He felt ok or even positive.
But with time he will inevitably miss some shots.
If that player has not mastered his inner game and has not reached the state of acceptance (meaning that he accepts his imperfections as normal and that it's impossible to play tennis without mistakes), those mistakes will irritate and possibly upset him.
And the more there are mistakes—which of course accumulate with time—the more upset that player will be and the more he will react to those mistakes.
He will be losing the ideal activation state needed for playing at peak performance and his performance will of course drop.
The analogy related to “thick skin” would be like this: if someone criticizes you once, you probably won't become enraged and start screaming in a verbal fight. You'll be able to withstand that criticism without flinching.
But if someone constantly criticizes you for a few minutes or even longer, you'll feel very irritated and ready to explode. Your defenses won't hold up any longer and you will mentally break down and start trying to hurt the other person back or start crying.
Some people on the other hand (typically politicians and very successful businessmen) have a very “thick skin” and you can criticize them as much as you want and yet they won't lose their normal state.
The same goes for tennis; if you have a “thick skin,” you can withstand many errors and yet your state won't change.
Of course if you have reached the state of acceptance and you understand the nature of tennis and the imperfections of human beings, then you don't really perceive missed shots as mistakes (that could be somehow prevented) but you perceive these missed shots as a normal part of tennis and these missed shots are simply a part of the statistics of every tennis match or every tennis lesson.
You are simply unaffected by missed shots—which is what we see when we watch Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play and happen to make a mistake. Both are simply unaffected by that mistake (in most cases) since they understand exactly the risk they took when hitting the ball and the realistic probability of making it.
But most people have not reached that state of mind and will react (even if only slightly) to each mistake they make. This negative feeling will accumulate more and more and they will be more and more reactive to mistakes and their level of play will drop more and more.
So if you understand this process and you can observe it in your opponent, you need to focus on being strong and positive when you make mistakes (if you still perceive them that way).
If you have thicker skin than your opponent, you'll be able to play close to your peak play much longer periods of time than your opponent.
So what often happened in my matches was that I was simply playing a match, focused on my game plan, was not too concerned with the score and simply waited for my opponent to self-destruct—simply because the longer we played the more mistakes he made and at some point he reached a threshold where his skin was too thin and those mistakes started to affect him.
That means that he started to make more and more unforced errors and I won many more free points without really doing anything spectacular.
I on the other hand had accepted my mistakes as something completely normal and a part of tennis and was not affected by them at all. They only provided me with feedback as to how to adjust my tactics or aim in the next similar situation.
What you learn by understanding this process and observing it in your opponents is that some people will start to lose their state after just a few minutes while some people will have a very thick skin and will start to lose their state (and become more and more negative and irritated) after 2 hours or more.
The key to winning is to either have a thicker skin or simply reach the level where you accept everything that happens in a tennis match (or lesson or simply rallying with a friend) as something completely normal.
Fernando Verdasco lost his nerves totally against Richard Gasquet in the Nice 2010 Final and eventually lost the match.
Allow your opponent to self-destruct because of their strong negative perceptions and reactions to mistakes and remain strong and unaffected by your own mistakes and you'll win many matches that seemed impossible to win when you started to play.
You'll also enjoy fully your tennis hours on court and learn much faster in your tennis lessons.
Simply see mistakes as something completely normal (since that's what they are—just watch the best players on TV for 2 minutes and you'll undoubtedly see missed shots) and use them only as the feedback on how to adjust and improve the next time you're in the same situation.
Typically, we use the term “thick skin” to describe the ability to withstand criticism.
But in tennis, the term “thick skin” refers to the ability to withstand errors—and our reactions to them.
Pay attention and you'll see that the same pattern happens every time, whether you watch two players just hit for fun, play a match or whether someone is taking a lesson.
Here's what happens: the person comes on the court and starts playing.
He is usually in a neutral state—which means neither positive nor negative or in some cases, he might even be in a positive state—and being optimistic about the outcome of the match.
Sidebar: You may feel slightly anxious at the start of the match but you'll still be quite hopeful that you can win. That's still a positive state of mind...
But after a while, the person starts to become more and more negative and there's a very simple reason for that: he just made more errors.
When the player entered the court his error count was 0. He felt ok or even positive.
But with time he will inevitably miss some shots.
