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Tiger later attends Stanford University to study
with legendary tennis coach Dick Gould who proclaims at the conclusion of
another championship Cardinal season, “Tiger’s skills start where John
McEnroe’s left off, he’s tougher than Jimmy Connors and understands
the dynamics and tactics of tennis better than Brad Gilbert. I’ve never
seen anything like it in my lifetime.” Tiger leaves school after two
years and turns pro. Superman In Sneakers
Now, imagine this: A tennis professional whose physical and mental brilliance, composure, work ethic, and charisma are an amalgam of Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Patrick Rafter, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, and the graceful Arthur Ashe. Would that be some kind of player? Oh boy, what tennis would look like in 2000 if
Tiger Woods, the most compelling figure in the history of sports, was
making the grand tour of Wimbledon, Flushing Meadows, Roland Garros, and
The Australian Open rather than Augusta, St. Andrews, The PGA, and U.S.
Open. Woods would unquestionably be doing for the world
of tennis what he is currently doing to the kingdom of golf; namely,
blowing the game’s popularity through the frigging roof! Tiger tennis rackets would be selling like Harry
Potter books, journalists would be writing about the phenomenal popularity
of tennis worldwide, and instead of a Monday night prime time television
golf shoot-out between Tiger Woods and some guy named Sergio Garcia, it
would be ‘Live From The Mirage In Vegas: Tiger versus Andre in a $100
million winner-take-all tennis smack down!’. Ratings for the
extravaganza would exceed the Super Bowl. However, and sadly for the world of tennis, Earl
Woods handed his young son a golf club instead of a tennis racket. On such
seemingly trivial acts is history formed. Nevertheless, there is much in how Tiger wins in
golf which applies directly to how you can improve your tennis game. Here
are Tiger’s Tennis Tips: 1) Power Up The Positive
Tiger Woods is the first player in the history of
golf to really let loose and show his excitement after a great shot during
the round (in this regard, he is exactly like Jimmy Connors, whose
ferocious fist pumping after big points made him the unabashed king of
positive emotionalizing). When, on the final hole of regulation play at the
2000 PGA championship at Valhalla Country Club, Woods needed to sink a
knee-knocking six foot slider to force the match into a playoff, he calmly
studied the putt, stroked it in, and then gave a thunderous George
Foreman-sized fist pump which was immediately followed by a
lightning-quick double-pump exclamation point. The crowd went nuts. Except
for a few isolated exceptions, no one has ever seen behavior like this in
a Major golf tournament. On the first hole of the playoff Woods putted a
twenty footer which began drifting slightly off line as it journeyed
forward. Eyes glaring, Tiger immediately started jabbing his finger at the
cup while simultaneously chasing after the ball – as if commanding it to
go in the hole! The ball obeyed. Tiger has enthusiasm and he isn’t
afraid to show it on big occasions. During competition Tiger is very controlled and
contained, Zen-like much of the time. However, when he does something
large at an auspicious moment he congratulates himself with outward
displays of positive emotion – usually the fist pump. In your own way
and appropriate to your temperament, do the same. Displays of positive emotion are very good. The
emotion of enthusiasm creates energy. Energy creates strength. Strength
creates confidence. Best of all, this positive energy and all the good
things it brings with it can be created intentionally by you during your
match. Tennis has increasingly become as staid as
pre-Tiger golf used to be. After making a great shot to win a big point,
the pro’s – especially the men – act as if nothing happened
(occasionally you’ll see one of them do a sheepish half-hidden
mini-pump, afraid the opponent will notice and take umbrage). What today’s pro’s do acknowledge are mistakes,
missed shots, and bad breaks. That’s when you see them showing emotion
– pumping up the negative – with racket slamming, screaming, and
beseeching the heavens for relief. Marat Safin, 2000 US Open Champion,
destroyed almost 50 rackets during fits of rage last year! Stifle knocking yourself. Brad Gilbert, co-author
of WINNING UGLY (Simon and Schuster), put it best: “When you start
beating up on yourself you’ve doubled the number of people on the court
who are trying to hurt you.” Instead, show some positive Tiger-like emotion, a
fist pump, a vocal exhortation – ‘Yessss!’ – slapping yourself on
the thigh, a smile. It is a form of self-communication that bolsters a
positive and confident inner-environment. If Tiger Woods can do it in the locked-down, Miss
Manners confines of a major golf tournament, you can certainly apply
an appropriately positive response during your match out there on court
#26 next to the parking lot. 2) Embrace, Kiss, and Smother Your Enemy
With Attention
In 1997 Tiger Woods was 60th on the PGA tour in
putting average. In 1998 he sank lower, 147th. Identifying this weakness
as a fatal flaw he began relentlessly improving his putting during
hundreds of hours of practice – refining, honing, polishing, and
perfecting. In 1999 he rose to 24th best putter on tour. He kept on
practicing. In 2000, he jumped into the top five, and under pressure
he’s considered the best putter on the planet. In a sense, he made his
enemy – bad putting – his friend. Copy Tiger’s approach. We all love to hit our best shot. During the
warm-up you, like me, probably hit seven forehands for every one backhand
even though our backhand is weaker. These percentages should be reversed. Ask yourself this, “When was the last time I ran
around a forehand to hit my backhand?” If the answer is, “Never,”
it’s time to change. (As a junior, Andre Agassi’s coach, Brad Gilbert,
used to take advantage of this bit of human nature by feeding most balls
to his opponent’s stronger side during the warm-up. Often the player was
so pleased to be hitting and demonstrating his strength that the backhand
was never brought out of the freezer and defrosted.) Needless to say, once the match started Brad
immediately pounced on the victim’s weaker side, made even weaker by
lack of warm-up. Of course, we club players generally don’t have
one weakness, we have one strength. Everything else is a weakness. Over
time the disparity between the one strength and all the other weaknesses
grows. Yet we continue to concentrate on the strength. Be like Tiger:
Identify your weakness and smother it with attention. 3) You Are What You Believe
Here is a corny yet profound maxim about your
chances of getting better in tennis: "Believe you can, believe you can’t.
Either way you’ll be right.“ It may be corny, but it’s true. Tiger Woods believes he is a champion. He believes
he can win Majors. He believes he will break Jack Nicklaus’
incomprehensible record of winning 18 Majors. He believes he can make any
putt. He believes he can hit a drive 350 yards and land it on a leaf. And,
he believed it long before he could do it. He also understands that while believing is the
first step, making that belief a reality occurs only with assiduous work.
As previously noted in WINNING UGLY, Tiger Woods, like Michael Jordan, Joe
Montana, all Olympians, and most successful athletes are willing to work
until their hands bleed, their feet hurt, and their back aches. What drives them to this level of pain is their
clear comprehension that if they work hard enough and smart enough, they
will become what they believe, their dreams will come true. What do you believe? How hard are you working to make it come true? The answer forecasts your future. Steve Jamison is available for personal appearances at your next event. Contact www.winningugly.com.
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Imagine this: It’s June 3rd, 1980 and Tiger Woods
is a tyke, four years old, his father gives him a rusty Wilson T-2000
tennis racket. “Son,” Earl says, “go hit some tennis balls against
the garage door.” Tiger scampers up the driveway at the family home in
Cypress, Calif. and is soon knocking the ball so hard he punches a
grapefruit-size hole in the door. Earl’s unfazed. “That’s OK son,”
he comforts, “but let’s try to hit different places on the door so Mom
doesn’t get mad.” Tiger smiles and runs back to the driveway. The door
soon resembles a jumbo-size slice of Swiss cheese. 
Winning
Ugly T-shirts make great gifts for that special tennis player in
your life and for sportsmen and women in general.