Self Belief

[johnyandell]

Let's hear your thoughts on Allen Fox's article on "Self Belief."

[DougEng]

Self-Efficacy and Memory

Allen hits it on the head. Spot on!

Self-belief, faith, or more properly from the psychology world, self-efficacy is the specific self-belief a person has in accomplishing a certain task. In the case of champions, it's winning the title. It's often the cause of momentum swings which is not a statistical probability (as often proven) but an emotional response, however, irrational much like the Gaudio-Coria finals at Roland Garros a few years ago.

The present or latest results often have the most impact in our self-belief system since those feelings are most vivid and because they are new recent, they validate any self-predictions we may have. When we get into a pattern of losing to a certain player or losing in a certain situation (e.g, tiebreaks or indoor courts), we queue up those negative experiences which eat away at our optimism.

Champions are learned optimists [M. Seligman] who develop resilience to adversity. But they are also human and their resilience is often not much better than the average person. Rather it's a combination of talent and faith that works wonders. When asked about her likelihood for becoming a successful tennis professional when coming to the US with $500 and her father, Maria Sharapova responded "fifty-fifty". She may be the toughest mental competitor out there. Which is remarkable since she doesn't keep the ball in play as well as other pros. We often associate mental toughness with the ability to extend a rally. Hence, we think of Nadal as the toughest mental competitor. And he is. But his response is in keeping the ball in play and his response to the physical battle. That is, he keeps running down the ball and gets everything back. Sharapova's mental toughness is more from the belief she can win with her game whatever the score. Unlike Federer, she rarely shows hesitation. When she double faults, it's not a tentative double fault but it's because she thinks she can get the serve in at that speed and spin rate. You can't tell her no.

With Maria and Rafa, we see the specificity of self-efficacy at work. Rafa believes he can run everything down and out-rally opponents. His experience in movement and court coverage tells him that. That is his supreme, unwavering belief. But Nadal doesn't quite believe his serve can work at 130 mph with the once-tried technique. His doubt does express itself in some specific situations. Maria doesn't think she can outrun her opponents. But she thinks she can overpower anyone. No...rather she knows she can hit harder than anyone for winners.

Allen quotes Safin. And then you also have to ask Nole about starving off match point against Federer in the 2011 US Open SF. When he slapped that forehand serve return winner, he admitted it was out of desperation since he too very much was ready to give up. But one shot makes him think, maybe I'm not quite out.

One has to ask, how strong is your faith in the face of adversity?

Best,
Doug

[GeoffWilliams]

He talks about self belief and how hard it is and gives no tips, waiting for the next piece I guess. I never think I am going to win. I just go out there either feeling neutral or negative. The only time we think we are going to win is against inferior competition, and it's just too easy then. If you think you are going to win against guys who are better than you are, that's called delusional. If you think you are going to win against guys equal to you that's called cocky. If you think you are going to win against patsys, that's called sand bagging it.

[DougEng]

He talks about self belief and how hard it is and gives no tips, waiting for the next piece I guess. I never think I am going to win. I just go out there either feeling neutral or negative. The only time we think we are going to win is against inferior competition, and it's just too easy then. If you think you are going to win against guys who are better than you are, that's called delusional. If you think you are going to win against guys equal to you that's called cocky. If you think you are going to win against patsys, that's called sand bagging it.

lol, great quote! Good point...there's considerable literature out there..but
If I had a general list:
1) Train hard...fitness always boosts confidence!
2) Practice sets against slightly weaker players...get used to winning 2/3 of your matches. Getting used to winning always helps. Playing weaker opponents lets you problem-solve successfully. And if you win with your B game, that should build confidence.
3) Practice non-judgment. Let someone else analyze your match. Analyze your match statistically...don't say "good" or "bad" about your game, but rather, I served 70% 1st serves, 11 winners/12 unforced errors, 4 of 7 break points converted. It keeps you accurately assessing your game plan and staying focused properly.
4) In matches, focus on what you are doing well and how you can exploit your opponent's weaknesses, if possible. Know your strengths and cash in. Only secondary (or not at all), consider your weakness...and how to prevent opponent from cashing in.
5) Develop a weapon or two...use it as much as you can!
6) When you play well, write down what happened before (preparation) and during the match. What habits do you have that build confidence and excellence? Keep a journal.

Probably a future article. I speak at PTR International Symposium in a week on sport psychology.