If that player has not mastered his inner game and has not reached the state of acceptance (meaning that he accepts his imperfections as normal and that it's impossible to play tennis without mistakes), those mistakes will irritate and possibly upset him.
And the more there are mistakes—which of course accumulate with time—the more upset that player will be and the more he will react to those mistakes.
He will be losing the ideal activation state needed for playing at peak performance and his performance will of course drop.
The analogy related to “thick skin” would be like this: if someone criticizes you once, you probably won't become enraged and start screaming in a verbal fight. You'll be able to withstand that criticism without flinching.
But if someone constantly criticizes you for a few minutes or even longer, you'll feel very irritated and ready to explode. Your defenses won't hold up any longer and you will mentally break down and start trying to hurt the other person back or start crying.
Some people on the other hand (typically politicians and very successful businessmen) have a very “thick skin” and you can criticize them as much as you want and yet they won't lose their normal state.
The same goes for tennis; if you have a “thick skin,” you can withstand many errors and yet your state won't change.
Of course if you have reached the state of acceptance and you understand the nature of tennis and the imperfections of human beings, then you don't really perceive missed shots as mistakes (that could be somehow prevented) but you perceive these missed shots as a normal part of tennis and these missed shots are simply a part of the statistics of every tennis match or every tennis lesson.
You are simply unaffected by missed shots—which is what we see when we watch Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play and happen to make a mistake. Both are simply unaffected by that mistake (in most cases) since they understand exactly the risk they took when hitting the ball and the realistic probability of making it.
But most people have not reached that state of mind and will react (even if only slightly) to each mistake they make. This negative feeling will accumulate more and more and they will be more and more reactive to mistakes and their level of play will drop more and more.
So if you understand this process and you can observe it in your opponent, you need to focus on being strong and positive when you make mistakes (if you still perceive them that way).
If you have thicker skin than your opponent, you'll be able to play close to your peak play much longer periods of time than your opponent.
So what often happened in my matches was that I was simply playing a match, focused on my game plan, was not too concerned with the score and simply waited for my opponent to self-destruct—simply because the longer we played the more mistakes he made and at some point he reached a threshold where his skin was too thin and those mistakes started to affect him.
That means that he started to make more and more unforced errors and I won many more free points without really doing anything spectacular.
I on the other hand had accepted my mistakes as something completely normal and a part of tennis and was not affected by them at all. They only provided me with feedback as to how to adjust my tactics or aim in the next similar situation.
What you learn by understanding this process and observing it in your opponents is that some people will start to lose their state after just a few minutes while some people will have a very thick skin and will start to lose their state (and become more and more negative and irritated) after 2 hours or more.
The key to winning is to either have a thicker skin or simply reach the level where you accept everything that happens in a tennis match (or lesson or simply rallying with a friend) as something completely normal.
Fernando Verdasco lost his nerves totally against Richard Gasquet in the Nice 2010 Final and eventually lost the match.
Allow your opponent to self-destruct because of their strong negative perceptions and reactions to mistakes and remain strong and unaffected by your own mistakes and you'll win many matches that seemed impossible to win when you started to play.
You'll also enjoy fully your tennis hours on court and learn much faster in your tennis lessons.
Simply see mistakes as something completely normal (since that's what they are—just watch the best players on TV for 2 minutes and you'll undoubtedly see missed shots) and use them only as the feedback on how to adjust and improve the next time you're in the same situation.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tai chi tennis
1. Becoming centred through Tai Chi
Centering yourself or becoming grounded is a key focus of Tai Chi. Some proponents encourage you to adopt the "horse" position when you practise this martial art and this is designed to center yourself and let your energy flow freely.
When you are centered you can focus more strongly and for longer periods. Your mind is on-the-job and you are concentrating on your tennis game and tennis strokes.
You will often see the momentum shift in a game of tennis when one player loses focus, even when they are winning. This can happen to even the elite players. They may be thrown off-centre by a bad line call or a poor shot they played at a critical time. The very top players, like Federer, have developed ways to stay centred and maintain their focus over very long periods.
Tai Chi is very important for centering and maintaining focus - make it a part of your inner game of tennis.
2. Improve your balance through Tai Chi
Tai Chi is considered a moving form of meditation and focuses very much on achieving balance and awareness of balance.
