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TennisOne Lessons
“Why am I losing?” Dave Smith TennisOne Senior Editor Notoriously, players working hard on their game and who play competitive tournaments, at some point end up asking the question, “Why did I lose?” When players perceive themselves as ‘working hard,' they often believe that winning should follow suit. And while, indeed, such players often surpass many of their peers, they ignore such accomplishments in favor of expecting similar results against other competitors in other playing environments.
Obviously, in every single tournament, there are an equal number of winners as losers in each and every round until a champion is crowned. The sheer percentages of players who won't win any given tournament, let alone reach the quarters, semis or finals, should make even the most confident player realize the odds of winning. In every 64 player draw all but one player will go home losers. Not very encouraging, but such is the nature of the sport. Often, I will have a junior player travel a distance to a tournament, pay entry fees and even feel like he or she has prepared well for the competition…only to lose in the first or second round. “Why am I losing?” I hear many such students say. It's as if they think they are the only player experiencing a loss. I recently cut the qualifying results of Wimbledon out of the newspaper and gave it to one of my students who had just lost in the first round of a tournament. “Look at this list,” I said handing it to my student. “Out of 64 players who are quite good, and have traveled all the way to England to play the quallies and worked very hard to get there, 32 LOST!” I pointed out. “And another 16 will lose in the next round,” I added. This brought home the point I was trying to make: Players lose all the time. What Makes Winners?
Winning should not be the instrument of assessment in determining a player's improvement nor success. Winning is, however, more common for those who focus not on winning but on the improvement process. A player who looks at winning as being the singular proof of success will miss out on an even greater learning tool: LOSING. Jim Hastings, former coach, television analyst and author, called a player who loses a match and then loses the opportunity to learn something from the loss a “Double Loser.” Indeed, in losing, the player who is sincerely pursuing personal tennis mastery will gain from his loss. He will analyze the strengths of his opponent's game as well as the weaknesses in his own; he will look for ways to improve those weaknesses and, in the process, reach progressively higher levels of skill and competitive proficiency. Tennis pro and author, Jeff Greenwald wrote this about winning:
The player focusing on winning as the ultimate goal will be easily discouraged and frustrated after each defeat. This type of player will usually look for excuses and, often times erroneously, identify various circumstances that caused victory to be seemingly snatched from his grasp. (Again!) It hurts to acknowledge our weaknesses and shortcomings. And yet, this failure to recognize the actual deficiencies in our own game is what will ultimately prevent us from overcoming them. Playing in Our ‘Competitive Moment' Players who focus on winning as the main goal usually fail to play in their ‘competitive moment.' This is because conscious thoughts, (and many thoughts that lie just beyond consciousness), cloud our competitive moment. Examples of these thoughts include:
There is an excellent axiom that is in the book “Zen in the Martial Arts” by Joe Hymas that relates to this issue of playing within your competitive moment:
Fear Fear is perhaps the most powerful emotion that can affect us on a tennis court and take us out of our competitive moment. Fear of losing, fear of winning, fear of looking badly or losing to someone you shouldn't, etc. While most athletes know that three elements in playing well include, a) playing loose, b) playing focused, and c) playing aggressively. Fear can sabotage these three key elements and make a player play tense, distracted, and apprehensively.
Jeff Greenwald, in his program, “Fearless Tennis” expressed this concept of fear in excellent terms:
Dealing with the Ego I have a saying I share with all my students: “When we play and practice not to satisfy our ego but to satisfy our goals, we allow our best tennis to emerge.” If we are concerned about our egos, we are thus concerned with what others think about us. If, however, we are concerned only with our goals, we are then focused only on the things related to our development as a tennis player. If an ego-centered player loses a match, they will look for excuses; Goal-centered players will look for ways to learn from the loss and improve. The ego sometime can be focused to help us reach goals. How often do we hear about someone who is told they aren't any good go out and prove the naysayers wrong? However, in most players, the ego prevents them for reaching their potential.
Here is an example: Julie who is 35 years old and is a ten-year 3.5 player has broken down and received accurate tennis instruction on her serve/volley/backhand. (You can pick!) While she has worked very hard and has actually learned to hit these shots correctly within the parameters of the new technique, when she gets in to a match, she immediately reverts to hitting her old, familiar, but inferior strokes. Why? Julie felt that if she tried her new strokes there would be a perception of failure since these strokes were not as familiar as her old, so-called reliable ones. She played to appease her ego instead of her goals…and, sadly, if she continues repeating this scenario throughout her playing days, she will, of course, continue to play at the 3.5 level essentially forever. (Even as she really wishes—and has the potential—to play at much higher levels.) I have one more phrase that I think sums up this concept: “If we avoid that which we are trying to achieve, we will achieve only that which we are trying to avoid.” Like riding a bike, we must get back up on it every time we fall if we are ever going to master the vehicle. In tennis, we must compete with this same mindset: If we lose, we must understand why we lost, practice to overcome weaknesses, learn and stay with methods that will lead to skilled play, and, finally, constantly look to achieve our goals. If this becomes your objective, you will never find yourself asking, “Why did I lose?”
Learn more from Dave Smith from his best-selling book, TENNIS MASTERY (click on link below) or, learn from Dave personally at his special three-day camp called “Tennis Mastery at the Summit” August 4th - 6th. Learn the “Advanced Foundation” within the spectacular setting of Southern Utah, close to Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon and Bryce National Park. Dave's new club, The Summit, is a $7 million dollar tennis, swim and fitness center. For more information, call (435) 628-5000 and ask for the Summit Tennis Pro Shop. Space is limited. TENNIS MASTERYFinally. a resource that unlocks these mysteries: • Why do m • Why are making changes in one's game so frustratingly difficult? • What tennis teaching methods are disruptive or detrimental to player progression? Read David W. Smith's TENNIS MASTERY and learn not just how to avoid playing at mediocre levels, but how the best players in the world Master the sport of tennis! "With a depth of knowledge and fresh perspective, TENNIS MASTERY is set to become a manual for tennis instructors and a measure for tennis literature." Richard Wigley, Director, Kayenta Tennis Center , Ivins Utah . Take in David Smith's 30 plus years in the tennis teaching industry. This 335-page manual will provide for every level of player as well as support for all tennis-teaching professionals, a blueprint for reaching higher levels of tennis mastery. Order TENNIS MASTERY at tenniswarehouse.com , or go to tennismastery.net for exciting excerpts from the book and a host of tennis information! And check out David Smith's other articles found here at TennisONE.com 
David has taught over 3000 players including many top national and world ranked players. He can be reached at acrpres1@email.msn.com. |
illions of tennis players stagnate at levels far below their potential? 
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