Be A Mental Maestro- Managing Your Mental Energy On Court

Christopher Paish
Jul 10, 2017 · 4 min read
Credit: Pixabay

Roger Federer defied age, time, and nemesis Rafael Nadal to win the Aussie Open. Can you believe it? It was one of those moments I had to pinch myself to truly believe what I was witnessing. A pure master class from the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time), as he is now commonly being referred to on social media.

This prompted me to share my belief of how to create the right mentality when competing.

One of the biggest areas Federer should be commended on is his outstanding ability to dig in deep, recover from missed opportunities, and fight his way back from being down. A break down in the 5th set, with the momentum of the 4th behind Nadal, it would have been easy to lose positivity and keep rolling down the hill to what looked like another major title defeat to a rival, but Federer dug in and turned the deciding set on its head, without looking back once he got ahead.

Now we can’t all have ice flowing through our veins like Roger, but what we can do is eliminate the amount of energy we spend on negative emotions on the court. Think of it this way, when stepping out on the court, you have two fully charged batteries. One of these batteries reflects the physical energy you possess, the other represents your mental energy. How much you drain the physical battery depends on how you are playing, and the amount of work your opponent is being allowed to make you do.

You directly control the mental battery.

Focus and concentration require energy — it is essential to maintain focus and positivity on the court, as to retain mental energy as much as possible. Focusing on the negative for too long (such as a double fault or a missed opportunity on a break point) will cost you energy, energy you won’t get back. Once your battery is depleted, concentration will wane, and ultimately it will be difficult to fight your way through a close match, as there will be no energy left to use to figure out a strategy that will get you back into the match. With two very well physically matched competitors, it could be the difference between victory and defeat.

We are all human. We make mistakes, and we become frustrated at our inability to prevent them. Federer is also human, but what he has is an unrivaled ability to control his emotions on the court. Is he frustrated at missing his inside out forehand approach to lose a break of serve? You bet he is. Does he demonstrate a prolonged period of frustration and anger to his opponent immediately after?

No, he does not.

This energy is instead channeled into productive energy. An appropriate question at the change over might be:

“Where did I go wrong in this mistake? What can I do to prevent this mistake again?”

An inappropriate response might be:

“Your forehand is so bad, just hit a backhand!” Or “Don’t miss your forehand, how can you be so bad?!”

Now, both responses require the same amount of mental energy, one is productive, and the other counter-productive — I don’t think you will have difficulty in identifying which is which. Reacting to the first response allows you to sit down, gather your thoughts and construct a productive plan to prevent you missing the same opportunity again. The other TELLS your opponent what isn’t going well, allowing them to gather a focus on a weakness for you, as well as gets you to the changeover wasting countless amounts of mental energy on focusing on telling yourself how bad you are, and how incapable you are of recovering from a situation such as that.

Both chains of thought require the same amount of energy, one is productive, the other extremely counter-productive, and remember you WON’T get that energy back. You may be able to recover later in the match, but at this point your opponent will be on a high, and you will be on a low.

Credit: Pixabay

Always try to make the mental energy you consume constructive. Do not allow negative mental energy to get you hitting the self-destruct button. If you can learn how to channel your mental energy on the court, strategizing, and the physical side of your game will become a lot easier.

If you have any questions regarding this article, or would like to reach out to me directly, please feel free to contact me at hello@chrispaish.com.

See you on the court.

Written by

I’m Christopher Paish. Professional coach, writer, and life enthusiast. Life is about stretching your comfort zone. Overcome failure to achieve success.

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