What We Do Between the Zones is the Difference

David Sammel

The "Inner Game" was a fascinating book and it brought to light some fantastic tools in which to allow our natural ability and focus to emerge. We all know how wonderful it is when we are playing in the zone. We all strive to get into the mind-set that allows us to play matches in the zone. However we are human and realistically how often has anyone played a full match in the zone.

Timothy Gallwey's groundbreaking 1974 book, The Inner Game of Tennis, changed the way we thought about the game.

In my career I certainly cannot recall playing any match where I was in the zone throughout. Certainly three or four times per year I was able to concentrate and focus and stay in the zone for the vast majority of the match. In the pros, a tennis career cannot survive on three or four unbelievable performances per year because on the other side I also had three or four performances per year that were absolutely terrible, where I could not time the ball or focus on anything helpful. By far the majority of matches were played as a combination of periods in the zone and periods out of the zone. In 25 years of coaching a number of excellent players I'm convinced that the same challenge facing every tennis player on the planet is “what do we do when we are not in the zone  and thinking too much on the court?”

As a coach I now focus on giving players tools to help them deal with the periods when they are not in the zone. The difference between winning and losing matches is often in the way that a player manages his or her mind when they fall out of the zone. I no longer try to help players stay in the zone. I believe that as they progress and their concentration and focus gets better then players naturally find the zone for slightly longer periods and a little more often. I am also convinced that the more a player understands and can manage his or her mind in the periods when they are out of the zone, the better they get at returning to the zone.

Basically, when we are playing on automatic pilot, tennis is easy and we can play to our potential which is a lot of fun. In this state any thoughts we have are like a whisper of wind touching the back of our head. Everything is clear; we notice everything yet we're not involved in everything. We instinctively know what to do. Our memory is incredible in terms of understanding the play, understanding and remembering exactly where we have been serving and where they have been serving. We read plays, we can feel when the opponent is under pressure, we understand totally what we need to do to win and this is a wonderful feeling.

But suddenly we wake up. Sadly now thoughts are not a whispering wind touching the back of our heads but strong and seemingly loud voices in the front of our head. Our minds jump from instruction to the past, to the future, to what we think people will say if we lose the match and hundreds of other thoughts. As a coach when you have witnessed a player in this state and ask them after the match what they were thinking at this time usually the answer is “I don't know.” If you press them further you know that there are so many thoughts going through their mind that this basic confusion means they actually cannot remember, or are embarrassed by some of the silly thoughts they can remember. You will get answers such as “I just couldn't believe that I blew the lead that I had or I couldn't make a forehand which was really blowing my mind and so on and so on.”

Whilst all this confusion was going on in their minds the situation in the match deteriorated further because with all the analysis and junk flying around their head there was no way they could focus on the task at hand which is actually playing tennis and competing.

There are the basic tools that coaches give players in these moments such as breathe, take your time and focus on 1 point at a time, plus various other imaginative responses. All these tools are helpful. However I would like to take this a step further and see if I can help players and coaches understand the mind a little better in these moments and by using an analogy, allow them to function better during this period when players are not on automatic pilot.

Firstly I think it's important to acknowledge the fact that you are now thinking again on the tennis court. You have to accept that you've woken up from the wonderful place that you were in and now the new reality is that you have to manage your mind.

Managing Your Mind — What This Means

Think of your mind as being on the end of one of those dog leashes that can expand up to 25 yards away. You control the length of the leash with a zip lock handle in your hand. The dog will pull and pull and try to get further and further away from you, straining for freedom. The further and the further away the dog gets from you the longer and harder it is to pull it back towards you. In the same way, the longer and further you allow your mind to drift away from you in these periods the harder it is to bring it back to you.

The trick is to immediately stop your mind from drifting away. The vital moment is to quickly recognize your mind wandering and learn to immediately intercept with the word NO! Be strong in saying no, and re-focusing on playing the next point with self-talk such as “right here right now this point.”

The discipline to keep pulling your mind back immediately before it gets too far away from you is the most important factor in learning how to manage your mind. Initially you will probably need to pull your mind back 50, 60, 70 times or more in very short spaces of time, maybe within two games you're going to call your mind back several times. This takes constant vigilance and training. Your mind has to know that every time it drifts away you will pull it back immediately even if it's 1000 times in a match. Slowly but surely your mind will learn like a dog will learn that pulling and pulling will not actually work and after years of practice your mind like the dog will realize that a slight tug means for it to come back to you.

