Relaxed Focus

Relaxed Focus
By: Badri Narayanan

When does a player attain his or her highest focus or, to put it more aptly, when does the player attain optimal focus? Relaxed Focus is necessary for reaching your fullest potential. But what is a relaxed focus? How can one differentiate between a relaxed focus, and an unmindful focus? We all know that we are at our free flowing best when we have a sense of inner assurance that we will complete the task. What does it take to achieve this state and maintain it? These are the questions I hope that this article will answer.

I would like to compare a relaxed focus with falling (or rising) in love for the first time. When one falls in love with another, they simply can’t take their eyes off that person. The individual would be so tuned and sensitive to the needs of the beloved, that he or she will be responsible and acting spontaneously. The one who has fallen in love will have foresight into the needs they desire to occur, and that said action automatically happens. The person may not even be seeking credit for these actions. The result of these actions would just be the optimal response to the situation.

If we were to take the same scenario to the tennis court, we can run a similar sequence of events. If one looks at the ball as his or her area of interest (the beloved), looking at the scenario as if it were through the eyes of a child, and be amazed by the various forms that it takes. Things such as high balls, revolutions, and bounce will be observed passively as an object in motion. If the proper humility is displayed, allowing the player to become mesmerized by the process, I believe that this is the point that facilitates the athlete to enter a state of relaxed focus.

Here are a few things that you can do to promote relaxed focus:

• See the ball as though for the first time.
• Be mesmerized by its role
• Allow the mind to focus on the breathing
• While on court, stand relaxed and move light on your feet.

Try it out and see how this technique will work for you!