Best,
Doug

[stotty]

lol, great quote! Good point...there's considerable literature out there..but
If I had a general list:
1) Train hard...fitness always boosts confidence!
2) Practice sets against slightly weaker players...get used to winning 2/3 of your matches. Getting used to winning always helps. Playing weaker opponents lets you problem-solve successfully. And if you win with your B game, that should build confidence.
3) Practice non-judgment. Let someone else analyze your match. Analyze your match statistically...don't say "good" or "bad" about your game, but rather, I served 70% 1st serves, 11 winners/12 unforced errors, 4 of 7 break points converted. It keeps you accurately assessing your game plan and staying focused properly.
4) In matches, focus on what you are doing well and how you can exploit your opponent's weaknesses, if possible. Know your strengths and cash in. Only secondary (or not at all), consider your weakness...and how to prevent opponent from cashing in.
5) Develop a weapon or two...use it as much as you can!
6) When you play well, write down what happened before (preparation) and during the match. What habits do you have that build confidence and excellence? Keep a journal.

Probably a future article. I speak at PTR International Symposium in a week on sport psychology.

Best,
Doug

I really like 2). This is a great strategy for developing confidence in juniors. Managers of boxers do exactly this. They select appropriate fights for boxers so boxers can develop their skills and gain confidence from winning.

Upcoming juniors tennis players need to be managed in the same way...but seldom are. Once junior players develop a negative mind, it's hard to reverse it...the damage is often done...bad player management is sometimes the cause. Coaches need to become more skilled at managing tennis players....

[GeoffWilliams]

The true goal we should have against superior competition is not win/loss thoughts. It's: I will defend my contact point in front of me. (The arc your arm makes if you stick it straight out, and take it high, then drop it down to your thigh. High balls and low balls you have to let come close to you so you can "arm bar" the shots. Waist high balls are farther out in front. The good players don't allow you to do this, and they will rush you out of it or jam you with balls that change speed/height/depth.)

It's: I will unit turn very quickly and decisively on every shot. It's: I will just spin my serve in and win off grinding it out. It's: I will only attack the easy balls or medium balls. It's: I will search for and find his weak points. It's: I will relax and be smooth in my movements and strokes. It's: I will move my feet fast no matter the incoming shot. It's: I will be invulnerable to any psych. I could go on. Whether you fail doing those things or not is the criteria for enjoyment, not win/loss.

If I wrote a piece on confidence, it would be all about that type of approach. It's as simple as deciding how you will feel: bad/good/depressed/confident related to these goals, or, related to win/loss only.

Decide to make those your goals in match play above and beyond results of win/loss and watch what happens to your mind.

[carrerakent]

Bone to chew on

Let me throw this out...I was on a practice court during an ATP event with a player I coach and next to us was Gasquet. He was destroying a guy in a practice set. I was watching on and off and mostly paying close attention to his backhand...as we all know has some unusual motion to it. I didn't realize he was looking at me as I made a motion with my arm trying to feel what he is doing...I saw him standing there starring at me like he was trying to either figure out who I was or what I was doing.

Following what seemed like a long gaze between us he proceeded to play...and couldn't hit a backhand in the court to save his life. He kept glancing over at me every time he netted, shanked or sent one long. This went on for about 15-20 minutes...and he still couldn't hit a backhand. Next thing ya know he smashes a racquet into the ground splintering it and glares at me with his fists and jaws clinched.

Honestly, I felt bad. Just making a motion with my arm destroyed his belief that he could hit a backhand. I wonder what Allen Fox would say about that...at Gasquet's skill and success level...it didn't take a win or a loss to fall apart. Nothing was on the line. Everyone knows that everyone can play awesome in practice...yet he had no resources to tap into to overcome...

[GeoffWilliams]

Now that's a great post. Gasquet inverts his bh, like many pros do on the fh. Got into his head just by making him think you were making fun of him. Another weak minded french player, long on talent, short on guts and confidence. Been a long line of those. I still can't believe he beat fed on clay, at age 18 in 2005 at Monte Carlo. First time they played, he won. HOw is that possible, as Fed is the second best clay courter of all time behind Nadal?

[tennis_chiro]

17, not 15

Now that's a great post. Gasquet inverts his bh, like many pros do on the fh. Got into his head just by making him think you were making fun of him. Another weak minded french player, long on talent, short on guts and confidence. Been a long line of those. I still can't believe he beat fed on clay, at age 15. First time they played, he won. HOw is that possible, as Fed is the second best clay courter of all time behind Nadal?

It's still pretty hard to believe, but I think he was 17, not 15 when he beat him in the semis of Monte Carlo. And he certainly is a great talent. At that point, the fear hadn't begun to creep in as much. Although there was usually much expected of him, there wasn't anything expected of him against Federer at that time.

don

[DougEng]

Now that's a great post. Gasquet inverts his bh, like many pros do on the fh. Got into his head just by making him think you were making fun of him. Another weak minded french player, long on talent, short on guts and confidence. Been a long line of those. I still can't believe he beat fed on clay, at age 18 in 2005 at Monte Carlo. First time they played, he won. HOw is that possible, as Fed is the second best clay courter of all time behind Nadal?

