The Mental Side of Tennis

This idea is fresh in my mind because I just used it as an opener for a soc paper I wrote yesterday.

I often catch myself daydreaming about the future and reminiscing about the past. I think G-Reg and Stretch are guilty of wandering minds too because sometimes they look like they're strolling through K-Mart when they're playing a match. (Robin's joke but I'm borrowing it.) These thought processes are natural and evolutionary because we learn from experience and plan based on expectations.However, the theory of mind that allows us this capability is onerous when the thoughts of past and future distract us from the present. In my all-time favorite book, The Inner Game of Tennis, a seminal piece on sports psychology, Timothy Gallwey explains the importance of focusing on the present. It doesn't help my concentration to dwell on the forehand I just shanked or to imagine what I'm going to say in my interview after I win the match. (Yes, that thought crossed my mind in high school when I was playing for the league championship.)

This usually isn't a problem on the big points because one realizes the gravity of the situation. One must commit to the present to stay focused on the routine points early in the second when people are most prone to losing focus.

Staying in the present is also a productive outlook for the season to direct attention to only the next match. After Mike Mattelson won the A flight singles at the Wallach Invitational this past weekend, I asked him in my final question of a casual interview, "How you feel going into Nationals?"
Coach Kroll interjected and ruined what could have been a good transition and quotation to cap off my story by saying, "You kidding me, bud? He's not thinking about Nationals yet."Right, Mike was preparing to win the A flight doubles crown shortly thereafter.

When it comes to motivation, Max Willner is proof time and time again that there individual differences.After winning the B flight singles (Yes, Vassar did well at the Wallach Invitational. To read my story, click here), Willner revealed that, "I was thinking about my loss last week at the ITAs and so it feels good to bounce back and win this."

He's so chippy... Bingo... Max's new nickname is Chipper.