The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.
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ESFP: Extrovert Sensate Feeler Perceiver
Challenge: ESFP’s are performers at heart. They’d often prefer to daydream about the big moment versus relentlessly preparing for it.
Solution: Accountability is vital. Assist them in customizing their detailed developmental blueprint within their weekly planners. They’re more likely to accept the rules if they view the rules as their rules instead of a parent or coach’s demands.
Challenge: ESFP athletes typically learn best by doing (kinesthetic) versus listening (Auditory). Sitting still and listening to a coach or parent’s theories for extended periods is a waste of time for this type.
Solution: Offer short 1- minute sound bites and snippets of pertinent information throughout their hitting sessions. The kiss of death for this cerebral design is the coach that talks at the student for 45- minutes of their 1- hour lesson.
Challenge: ESFP’s are optimistic, friendly athletes but can turn negative in a passive resistant manner when they begin to feel unstimulated, especially in group lessons.
Solution: Look for nonverbal clues such as their wandering eyes and mind. Detecting that you have lost their attention is the first step in regaining their attention. Add customized, personal challenges to these types to keep them zeroed into the task at hand.
Challenge: EF’s are often easy marks for opponent’s who apply gamesmanship. Their genetic need for peace and harmony can complicate the drama found as the opponent employs their “creative line calls.”
Solution: Preset step by step solutions to handling gamesmanship. Discuss why cheaters cheat and why it’s often a successful tactic at the beginner and intermediate levels but not as athletes mature and soft skill sets are developed- such as perseverance, resiliency, or conquering performance anxieties. Explain the neuroscience of channel capacity. (The human brain cannot solve two complicated tasks simultaneously). By pulling the ESFP into the drama “channel,” this type unknowingly aborts the all-important performance goals “channel.” The result is a significant drop in performance level.
