Playing Relaxed or Playing Tense...

More on the MENTAL Side of Tennis

Here an excerpt from a PGA Tour article about actor Bill Murray and his playing partner D.A. Points who had just won the Pebble Beach golf tournament yesterday. This is Bill Murray speaking:

I think most people playing in a tournament, or in any enterprise, they just get too nervous, but staying loose, I mean, the best people in any profession, the whole thing is about being as relaxed as you can. Michael Jordon is all about being relaxed. He's the greatest there was and couldn't be more relaxed and great actors are the same way. There's almost no tension in them.

About 3 years ago I was playing in a tennis league and I recall feeling nervous as I played this guy in singles that I had never met before. Between the first two sets I recall trying to talk to him someone energetically about stringing as I sensed he (and I) were both a bit nervous, but he more so because it looked like he was playing poorly compared to his ability and this conversation would help break the tension. He said "listen, I will talk to you about whatever after we are done but not right now, sorry."

I continued to play fairly well and he continued to play poorly. Instead of relaxing and playing with a guy he was starting to get to know better, he played worse, against a stranger, a nameless opponent.

When coaching, I would ask my players who were they more relaxed playing against: a teammate or a stranger? A teammate of course. So I put this suggestion out there: during changeovers, talk to the other guy - ask him about his school, how long he's been playing, what other sports he plays - get to know him a bit. This way you begin to develop a relationship and you will be more at ease, more relaxed. And that can lead to better tennis. It doesn't mean that you can't think and concentrate when thinking about a service return, but now it's will be returning a ball from a person you know, not from some scary stranger.