HOW TO PLAY WELL UNDER STRESS

By Vic Braden

There are basically two types of players. The first is the player who is “outcome” oriented. This type of player worries about holding their serve or projects the score far in advance, e.g. “If I can break her serve here, I will be up 3-1 and then she will start to fold”. This is normally the beginning of one’s downfall. “Outcome oriented people worry about winning, or losing, in the middle of a match.

The second type of player is normally the best competitor because they think in the present and not the past or future. This type of player is called the “process” oriented competitor. The only important shot to players with this approach is the one they’re currently hitting. When one takes the proper care to hit each shot with the necessary respect, the score takes care of itself.

Your brain has great difficulty sending the correct electrical messages to your muscles when there are too many thoughts being processed. That often creates an overload in the brain and it’s not uncommon for a player to begin to “choke” in this situation. And it usually gets worse; the more you think, the more you choke.

As strange as it might seem, there are some genetic reasons, as well as learned reasons, why people handle success, and stress. differently.  Millions of individuals have taken the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory, which is based upon original writings of the Swiss psychiatrist, Dr. Carl Jung. There are those who seem to be very intuitive and are able to take the finest little detail and fit it in to a much larger scheme. And there are those who simply enjoy a fact, as a fact, and seem to possess little interest in the past or future.

One year at our research center, we had intuitive tennis players hit one hundred forehands. We filmed them and paid particular attention to their head movements. It came as no surprise that the intuitive types had far greater trouble keeping their heads down on the hitting zone while the ball was being struck. They would have a tendency to look up to see where their shot went even before they had impacted the ball. The “here and now” people weren’t as interested in where their shot had landed because they seemed to know that they hadn’t hit the ball yet. As your head weighs, inch for inch, more that any other part of your body, any movement of the head often disturbs the flight patters of the swing.

The bottom line is: if you are an intuitive person, don’t lift your head until you see your racket cross in front of your body on it’s forward and upward path. Remember, the ball doesn’t know the score and has little concern for your emotional well being. Also, remember that the major television networks don’t care about your scores against Helen.  They will not be calling you for the results. 
Have fun.

For additional information or to enroll in a Vic Braden Tennis College, please call 1-800-CALL VIC (1-800-225-5842) or Click Vic at www.vicbraden.com 

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Vic Braden Tennis College

With more than 52 years of teaching sports science, Vic Braden is one of the tennis world's most highly respected experts. He has authored numerous best-selling instructional books, produced and hosted instructional videos and is well known to the tennis community through his work as a longtime television commentator.

The Vic Braden Tennis College is located at 
Green Valley Spa & Resort
St. George, UT