Mental Skills Tennis

“Anger” is a powerful emotion which, when channeled properly can motivate and inspire us to do heroic things, perform at our best and even push us to do more than we ever thought possible. Sadly, especially in sports, anger is “mismanaged” and “unregulated” resulting in unpleasantness not only for the angry person but for all those exposed to him or her.

Since we all learn, to some extent by watching others and give extra attention to those who are famous or excel in sports, these “celebrities” can exert strong influence on our own reactions to adverse situation. Fortunately, we can use their occasional “bad displays” of behavior to take a different path when faced with similar circumstances and frustrations.

Recently, I was watching a tennis match between tennis legend and former world champion, John McEnroe. He was getting killed by an opponent and rather than give credit to the excellent play of his opponent or accept his own occasional lapses in performance, in typical McEnroe style, he would find fault with the calls, intimidate the lines people and even yell and scream at the chair umpire. Upon hitting a double fault (totally his own fault), he would then whack a ball into the stadium.

Such outrageous behavior is totally against the rules of the game and the umpire should have penalized him. McEnroe does this to try to pump himself up, distract his opponent, and intimidate the officials so he can perhaps get a favorable call or two later on. I believe some of it is just a conditioned reaction to his intolerance for others and his intensely self-critical nature.

As we watch this behavior unfold a good take away would be to feel sorry for McEnroe. How sad it must be to have such little control over his emotions and to go through life living at the edge of an explosion. How embarrassing it must be to his friends and family to see the whining, complaining and cry baby behaviors of a grown adult unfold in public before an audience of millions.

Whenever you witness this type of anger problem in someone, let it be a trigger for you to say to yourself, “That’s bad. I don’t want to ever behave that way.” “I’m in control of my emotions.” “I will find a better way to handle my frustrations and disappointments.”

In my role as a sports psychologist, I teach my clients these and other tools from cognitive therapy help them more effective “manage their emotions”, “tame their anger”

Tennis legend Martina Navratalova talked about the importance of “soft hands” in becoming a good player. Since tennis is a game of “feel”, the ability to create softness in the hands translates to improved shot control. 

As a sports psychologist who works a lot with tennis players, I am constantly looking to create effective ways to teach mental skills to my students and those who participate in my mental toughness training seminars. I recently found that holding a raw egg automatically creates a sense for holding the racket lightly. Too much pressure and the egg breaks. 

Practice holding an egg in your hand for a few minutes each day for a week. Once you get a good feel for the degree of pressure, try to bring up the same feeling in your hand and racket grip when playing and notice the impact it makes on your shots.

For more infromation on this topic, go to www.mentalskillstennis.com or email info@robertheller.net.

Basketball great, Bob McAdoo recently shared his anxiety about watching his 15 year old daughter compete in tennis. Apparently, the 15 year old nationally ranked daughter at times fights herself rather than her opponent. The on-court outbursts interrupt her concentration and hurts her performance. McAdoo claims she inherited her temper from her mother. As a sports psychologist I don’t buy it. The greater likelihood is it is learned behavior that she has either observed in others or comes from her own overly perfectionist standards and unrealistic expectations of herself. It is also possible that she puts tremendous pressure on herself by demanding that she compete at the highest level as her father did. I have worked with a number of children of famous and successful parents that feel that way. Hopefully, she will learn how to channel her desire to win and become a pro one day, focusing more on “one day at a time” and “improving rather than winning”.

“Slumping at Work? What Would Jack Do?” That is the headline of a Wall Street Journal that focused on how sports psychologists apply the same mental toughness skills they use with professional athletes to businessmen and corporate executives. For example, the causes that lead to “slumps” such as self-critical thinking, loss of confidence, over analyzing and other types of negative thinking are commonly found in both the sports and business arenas.

Overcoming these problems teaching “mental skills” can restore or lead to “peak performance” whether it be on the playing field or in the boardroom. Teaching relaxation skills, guided imagery, focusing on past positive performances and practicing effective “self talk” are but a few of the methods sports psychologists use. Some specific strategies include: -After a mistake or failure, refocus immediately on a past success. -Visualize yourself succeeding on the next sale, meeting, play or game. -Record or refer to your past peak performances, on video or in writing.

In my own work with athletes, business people and performing artists, I use “hypnosis”, “cognitive behavioral therapy” and “mental conditioning” to restore and improve performance. My mental skills training program (TENNISMIND- Dr.Robert Heller) provides short lessons or suggestions to train effective coping strategies.

For additional information or comments on this article go to www.mentalskillstennis.com

The following is an excerpt from Dr. Robert Heller”s  book “Weight Management”. 

In America and many other countries having a great body is associated with being thin. A popular saying is “You can never be too rich or too thin”. When taken to an extreme, this obsession with thinness results in an unhealthy pursuit of excessive weight loss. 

