I was listening to an interview with Tsitsipas after he lost to Djokovic at the 2021 French Open. He said after Djokovic came back from a bathroom break, he was facing a different player. The reporter asked him what specifically was different about Djokovic. Tsitsipas said he seemed to “know exactly where I was going to hit the ball”. Djokovic, being the favorite definitely had trouble with his anticipation in the first 2 sets, which indicates tension, anxiety, and possibly fear. Tsitsipas, as the underdog, was able to play much more relaxed and free. Whatever Djokovic did during the bathroom break allowed him to relax and, being the champion he is, allowed him to turn the match around.
I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best sport psychologists in the world like Dr. Jim Loehr, Dr. Jim Taylor and Dr. Bob Rotella. Professional players and professional prospects would spend a lot of money leaning how to deal with “The Thief of Dreams” – Fear.
Fear causes more obstacles for athletes than anything else. Recognizing fear enables athletes to overcome it. Fear is unavoidable. It’s a natural human reaction to possible danger. It prepares you physically to “fight with” or “flee from” the danger, whichever is more important.
In fight or flight mode, your heart rate increases to pump more blood into the large muscle groups to eliminate carbon dioxide. Your respiration increases to get more oxygen into your bloodstream, your muscles tense to allow sudden moves, and your perspiration increases to cool your body while it burns more energy.
In tennis our lives are not threatened, but the same survival- based physiology can be triggered when we get scared. The increased heart rate, respiration and muscle tension will cause slow preparation, slower footwork, and poor rhythm. One of the first things affected are the eyes. Dr. Rotella, who was very famous among golf professionals, told me how a pro golfer he worked with, playing the most important hole during the tournament, argued with his caddy over the distance they were away from the flag. Under pressure, the golfer saw something completely different from his caddy. One of my players, Elliot, after losing a match, told his dad the net seemed to be the wrong height. Under stress his vision was definitely impaired.
Handling fear can be very challenging. Because fear is natural part of life, it doesn’t go away. It can either paralyze you or give you an opportunity to assess the risk you’re facing and prepare for it properly. To use fear to your advantage:
- Take a look at fear. Ask yourself – what is the worst thing that could happen if I followed through on this fear-producing situation? If you can live with the worst-case scenario, you can go beyond the fear.
- Use vigorous training coupled with relaxation or meditation to put fear into perspective. Make your training twice as hard as the actual match.
- Understand that it is impossible for anyone to be thoroughly competent and achieving 100% of the time. Failure is part of the process of living.
- Know that patience and persistence will bring you from failure to success in most ventures.
- Redefine failure. Real failure is the unwillingness to take a chance.
- Stop setting expectations. Expectations with regard to outcomes are setups for failure. Establish strong preferences instead.
Myths about fear :
- If you work hard enough you can avoid failure.
The best of the best can’t escape failure, why should you ?
- Failure is worthless
Failure is a necessary prerequisite to success.
- Failure is devastating
Disappointing, yes, but generally the feelings that result from setback and failure are exaggerated.
Rhythm & Flow Tennis 