Written by the first guest Blogger-- Knarf Walker.At our level, we pretty much have all the shots: aces and service winners; crushing overheads; untouchable passing shots; angles Cuised to perfection. But what keeps us battling for 2nd place with the locals rather than moving to the next level is that we don't hit these shots when we really need them- in crucial points of the match, and not just at 1-all in the opening set. This is where the Mental Game, and playing in The Zone comes in.
I have lucid moments when I can hit the shots I'm capable of hitting for a few points or games, but I soon return to the ways of old. The last time I had an extended stay in the Zone was a few years back in a practice match with a former Whoopassium team member. With what seemed like little effort on my part, I triple-bageled him (he couldn't believe what had happened in the first two sets and insisted on a third). In that match, his side of the court seemed like a football field to me, and it was as easy for me to hit a winner or ace as not to.
It's unrealistic to expect to play like this for an entire match, so the important question is, how to get into this state more frequently, at the right time, in important matches? Three books I've read on this topic are The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey (what I'll call the Eastern approach),
Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert (the Western approach),
and Smart Tennis by John Murray (the scientific approach). Smart Tennis has been the most helpful to me (RR still has my copy- I hope to get it back some day). It includes a self-evaluation of your tennis mindset, and addresses things like emotional energy level management, visualization, focusing, goals, and choking. I like his concept of ACES: Actions, Cognitions (thoughts), Emotions, Sensations with regard to controlling your arousal levels (no Taylor, not that kind of arousal) in those different realms. It's useful for me to try to use his ideas to help me control my breathing, for example.
Now I want to hear what works for you. When do you get in the Zone? How do you get there, and how long do you stay? Weight in, because this is important information to help our righteous cause!
Frank
1 comment:
Knarf- I would like to add another book that helped me out. Zen Tennis by Paul Mutimer. You can find it on Amazon. The cool thing about it was it described playing styles and labeled animal attributes to them. At the time I was reading the book, I was in a losing slump and becoming an "animal" as I played helped me focus more and I began to win again.
Rolyatgreen
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