The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible NOW available through most online retailers!
COMPETITIVE DRAMAS: INTERNAL STRUGGLES
QUESTION: Coaches always say “focus!” But what should my daughter focus on?
Frank: Focus management refers to the skill of focusing on variables in your control. Throughout a match, a player must shift focus accordingly, so the correct statement is “focus on what the moment demands.”
Back in 2000, I brought in Pistol Pete (Sampras) as the Touring Pro at Sherwood Country Club. During one of our member clinics, a parent of two ranked juniors asked Pete, “What do you think about when you’re playing Wimbledon, down break point…serving in front of millions of viewers?”
After a long pause, Pete said, “I just toss to my spot.”
After about 10 seconds of uncomfortable silence, a short, balding gentleman suddenly vents “Oy Vey. That’s it …I paid $75.00 for your serving clinic and all you say is …to toss to your spot?”
In Pete’s defense, he focused on controlling the controllables. This skill set was one of the major factors that contributed to Pete’s incredible success. He excelled at focusing on what he did best. Like we covered earlier, the efficiency each junior seeks is based around trimming the fat. This applies to mechanical stroke production as well as the hidden mental and emotional components such as focus. Pete simply trimmed the fat.
Intermediate juniors often fail to focus on controlling the controllables. They sometimes worry about controlling all the factors that are out of their control. Professionals think about a hand full of cue words for each match while amateurs think about a thousand irrelevant thoughts per match.
