Skip to main content

Not Focusing On The Win vs. Expecting Not To Win

Last weekend I was scheduled to play in our club's mini tournament. I woke up Saturday morning with slight fever, still had to do some house work and had to head out to play first round as I had promised the tournament director that I would play. I wasn't in any condition to play frankly, but any day I get to play tennis, beats most other ordinary days, so off I went.

My first opponent was a nice gentleman who played very irregularly and was coming off a 3-month break from tennis, his level was at 3.0 level. We were to play 8-game proset due to time constraints. We started and quickly it was 4-0 in my favor, but my energy was draining very rapidly. I really wasn't try to win, wasn't exploiting his apparent weaknesses, I just wanted to play while I lasted and hopefully pack my bags and get back to a hot shower and bed at home. I thought probably the quickest way to get home was to win the match and forfeit the next one, so I set out to finish set as rapidly as possible by focusing on each point. As quickly as we got to 4-0, we were now at 4-4. Eventually I relaxed and won the match 8-5, but I wasn't happy with the way it turned.

Tournament director came to court and asked me if I could play my next match right afterwards, so they can get on with their normal schedule, with all of adrenalin pumping I said "sure." This time my opponent was a high level 4.0 with really heavy topspin shots, athletic and with the accuracy that tempted me to run across the whole court. I knew his reputation as being a good player, so I started the match without the objective of winning; actually I am sure I convinced myself I would not win. Eventually I lost 8-3; however, I was surprised with the way I played in some ways; I had great serves, was able to adapt my shots and tactics. At the end I had too many unforced errors, I could not run to balls and my timing was completely off, I suspect it is a natural outcome of being sick.

However, these two matches I think demonstrate how much our attitude, thinking and general mental state shifts during matches and how much of an impact this has on the outcomes. When I wanted to win and I tried to win, I was losing; when I convinced myself that I could not win, the fate of the match was already sealed, I just wasted energy until the last moments of the 2nd match when I started winning point after point, because I was focused on enjoying the points. 

I am not saying anything new here of course, sport psychology explains this quite well and there are experts in this field that can articulate this phenomenon better than I can. The purpose of this post is to explain how I am experiencing what has already been explained by field professionals. I think it is important to recognize the situations, because when I have to recall situations in the future to ensure I achieve the results I want, I now have reference points, and I hope this also helps the reader.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Tennis After One and One-Half of a Century Later?

R ecreational tennis is as exciting as professional tennis I think, and I'd venture to guess it is actually more fun. There are many reasons we play this sport, at my age it is need to feel the satisfaction of self-improving in an area that is unrelated to work, career, or continuation of blood lines. When I first returned to tennis, I thought I had somewhat of a unique story of having played competitively during middle and high schools year, taking a sabbatical for 30+ years and now returning after age fifty. I am so amazed that my story is probably the most common story within the recreational circles. Nearly everyone I meet playing tennis has a very similar story. This means that many of us are probably seeking something that's been left unanswered in our lives, some nostalgia perhaps, slowing down our degrading health, or some other reason. I think they are all valid ways to enrich our lives, elevate our self-value and even gain a new place in our complex societies. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Focus! Or Lack There Of

My match play is improving; during the last couple of weeks I won my last two USTA mixed doubles matches with my partners, and two of my singles ladder matches.  I am mostly winning with social matches as well playing just doubles. So, you'd think I should be satisfied, but I am not. Somethings are not quite right. I do have issues with my footwork, which creates timing issues, which in turn results in inconsistencies.  At least that is my own analysis. I try to address this by increasing my cardio performance as best as I can, work on my leg muscles and abdominals, etc. None have resulted in any tangible benefits. So, what else or other is wrong? It is an ongoing search... I have not experienced being in the zone yet. Although I know how to recognize it due to having experienced it quite often during my track days (HPDEs), I am yet to find that zone with tennis.  Part of it is experience, I think I need to play many more matches before I...
Post a Comment
Read more