The Ideal Performance State
Do you throw your racquet and scream throughout your
matches? Do you give up as soon as you are broken once or twice in a set? Are
you a great hitter who is a choker, consistently losing to players with much
weaker strokes?
Anger, tanking and choking are three of the four mental performance stages in which players may find themselves during a match. Your key is to reach the fourth – the Ideal Performance State.
Sport psychology's main guru, Dr. Jim Loehr, popularized the concept of the Ideal Performance State (IPS) and the various stages players go through to get there, in an effort to help coaches and players better deal with the stress of competition.
Before you can cope with your mental demons on court, you'll need to understand what your emotions mean, in order for you to deal with them on a more subjective level.
The Four Mental Stages
Picture your mind as a bulls eye, which is made up of four concentric circles.
Tanking
The outside circle is tanking. Players who tank simply quit trying, sometimes purposely hitting balls long or in the net. By tanking, a player can rationalize that he or she didn't really lose because they didn't try. They may do this to avoid giving credit to a rival they can't stand, or to save face by avoiding failure. It's always disheartening to try and fail; not trying eases some of this pain.
Prepare for the time you may find yourself tanking. One way to motivate yourself when you feel that the match is lost is to set micro-goals, such as winning the next game, or holding serve the last two games you serve. Instead of simply hitting the ball as hard as you can in an effort to end the point, at least go for winners. Practicing particular shots, such as passing shots, short, crosscourt angles, or other shots may allow you to get some success and enjoyment out of the match, and may even get you back into the match.
Almost anything, even low-percentage tennis, is better than tanking.
Anger
Anger, tanking and choking are three of the four mental performance stages in which players may find themselves during a match. Your key is to reach the fourth – the Ideal Performance State.
Sport psychology's main guru, Dr. Jim Loehr, popularized the concept of the Ideal Performance State (IPS) and the various stages players go through to get there, in an effort to help coaches and players better deal with the stress of competition.
Before you can cope with your mental demons on court, you'll need to understand what your emotions mean, in order for you to deal with them on a more subjective level.
The Four Mental Stages
Picture your mind as a bulls eye, which is made up of four concentric circles.
Tanking
The outside circle is tanking. Players who tank simply quit trying, sometimes purposely hitting balls long or in the net. By tanking, a player can rationalize that he or she didn't really lose because they didn't try. They may do this to avoid giving credit to a rival they can't stand, or to save face by avoiding failure. It's always disheartening to try and fail; not trying eases some of this pain.
Prepare for the time you may find yourself tanking. One way to motivate yourself when you feel that the match is lost is to set micro-goals, such as winning the next game, or holding serve the last two games you serve. Instead of simply hitting the ball as hard as you can in an effort to end the point, at least go for winners. Practicing particular shots, such as passing shots, short, crosscourt angles, or other shots may allow you to get some success and enjoyment out of the match, and may even get you back into the match.
Almost anything, even low-percentage tennis, is better than tanking.
Anger
The next circle in the bulls eye is anger. The anger ring is closer to the bulls eye because anger comes from a player who is trying, but losing, and becoming frustrated. The angry player at least cares. Anger may result from the player's reaction to an opponent (who is cheating or practicing gamesmanship) or may be directed at the player himself (for poor performance).
The problem with anger is that is an uncontrolled release of emotions, with no positive impact on the player's game. It is most often accompanied by negative self-talk, which is usually put-downs of the player (e.g., “You idiot. You can't hit two balls in a row!”). Players who throw racquets, swear, scream, hit balls into the fence or kick things are letting off steam, but not doing anything about the cause. Before they know it, they are out of the game, set or match.
Choking
The next circle is choking. Choking is simply fear. When you are trying, but losing, you begin to compensate by becoming more conservative in your play. you hit weaker, shorter balls. Your serve toss becomes lower. Your react to opponent's shots, rather than try to dictate play. your weight is typically static or moving backwards, as you let the ball play you, instead of vice versa. In short, you panic, and your fear begins to paralyze you. Some of the results of choking and methods for dealing with this mental state are outlined in article “How Choking Affects Your Strokes” in the January 2002 issue of High School Tennis Coach.
The Ideal Performance State
The Ideal Performance State, also known as “The Zone,” is that state in which you are able to hit the ball where you want, how you want, when you want. When players enter the IPS, their confidence soars. They become players, thinking tactically on the other side of the net, rather than hitters, who think technically on this side of the net. Even when they are down in a game, or trailing in a set to an opponent who is playing well, they love the battle.
What most players fail to realize is that “The Zone” is more a motor phenomenon than a psychological one. No player who hits the Zone is ever hitting poorly. Players who hit balls into the fence and consistently double fault don't talking about being in the Zone. What players who are hitting badly do, however, is consciously think about mechanics while they're playing.
Players who are in the IPS don't think about their grips or footwork; they are focused on the other side of the net, measuring crosscourt vs. down the line, or trying to wrong foot an opponent by setting him up with a combination of several shots.
Players in the Zone often refer to themselves as “being unconscious.” This means, their brain was responding to the goals it was being given (crosscourt, deep, etc.). When player consciously try to override their brain's stored motor memory by thinking about mechanics during match play, there is no way the brain can do what it has been trained to do.
To help get yourself get into the IPS, make sure you understand which of the four mental states you may be in. If you understand what the IPS is, and that you need to get out of your brain's way and let it do it's work, this may help you clear your minds of the conscious directions that interfere with stored motor patterns.
During practices, try to recall any times you were in the IPS during a match, and try to recreate the feeling you had at that time, during this practice. Recall the temperature that day. Was it a noisy or quiet court? Were there any smells associated with that match, such as fresh-cut grass or a particular sports drink? Was it windy or calm?
Sport psychologists often refer to this technique as “visualization,” however some sport psychologists ask their players to visualize future matches, and future winners. Because the brain has not experienced this yet, it's debatable as to how useful this really is.
Make sure that any time you hit the Zone, you take note of how you're feeling, so you can catalogue it for later use in another match.
Understanding the four mental stages in which you may find yourself during a match, why they happen and how you can deal with them during matches will help you achieve the Ideal Performance State much more easily, more often and will result in more wins.