You have probably seen groups of people use the slow motion movements in the local park or at the seaside and observed how well balanced they are when doing movements on one leg.
Tennis requires a lot of balance, getting yourself set for the next stroke. You will hear tennis commentators frequently remark, 'It was a poor shot because he was off-balance when he hit the ball.'
If you have a sore ankle or leg, you will find that it is hard to do volleys properly because you tend to protect the sore leg by taking your weight off it. As a result, you do not transfer your weight properly when you play your volley. The same applies for serving and groundstroke in tennis.
If you take up Tai Chi, even for ten minutes a day, you will be able to dramatically improve your balance and your tennis game.
Tai Chi has lots of benefits including stress release, improved breathing and circulation, and a healthier heart. The desire to improve your tennis game could provide the perfect motivation to adopt this martial art. In the process you will improve both your balance and your ability to stay focused and, as a result, enjoy your tennis game a lot more.
If you need taichi and zen tennis training sessions you can reach me at 4357640969 ir email me at badri007@gmail.com.
Centering yourself or becoming grounded is a key focus of Tai Chi. Some proponents encourage you to adopt the "horse" position when you practise this martial art and this is designed to center yourself and let your energy flow freely.
When you are centered you can focus more strongly and for longer periods. Your mind is on-the-job and you are concentrating on your tennis game and tennis strokes.
You will often see the momentum shift in a game of tennis when one player loses focus, even when they are winning. This can happen to even the elite players. They may be thrown off-centre by a bad line call or a poor shot they played at a critical time. The very top players, like Federer, have developed ways to stay centred and maintain their focus over very long periods.
Tai Chi is very important for centering and maintaining focus - make it a part of your inner game of tennis.
2. Improve your balance through Tai Chi
Tai Chi is considered a moving form of meditation and focuses very much on achieving balance and awareness of balance.
You have probably seen groups of people use the slow motion movements in the local park or at the seaside and observed how well balanced they are when doing movements on one leg.
Tennis requires a lot of balance, getting yourself set for the next stroke. You will hear tennis commentators frequently remark, 'It was a poor shot because he was off-balance when he hit the ball.'
If you have a sore ankle or leg, you will find that it is hard to do volleys properly because you tend to protect the sore leg by taking your weight off it. As a result, you do not transfer your weight properly when you play your volley. The same applies for serving and groundstroke in tennis.
If you take up Tai Chi, even for ten minutes a day, you will be able to dramatically improve your balance and your tennis game.
Tai Chi has lots of benefits including stress release, improved breathing and circulation, and a healthier heart. The desire to improve your tennis game could provide the perfect motivation to adopt this martial art. In the process you will improve both your balance and your ability to stay focused and, as a result, enjoy your tennis game a lot more.
If you need taichi and zen tennis training sessions you can reach me at 4357640969 ir email me at badri007@gmail.com.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Zennis Workshop
Coach : Badri Narayanan (USPTA Certified Professional Tennis Coach)
Contact information: Badri Narayanan: Cellular (435)764-0969. Email: badri007@gmail.com
BADRI NARAYANAN, has played tennis for the past 18 years and has competed at the National and International Level in India, Middle East and other parts of
Workshop duration: Half a Day work shops
Workshop details:
a. First 15 minutes of the day include, warming up, putting up a sweat. getting your muscles all limbered out for movement.
b. Zennis-Chi exercises : 30 minutes to 1 hour: Here the primary focus will be on generating the chi force ( natural power) , centeredness required for all strokes in tennis.
c. Zennis Forms : 1 hr: Incorporating slow Taichi Movements into Forehand, Backhand, Volleys, Over heads and Serves and feeling the chi force in each stroke.Focus here is on the breathing and and balance and weight shift/footwork
d. Zennis Attitude: 30 mins where I will talk about what is required to be Zen Tennis Master, The Pitfalls and the Jewels.
e: Zennis action on court: 1 hr: Application of Zennis Forms/ Techniques on Court. Here we learn to apply the lessons we learned in the forms on the court. with the primary focus on breathing and balance.
f, Zennis Exercises /Fun : 1hr: Here we will incorporate some creative ways of playing tennis, test individuals on centeredness & skills learned by creating distractions, creative ways of expressing emotion when things don’t go well on court, ambidextrous training for tennis, group discussions etc.
