Sean Brawley The Inner Game of Carlos Alcaraz

[johnyandell]

Let's discuss Sean Brawley's latest article, "The Inner Game of Carlos Alcaraz"

[nickw]

Love this! In Alcaraz's pre-Miami press conference, he said similar things that really got my attention. He said "I don't feel the pressure too much, I know the things I have to do. I need to play relaxed and not mind if I lose or if I play well or not... That is why I am playing at a good level. I am enjoying every single second and playing relaxed. That is what I am thinking about on court"

What amazed me was here's a champion like Alcaraz, and he's saying the secret to his success is not minding if he loses, and not minding if he's playing well! Amazing, how many tennis players can honestly say they don't mind if they don't play well? Of course it makes perfect sense that this mindset helps him to perform, especially in pressure moments. Stress within the mind and body normally only causes performance to drop, so the more relaxed the mind and body are, the more likely performance will be high.

Let's get back to the pure love of hitting the yellow ball over the net, and teach that to all our students!

[jthb1021]

This is my favorite article of this series so far and is really well worded and written. The topics you are touching on are the kind of reading material I enjoy the most in my quiet time. Loved this!!

Glad you liked the article! I couldn't fit it in but can share here that when I interviewed Madison Keyes, who at the time was ranked Visitor Messages in the world, she told me that shortly after cracking the top 10 she injured her right wrist and had to sit out for several months. I asked her if the injury was a gift in any way and surprisingly she said "absolutely! it was!" It gave her time to process what had happened to her and this whole new world she would be playing in. She especially said the forced time off helped her to re-experience the joy of simply hitting a tennis ball that she hadn't had since she was 10 years old.

[doctorhl]

Fantastic article!!! I think people forget the mental pressure that an individual sport athlete encounters versus a team sport athlete( Golf must be worse with no opponent to blame). Perhaps someone should chart smiles between points or some other time marker. We likely would reach consensus of those pros with the fewest smiles.