Internal speak

Have you ever watched someone mumbling to themselves on the court?  What do you think they’re doing?  Are they chastising themselves (or others) or are they encouraging themselves?

This can be the difference to how they play the next few points.  And as we know, the match can turn on just a few points.  I’m not referring to showing emotion. Emotion is passion. So what do you do with that passion?

I’m referring to the language you use when you speak to yourself.  It should be looked at from the standpoint of positive or negative.  If you acknowledge a mistake, focus on the correction and move on, then that is positive, and actually better, because it reinforces the correct action.  If you berate yourself for making a mistake and continue to replay that action in your mind, you ingrain that action for the future and create a negative image.

Remember, your mind will follow any instruction you give it.  It doesn’t discern positive or negative, it just follows instruction through the image you give it.  Give it a proper image then that’s what it will follow; improper image, then that’s what it will follow.

This is the power of the mind.  So, become conscious of how you direct it by focusing on how you speak (internally) to yourself.  This also has a partner called expectation.  Do you expect positive results or negative results?  The more you can expect positive results, the more your mind will help you achieve them.  This is the process you use when you work to develop a stroke.  You keep the image of the ideal stroke in your mind and through repetition, your body tried to replicate that image.  The same can be said for outcomes.  Keeping the expectation of a successfully executed serve, return, lob, volley, etc. creates an image that your mind will strive to accomplish.

Therefore, the process should be for you to keep positive expectations and when a mistake is made, replay in your mind the proper execution and move on to the next point.