LEARN TENNIS FROM A CERTIFIED TENNIS Pro AND COACH, ZENNIS, TAICHI AND YOGA PRACTITIONER….
NO NEED OF SEPARATE CLASSES…..
BUILT IN WITH EVERY SESSION:
---------Comprehensive training on stroke production, Footwork, serving techniques, volleys, strategies, court coverage etc.
---------Mental training on focus, concentration, energy control, attitude with dedicated sessions for mental stillness
---------Cross training on Fitness, speed and agility to help both improve movement both in your Tennis and other sports
---------Zennis training on balance, breathing, facing internal & external challenges, fear and anxiety and overcoming them
JUNIOR PROGRAMME:
Help your kids be future champions…This program focuses on:
- Solid foundation on basic strokes
- Focus on footwork
- Fun exercises for strength training
- Importance of mental strength, concentration, ability to handle stress
- Basic Taichi / Zen / Yoga techniques that can help not only with Tennis, but also in School and daily life.
ADULT PROGRAMME:
This program can be customized to meet your needs and can help:
- A beginner who wants to learn the basics, enjoy the fun of playing Tennis
- Intermediate player with focus on improving key elements of the game
- Advanced players with the need to improve / get to the next level in matches
- Learn to incorporate the strength training customized for Tennis Game and footwork
- Learn to apply the right breathing techniques to help maintain focus and play with less physical strain, and more relaxed and still body and mind.
INJURY FREE TENNIS:
This program focuses mainly on how to play tennis injury free. If your main focus is on learning to play the same strokes with less physical strain, or with no injury… this is the class for you…..
Call now to get advantage of the ‘new student’ discount pricing. Bring a friend and win free sessions!!
Look what some students have to say…
….Badri offers great tennis, and the best part is ..its unbelievably cheap and affordable……
…He goes many extra miles and provides me with books and cds to improve my game…
….Never once has seen the watch and said.. its more than the set class time…
….I wondered why I was paying three times more before with my other coach, and was getting three times less knowledge…
…I am glad I found Badri..Very good coach..extremely knowledgable in Zen, Taichi techniques and I get both Inner coaching along with my Tennis lessons!! Sweet deal!!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Relaxed Concentration in sports
As The title of the blog suggests, it would seem to a paradox. Everybody seems to be asking this question" How to concentrate and yet be relaxed?" This article will dwell into art of relaxed concentration.
Relaxed Concentration is an art. Yes it is. It can be practiced in many a place. Practicing it in complex fast moving activities is quite a challenge since everything is happening so fast. I would recommend to begin practicing on non challenging activities and start doing them in a concentrated yet relaxed way. The benefit of doing this is quality and not quantity. Quality is hard to define.It can be correlated to peace that one feels with in or the the sense of calm one feels as he is doing a certain activity with supreme attention.
Next time on the tennis court, slow down your strokes . have some attention within. become acutely aware of your stroking technique, the feel of the ball. don't try to alter anything. Let
your body automatically correct it if needs to.
Benefits In the the tennis world, it translates into tracking the ball longer, the head naturally becomes still, you are more centered, the feet are light and perfect and your timing is excellent. Try it out and see!!
Relaxed Concentration is an art. Yes it is. It can be practiced in many a place. Practicing it in complex fast moving activities is quite a challenge since everything is happening so fast. I would recommend to begin practicing on non challenging activities and start doing them in a concentrated yet relaxed way. The benefit of doing this is quality and not quantity. Quality is hard to define.It can be correlated to peace that one feels with in or the the sense of calm one feels as he is doing a certain activity with supreme attention.
Next time on the tennis court, slow down your strokes . have some attention within. become acutely aware of your stroking technique, the feel of the ball. don't try to alter anything. Let
your body automatically correct it if needs to.
Benefits In the the tennis world, it translates into tracking the ball longer, the head naturally becomes still, you are more centered, the feet are light and perfect and your timing is excellent. Try it out and see!!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Success Under pressure
I'm often asked how the best players in the world compete so well when the stakes are so high. "How do they deal with the stress with so much on the line?" Answer: They learn to thrive on it. They don't experience pressure in the same way most people do.
Literally, the top players know how to find pleasure in pressure. Finding pleasure in pressure? It's a concept most players have never considered, must less experienced in an important match.