Experience is considered one of the most powerful predictors of self-efficacy.
As Gasquet was green, he had few expectations. As he aged, he "knows" who he can beat and who he cannot and what he can do or not. Just like experience tells 60 year olds to take smaller steps or not to jump since they might hurt themselves. For example, there's a rare disease you probably know CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis). Children with this disease ofte burn themselves or are unaware that they might have a life-threatening situation. They have to learn (later) about what is potential dangerous to their bodies. If you remember college basketball's Fab Five from Michigan. Youth without fear can lead to great accomplishments sometimes. Or some teenagers are more reckless and wisdom teaches us to know thyself...but also to hold back.

The same with Federer playing Nadal (too many losses in his head)...or you might have a student younger than you but far more talented, but he thinks he can't beat you, the teacher. Compare that with another young non-student who might not know who you are. Or a player who knows he or she is playing the #1 seed. If they don't know, what happens? Sometimes an upset since the person performs more fearlessly and on a unconscious level.

Back to Roger: Federer might want to consult a hypnotist who can convince him he doesn't have any matches against Nadal...or losses, etc.

Best,
Doug

[GeoffWilliams]

I have hypnotized people, from books on how to do it. I think that's what Djokovic's doctor did to him also, Igor Cetkovic. He's not just a nutritionist, but a master of energy flows/chinese medicine.

[stotty]

I have hypnotized people, from books on how to do it. I think that's what Djokovic's doctor did to him also, Igor Cetkovic. He's not just a nutritionist, but a master of energy flows/chinese medicine.

Can anyone be hypnotized?

[GeoffWilliams]

If you resist it you can defeat the attempt. Depends on belief, monotony of voice, suggestion aided by physical stimulation, such as; "Your eyes are getting heavy, as you listen to the boring sound of my monotonous voice." (Whose eyes would not burn if you don't blink, or if the voice is modulated right?_) Or: "As I prick you with this needle, you will feel as if you have been injected with a sedative, and you will fall into a deep sleep immediately." Morons cannot be hypnotized due to their inability to imagine anything.

[privas]

A new software update for "tennis player"?

Excellent posts, all of them.

The basic premise of the article is a bit simplistic. It's almost like it's trying to reduce the mind of a tennis player to some computer software (often determined by past experience) that needs to be installed before it runs to victory. Doug has excellent suggestions for achieving this, but geoffwilliams has a more holistic approach that touches closer to reality. It's one thing to train yourself to getting into a winning position. It's quite another thing to execute. It is the former issues that we obsess about on tennisplayer.net. It is the latter that is largely untouched.

The mind of the tennis player is only half of the story. My most memorable victories over players better than me, 5.0 level, have come when I cared so much that I completely forgot about winning and losing. When my mind focused on adjusting my technique or my tactic, from one game to the next. For example, if my first serve is going long, then adjust my stance or my grip so I can rip it harder, or lengthen my wind-up or toss it higher so I can rip it harder. If my return is going long, then make the adjustment to a more extreme grip or switch to my racquet with stiffer strings. If my forehand is going long because the guy is making me hit at shoulder level all the time, then making the adjustment to the western forehand. If the guy is chipping all his returns then try more serve-and-volley. In other words, the game is a series of problems to be solved, not so much a game to be won, unless you are racking up ATP points. Once the problems are solved, the body has to Feel the changes, and communicate back the mind that "this is the feeling that you are going for." Once the mind is locked into these "sets of feelings" then one enters a "zone" and victory is more probable. But it all begins at the drawing board of technique, then goes to tactic, but goes way beyond both, in a constant "feed-back loop" as we say in systems engineering.

Perhaps Doug and geoffwilliams can construct a more refined model for the rest of us? Pedro

[GeoffWilliams]

Wow! That's what I call a great post. Thoughtful, analytic, yet humble and seeing the BIG PICTURE. The big picture is enjoyment. The good we do for each other is how to improve/help the other reach that place from a postive energetic place. The grit we have for each other is how to reach the long term project is how much we are willing to pay, for others as well as ourselves. Global-good-grit. If you don't take care of everything, and leave something out, the dominoes fall and you either lose or feel bad about the game you love. Play. What does that really mean? Play the game for? This site throws a lot down on the table to choose from.

I challenge everyone who reads this to "play" a match. No win/loss feelings. To focus on your energy first. To call the zone. To feel the zone. To enjoy the game based on these goals: Defend your contact point: the arced shield in front of you. Unit turns as fast as you can make them. Coil as large as you can given the time you have. Mental unit turns as fast as you can make them. (Choose ht./depth/pace/spin/speed/angle/line before you hit the shot.) Base your feelings on how well you achieved these, not if you won or lost. Who is with me?