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Changing Fixed Mindsets
Last week two top juniors, Steven and Josh were closing out one of their semi-private, two-hour sparring sessions. Josh from Boca Raton, Fl. has a natural inquisitive growth mindset. Steven, from San Francisco, California, possesses a defeatist attitude with his fixed mindset. Steven’s a perfectionist and believes only perfect performances are acceptable.
As Steven was leaving Josh asked me if he could ask me a couple of questions. While I was packing up my gear, Josh asked, “Being solid at crunch time isn’t something that just happens. It’s something you have to develop, right?” “Absolutely,” I replied. “Well, Steven’s doesn’t think he can win the whole Anaheim tournament next weekend, so he says he doesn’t want to go. He’ll probably fake an injury or something. His story is getting old. I don’t understand why he puts so much pressure on himself to win. Even though I want to win every tournament I enter, I’m happy to play well. You know one point at a time. I hope to learn from my losses by working harder to improve. So by competing, I’m increasing my tennis intelligence and raising my level, right?”
I confirmed Josh’s position and then said, “A growth mindset is about the journey of seeking mastery, instead of viewing losses as catastrophic. You can see losses as information gathering opportunities, and that buddy is why you’re going to be famous!” Josh smiled, rolled his eyes and said, “Good talk coach…good talk.”
We’ve all had students who have high IQ’s (Intelligence Quotient) but low EQ’s (Emotional Quotient). These athletes are wired to avoid risk while they witness others thrive in competition.
A challenge within The Soft Science of Tennis is to educate these students that their mindset is only their perception of their abilities. After the athlete’s stroke development is said and done, it’s their optimistic or pessimistic attitude that determines competitive success on the tennis court. It is within the parent and coaches job description to develop the power of belief along with a powerful forehand.
Fixed Mindset individuals innately believe that their abilities are inborn and unchangeable.
Growth Mindset individuals trust that their skill sets can and will be developed and improved.
In my observations, fixed mindset students are typically overly sensitive to being wrong. They see failing in competition as catastrophic. If they lose, it’s often something or someone else’s fault, and constructive criticism is taken as a personal insult. Changing this mindset is one of the most challenging roles of a parent or coach.
Recognize the Negative Dialog
Athletes with a pessimistic viewpoint have a running dialog that continually persuades them that they don’t honestly have enough talent, and if they fail, they will be criticized for trying. Many athletes invent an excuse or injury and avoid competition. By doing so, they keep their dignity and ego in check.
The following two solutions will help challenge the fixed mindset worrywart to consider adopting a growth mindset warrior attitude.
- Explain that Mindset Is a Choice
Their mental habit is to choose to interpret competition as a serious personal threat. Fixed mindset athletes are typically worried about what could and will go wrong versus what could and will go right. This pessimistic view tears down the will to give 100% effort. Changing from the fixed mindset to the growth mindset is challenging because the athlete has an onslaught of two simultaneous opposing demands. One is the need to suppress their pre-set, negative mental habit and two is to be open to learning to embrace the exact opposite viewpoint.
- Present the Opposing View
Fixed-mindset athletes need to be reminded that improving and growing requires a metamorphosis into a growth mindset. As these students ramp into tournament mode, be on high alert for their worry, stress, and fears to multiply. They view tournament competition as an event that will expose their shortcomings. It’s our job to present tournament play as a healthy way to assess their development necessary to obtain their goals.
Warning: Responding to and changing their negative banter is emotionally draining even for the well-equipped software developing coach.
Examples of a fixed mindset approach include:
Athlete: “I can’t play, my games not perfect yet. I’m not ready.”
Teacher: “Every time you compete, you learn and improve, and that is the goal.”
Athlete: “If I don’t compete I won’t fail, and I can keep my pride.”
Teacher: “The only true failure is being too scared to try.”
Training the stroke components is only the beginning of a world-class coach’s journey. Having the tools to develop the whole athlete is the end game.
- Religiously Spot the Positive
On practice days, I recommend applying the laws of attraction. Destroy their pessimistic point of view by asking them to say “yes” after performing a desired stroke or pattern of play. By doing so, it brings to light just how many good strokes they actually hit. This exercise combats their mental habit of focusing on the negative. Success starts by focusing on successes versus failures. It requires changing their doubt in their abilities because their doubt directly undermines their progress.
Once these pessimists see the progress in their abilities, they begin to show positive character traits and critical newborn life skills.
- Commit to Playing One Game
On match days, fixed mindset “red flags” are everywhere as they try desperately to self-sabotage their performance. By doing so, they’re building their arsenal of excuses for their ego out. “I would have won, but I didn’t have time to train.” “I could have won if I didn’t have this blister on my thumb.”
Also, typical with fixed mindset athletes is to try desperately to back out of competition the morning of the match.
The negotiation tactic I recommend is to ask them to enjoy their pre-match preparation and commit to playing at least one game. If the athlete still wants to default out after one game, that’s fine. Once in the match, they almost always see that the environment is not as threatening as they perceived. The opponent’s not as good as they imagined. So they play a few more games.
Teach my growth mindset philosophy: You have to be present to win. Opportunities and incredible victories present themselves if the athletes are willing to try.
Benefits of Competition for Fixed Mindsets
Many undeniable, positive aspects stem from tournament competition. Advantages include:
- Competition keeps us honest: It allows us to assess our strokes and movement efficiencies and deficiencies. Exposing our strengths and hiding our weaknesses is an important function of match play.
- Competition assists us in the art of opponent profiling. Without match play, there’s no dissecting because there are no opponents.
- Competition exposes our mental fortitude. The ability to stay on Script (your customized game plan), strategy and tactics the match demands.
- Competition through failure and success helps us develop a massive list of life skills, positive character traits, and a moral compass.
- Competition aids in developing consistent quality. Winning a 64 draw event requires peak performance for approximately 15 sets.
- Competition assists us in customizing our future developmental schedules. It’s not the quantity of on-court time; it’s the quality that counts.
Tennis mastery is a process of continuous adaptation and improvement, which is a growth mindset system.
