JAK'S MONTHLY ESSAY SERIES: Achieving Your Personal Best
Believing In Your Shots
If you do not, you'll be riddled with goalless, disruptive self-doubt – not to be confused with always having in advance, pro-active shot flight plans - at the crucial ball-on-string moment. Of course, your shot selection has to be real too. Going for delusional shots that you normally don't make on a consistent basis – playing above your pay grade – is a recipe for failure despite making the occasional world class one. That's trading a fleeting moment of glory, and its accompanying slew of errors along the way, for rock solid, less flashy, reliable play.
That's how matches are lost to lesser ball strikers. Absolute giveaways. Unforced error town.
Note: If your usual shot visualizations are typically – if at all - vaguely over-there-somewhere, or emotionally hampered by the fear of missing mentality, you'll never find your best player inside amidst all that inner clutter.
If you're not committed every single time to specific shot results – meaning both directional along with the more elusive over the net margin and/or shot shape (flight plan) that's "seen" in your mind's eye - then there's nothing specific to believe in, and your game "quarterbacking" becomes the unfulfilling, unreliable hope and prayer strategy.
It is paramount to see successful shot results in advance of the ball striking moment versus wasting energy worrying about failure. What's that perfectly apropos Samuel Beckett quote – "Ever tried. Ever failed. Try again. Fail better."
The occasional unforced error is part of the game. Just accept it. Tennis is unlike competitive figure skating where one little faux pas can ruin a run at the podium. Or, ask Bodie Miller (retired US Downhill World Cup ski racer phenom, and good tennis player too!) what he especially appreciates about the tennis game. He'll tell you the scoring system! Since you can make some mistakes and still win.
Managing the game you potentially have begins with the first ball hit in the warm-up. Don't just go out there and whack balls aimlessly. From the start you should be crystal clear regarding your intentions – to their forehand – after all it's supposed to be cooperative - to their backhand, plus x amount over the net for each and every shot.
Unfortunately, you'll run into some ignorant players in those league play warm-ups – ones who haven't a clue that the long established, traditional warm-up protocol is indeed a cooperative one, a friendly back and forth exchange.
If they won't share that kind of warm-up – practicing hitting high-paced winners away from you instead – then you might as well start the match immediately since they are overtly practicing something while, simultaneously, preventing you from your warm-up.
Visualize…realize!
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