Types of Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa. A condition where individuals see themselves as overweight even though, objectively, they are quite thin. They tend to exercise compulsively, and eat very little. In some cases, they can starve themselves to death.

Bulimia. A condition where individuals eat excessive amounts of food and then cause themselves to throw up. They may stick their fingers down their throat or abuse laxatives, enemas or diuretics. 

Binge Eating. A compulsive behavior characterized by out of control and excessive periods of eating. For example, eating a gallon of ice cream at one sitting. 

Characteristics of Eating Disorders

-          90% are female adolescents

-          More commonly see in gymnasts, swimmers and figure skaters.

-          Anorexics tend to be perfectionists.

-          Bulimics tend to be impulsive.

-          Low self-esteem

 Sometimes a healthy desire to look good and feel fit transforms into an unhealthy obsession with food, the body and self-esteem. In an effort to be fit, fast and compete effectively in certain sports, teens may go to an unhealthy extreme. Parents and coaches need to keep a watchful eye and intervene early in the process. 

Self-help programs are NOT recommended. Seek professional help. Full blown conditions usually require medical, psychiatric and psychological treatment.

Childhood obesity is at epidemic proportions and continues to spiral out of control. Many factors contribute to this program. The USPTA, the largest tennis teaching professional organization sees Tennis as a healthy outlet to help fight obesity. Obviously, enrolling more children at younger ages is also good business for the tennis profession, providing jobs and increased income. While staying and keeping active is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, there are greater long term opportunities in enrolling kids in a good tennis program. As a potential role model, the tennis professional could introduce and reinforce healthy eating and drinking habits for a healthy and strong body and be “alert” to attitudes and behaviors in children that are or could be problematic later on. 

Often times, obesity is connected to emotional factors such as low self esteem, anxiety, depression and related issues. Early detection and treatment might help in preventing the development of obesity when combined with a healthy lifestyle of exercise and eating. 

Troubled children are not that hard to spot: overly withdrawn, problems with peers, impulse control and so on. Being alert to these symptoms and a willingness to talk to kids and their parents can make a big difference in kids getting the help they need to get on track.

As a psychologist and sports psychologist I know it is much easier to prevent children from becoming obese than dealing with them later on as obese adults.

Former tennis great Andre Agassi’s new autobiography, “Open” should more appropriately have been titled, “Closed”. Closed is how Andre was for most of his life. Although depressed, confused and conflicted for long periods of time, he apparently suffered silently. As great as his tennis accomplishments were, had he reached out for professional help earlier on, he might have achieved even more on the tennis court and suffered far less in his personal life and psyche. I find it hard to believe that except for his ex-wife, Brooke Shields, none of his inner circle nor family ever pushed him in that direction. Given the stressors on a child prodigy and professional athletes, I believe psychological “training” should be required and is every bit as important as the technical training and physical conditioning athletes undergo.

I have been using hypnosis with my clients for many years. More recently, I have used it with some of the elite junior tennis clients I work with and have been very pleased with how well they have responded and how quickly the suggestions have transferred to their match play.

The biggest reason for the success is the natural ability of the individual. Within 1 or 2 sessions, I can see how deeply a person gets in the trance (relaxation) phase. If they are highly responsive, I then develop a series of specific suggestions based on their needs and goals, then verbally “feed” them back to the client while they are in the trance. I often record the session and have them practice between sessions.

While no one knows how hypnosis works for sure, it’s a great tool that can accelerate progress in many individuals.  My mental condition CD-ROM, TENNISMIND is based on hypnosis and numerous tennis coaches use it regularly with the students. It’s available on the products portion of my website, www.robertheller.net.

The Impact of Personal Crisis on Work and Performance

One day after catapulting from obscurity to international fame as the giant killer of the top women tennis players in the world at the US Open, young 17 year old Melodie Oudin has a bombshell dropped on her: her father is divorcing her mother for sleeping with Melody’s long time coach!

How will this turn of events impact her personal life, relationships, trust and career? In the short run, it certainly can’t be good. Hopefully, she will be guided to seek competent professional counseling to help her sort out and manage her emotions and the complex issues that they evoke.

Being a teenager has always been a stressful time as they seek greater independence, want to experiment with new things and want to fit in and be accepted by their peers. The technology age provides a double-edged sword, both as a resource for help and a block against communication. The increased access to chat with kids and groups from all over the world has the potential to reduce isolationism and provide advice, sharing and other viewpoints that can help teens deal with tough questions, situations and pressures they experience. The tendency of kids to keep things from their parents is magnified by the use of cell phones, texting and the numerous social websites teens gravitate to.

The caring, concerned parent is often kept out of the loop and the last one to know. Finding a balance over the use of technology is a challenge to all of us. Parents need to set limits without going over the top. Sometimes just caring and being available is all you can do.