This is what you need to do and this is what the top players have achieved. Do not for one minute think that this is an easy task or that this challenge ever ends. Top players rage against this problem. This is the test for any player who wishes to be good at any level. Can you control your mind, can you discipline your mind in the times when you're thinking.

Just Say No

The word “NO” is so important. The word “no” is the key to correcting your mind when it begins to Blah blah blah blah say “no come back — this point right now” blah blah blah blah and again “no comeback this point right now,” no matter how often you need to repeat the process. This is tedious yet very very important work. It is like meditation where you get better and better at quieting your mind, but always it is a battle to stop the mind from drifting. It is also helpful at these times to try and focus on just one instruction that you know from past experience is helpful to you as a player. For example feet, feet, feet or ball, ball, ball or breathe or any one of countless other examples that players use. Eventually you will find the mind actually has quieted down and you start to slide back into playing automatically which is the real joy.

Experience and discipline overtime will show you what is actually possible and how fantastic the top players have become at restraining their minds from wandering to the negative and problematic places that prevent them from performing well.

Few if any players in history have been as good as Bjorn Borg or Raphael Nadal at containing their minds during these tough periods on such a consistent basis. Yet, if you speak to them, they will tell you how simple their methodology really was and is. Nadal has said on many occasions that it is a cliché but it is as simple as this: “you have to focus on one point at a time.”

Borg said that he just kept going and won many matches from the brink of defeat because all he did was fight for one point at a time. But what does one point at a time mean? It means every time your mind starts to drift away mentally bring it back and fight to focus on the point being played. These players have trained themselves to where they could consistently will their minds back to the present, to the immediate job at hand, and make sure that they didn't allow their mind to drift into other areas by immediately pulling it back sharply. This is where they are tough and disciplined.

Being mentally tough does not mean preventing negative thoughts or destructive thoughts from entering your mind, mentally tough is being able to stop your mind from going to those places for any length of time. Mentally tough is also using a calm strong tone of voice when you're talking to yourself. Mentally tough is being able to change the negative thoughts into positive ones very quickly. Mentally tough is accepting your situation. If your backhand is not working very well accept it and work because no matter how badly you're playing your backhand you always make some backhands. So the job on this day is to win with less.

A misfiring backhand does not mean you have a poor backhand. A poorly functioning shot on a given day is no different from a windy day, or the sun in your eyes, or the many other factors that come into winning a tennis match which a player has to deal with. Accept the conditions, both the outside ones and the ones within you and then work hard to win anyway.

The great players not only accept what is going on but are very relaxed about it on most occasions. They settle down and get on with the job no matter what is happening and this makes them very difficult to beat even when they are performing poorly. The good news, in my experience, is that anybody can learn to discipline the mind, can learn a good tone of voice to use when speaking to themselves, and learn how to bring the mind back with regularity until they are a tough tennis player.

It is also important to accept the fact that this challenge never ends. We are human and therefore we never get to the point where we can play match after match in the zone. It is always about our ability to manage our mind when we are not in the zone and this is the difference between players who win consistently and those who don't. Do not fall for the fantasy that one day you'll be able to play in the zone every time you step on court. This is simply not true, so settle down and learn how to manage your mind to the best of your ability when you're not in the zone, because this more than anything will help you win matches.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about David Sammel's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.

David Sammel is CEO of the MCTAgroup, a consultancy company that runs the worlds 1st Touring Academy with its history and formation based at the famous country club site of the Monte Carlo Masters tournament. He has recently accepted the honour of becoming President of tenniscoachUK, the British Tennis Coaches Association(BTCA). As a National coach for the LTA he headed one of four National Academies in the UK (2002-2006) and between 1990 and 2002 he coached and toured with many Great Britain Davis Cup players.

Recruited as a top 10 junior from South Africa , he played one season for UT before transferring and graduating from North Texas under AG Longoria. As a pro he played satellites, challengers and European Team Tennis.

Visit David's websites mctacademy and tennis4everyone.