In this article I will explore this mind-set, the internal emotional climate, and especially, the physical sensations in the body associated with finding pleasure under pressure. Then let's look at a practical training method that can help you create this same powerful constellation of thought, emotion, and sensation in your own matches.
Do you know what Pete Sampras told Inside Tennis after his retirement that he missed the most about the game? He said, "I miss feeling so nervous that I would throw up before the finals of Wimbledon."
So don't think that the top players don't get nervous. They do--very nervous at times. Yet Pete was one of the most relaxed players in the history of tennis when the pressure was on. He came up with big shots that changed matches time after time after time. So something changed dramatically between the pre-match feeling of acute nervousness and how he felt when it mattered most.
How do top players push themselves to make shot after shot? |
To give another historic example, think back to Andre Agassi and Marcos Baghdatis both fighting off match points in the fifth set in of Agassi's last U.S.Open. Both players hit winner after winner with their bodies pushed to the limit. It's another example of top players seeming to thrive in a very tense situation.
Skill and training naturally play a big part in the ability to execute under pressure. But the real secret is embracing pressure, learning to stay sufficiently relaxed physically, and finally, knowing how to transform your nervous energy into a positive force.
This is what I mean by finding pleasure in pressure. It is the only real way to improve your odds of winning that 5--4 game in the third set.
At almost all other levels players' experiences are usually the complete opposite. Big moments are the times most players like the least, and when they are most likely to crumble.
Getting distracted by a bad call is one way to escape from pressure. |
Lower level players often say (and may truly believe) that they want to win, but at a deeper emotional level, what they really want is to escape from uncomfortable emotions in a tight situation as quickly as possible.
For most players, pressure doesn't feel pleasurable, it feels overwhelming. This is because their bodies are flooded with hormones associated with stress and fear. The only way to get away from these feelings is to get out of the match or shift the focus away from how they feel to something external happening around them.
So they try impossible shots, or they choke, or they tank. Or they get angry. Or they become distracted and upset by extraneous factors--the personality of the opponent, line calls, officials, spectators, etc, etc.
Subjective Pressure
The truth is that pressure is subjective. It all comes down to what pressure means and feels like to you. How pressure affects you depends on your belief in your ability to handle the situation. And how you feel inside your own body.
 |
Try to tense up with your tongue hanging out of your mouth like Michael. |
Elite athletes aren't overwhelmed because they aren't feeling the same way as the average player. In his book, Driven From Within, Michael Jordan says, "The day I don't feel nervous is the day I know I must quit the game of basketball."
But, regardless of his alleged nerves, Michael always wanted the ball. He may have been nervous before games like Pete Sampras. But look at the picture of Michael driving the lane. He was so relaxed his tongue was hanging out of his mouth. Just try doing that and then tensing up. It's impossible.
The Value of Tension
To embrace and enjoy pressure, you first need to acknowledge and accept that you will at times feel physical tension. Don't try to deny this or cover it up. Pete Sampras had no problem admitting it. So don't try to deny your own fears.
You need to understand that this tension, even acute nervous tension, can become the catalyst to peak performance. At the deepest level, it means that you care, that you are engaged in the moment, and that the ongoing events matter to you.
It also means you have a powerful energy source available if you can only use it in the right way. The secret is to accept the fear and nervous energy, but then to learn relax physically and transform it into positive energy. This is what the top players do instinctively.
Your nervous tension can become a powerful source of positive energy. |
We know it doesn't feel good when we're tense. When we get tense and use too many muscles when we hit the ball, we don't execute our shots well and we don't play to our potential. But just knowing this doesn't change anything.
So is it possible to learn to change it? The answer is yes. You can train yourself to change your attitude and then change the way you feel inside your own body under pressure.
Train Yourself to Be Loose
In his groundbreaking book, The Relaxation Response, world-renowned doctor Herbert Benson has proven that we are capable of learning how to relax ourselves deeply. This goes for tennis too. The fact is that any player can learn to reduce his muscle tension and lower is heart rate. Once you relax sufficiently, instead of becoming tighter and tighter, you can use your energy to produce your best tennis.The secret is a systematic process Benson developed based on heightening the awareness of our own bodies. It is known as Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR). Through Benson's research, it has been proven that people who practice his techniques can significantly shift the way their bodies respond to stress in just six weeks.
Federer, so fluid and relaxed, it looks easy. |
Progressive muscle relaxation has been accepted in hospitals worldwide as the most effective technique to lower blood pressure and reduce stress. Its application in sports settings has also grown over the years and is a popular intervention used to reduce performance anxiety.
The truth is no player can simply command his body to relax. But if you practice progressive muscle relaxation on a regular basis, you will find that in general you simply won't get as tense as you once did under pressure. And when you do find yourself tightening up, you will be able to identify specific tension areas and call up a physical memory of what it is like to relax them.
Progressive Relaxation Process
How does it work? The steps below will guide you through progressive muscle relaxation. The process is simple. Find a place where you will not be disturbed for at least ten to fifteen minutes. If possible, lie down on the floor or a bed. But you can also work the process sitting or even standing up.
You can use progressive Relaxation techniques on the court. |
First take a few slow, relaxed, deep breaths. Now focusing on one part of your body at a time. Then contract your muscles in that area and hold the tension for 7 seconds. Now consciously relax the same area for 15 seconds.
When you relax the muscles, take deep breaths (in through your nose, out through your mouth). During this 15 seconds observe the difference between the tension you felt previously and the way your more relaxed muscles feel now. It's critical to pinpoint that physical difference.
Here are the areas of the body and the order in which to work them. The sequence again is Tense for 7 seconds, Relax for 15 seconds:
Tense your arms and hands. Relax. |
Tense your stomach. Relax. |
Shrug your shoulders to your ears. Relax. |
Bite down and tense your jaw. Relax. |
Tense your entire face. Relax. |
Tense your quads. Relax. |
Tense your calves. Relax. |
Tense your entire body. Relax. |
Now pair the feelings you have in your body during the relaxation phase with a cue word or words. Cue words will form the basis for recalling the relaxed feelings on the court. Some basic examples are: "Loose, Calm, Excited, Energized," etc, etc. You should adopt the one or ones that feel right for you, or better yet, create your own.
If you wish, you can repeat the process twice for each specific area before moving on to the next area. Or you can go through the whole process once for each area and then go back and repeat the entire sequence. With practice you will develop the systematic ability to make a noticeable shift in your tension level.
To execute under pressure, you need to look forward to pressure. |
As you get more comfortable with the process, expand the cue words to phrases like: "I enjoy pressure. "Pressure situations give me the opportunity to play my best," "I love being in this situation," etc. Again, create the phrases that are right for you.
Once you get comfortable with the PMR you can take it a step further by adding mental pictures of yourself in situations where you usually feel overwhelmed and too tense to play your best. Try to sense where in your body you become tense based on your new awareness. Now imagine hitting whatever the shot or shot combinations you like most in a loose way.
The image could be following through and hitting deep groundstrokes. Or a first serve to the backhand side. Or an inside in forehand winner. Or a running pass. Or a clutch high forehand volley on a floating ball. Or all of them, or some combination. Personalize these images based on your own game and what you would like to see happen in matches.
Imagine yourself executing patterns the need to win matches. |
Go through this whole process 2 or 3 times a week for six weeks. This is the period required for it to have a real effect on your body.
The payoff is on the court. After you become practiced in progressive relaxation, you will probably find that you simply don't get as tense as you once did under pressure. This is because you now have an instinctive feeling of what it's like to keep your body relaxed.
When you do become tight, you will be able to identify the source. Do a quick whole body scan and find the tense areas. Most of the time the biggest culprits are shoulders and arms or the legs. But it's up to you to sense the specific areas for yourself in your individual matches.
Now call up the feelings and images you have created and practiced in your progressive relaxation exercises for those tense areas. Use the relaxed feeling you have developed to drive the execution of the strokes.
Smile to yourself and get ready to channel your energy into the ball. |
If you are working the process correctly, you will literally feel the tension in your body changing, and this will allow you to access your energy in a positive way. You can do this as needed, or even systematically between points and/or on game changes.
You have developed a powerful tool to help you access your optimal performance state on court. it gives you the potential to experience the joy the pros feel when they come up with clutch shots at the right time.
Next time you go up 5-4 in the third serving and feel a pang of nervous energy, or when you find yourself hoping that your opponent will hand you the match with some loose errors, remind yourself, "I love this. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Then smile to yourself as you channel your energy into the ball and watch the ball pass your opponent just when you needed it most.
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