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What is going on when a catchy song you recently listened to is suddenly running through your head? It just happens, we don't initiate it, that little voice in our head, just suddenly decides 'Hey lets recite the lyrics to this song', even if it's an annoying song we don't even like!
The science behind understanding the inner voice is both complex, and quite incomplete, so I'm not even going to try and go deeper into this! If you struggle with an inner voice that is way too active for your liking, or produces unwanted negative thoughts and/or dialogue, I've simply got a brain hack that gives you an understanding of how you can disengage it for a short period of time, and in turn develop a healthier relationship with it.
In tennis, and all competitive activity, our inner voice can often spontaneously produce unhelpful and unwanted negative thoughts and/or dialogue. These can produce or enhance feelings of tension, stress, and anxiety, that affect all competitors to varying degrees, but those feelings might also exist without any inner voice involvement.
Through the very latest science, and my 25 years experience coaching, the best advice currently for competitors is to either accept and welcome this activity without passing judgement on it, OR distance from it through understanding it's coming from your brain and not from you. You could think of it as a computer malfunction, nothing to do with you, but at the same time something you have to experience.
The following knowledge gives us another tool, that allows us to get better at managing our inner voice by asserting some level of control over it by being able to switch it off.
Science has proven that the part of our brain that is in charge of our inner voice CANNOT BE ACTIVE at the same time as the part of our brain that engages in anything that our body is doing/sensing/feeling. The same way a light cannot be on and off at the same time. Therefore, if you activate full engagement in anything your body is doing, your inner voice can't operate and will be silent for as long as you hold that engagement. A few obvious examples:
EYES: Look at something, but properly look at it, notice every detail of what you are looking at.
EARS: Listen to something, but properly listen to it, immerse your hearing in the sound and any variations within it.
ACTION: Any action, like tapping your finger on a desk, will disengage the inner voice, for as long as you are fully engaged in the action you're doing.
BREATH: The obvious one, and very popular in meditation, just focus fully on your breathing, without changing it.
These can all be done by tennis players in between points, but players could still be vulnerable to an inner voice attack during a point, like 'don't miss' when you're lining up a smash! There's no instant cure I know of to handle that immediate threat mid-rally, but work and development on building our mental strength by gaining more authority over our mind, will ensure a healthier relationship with our inner voice, and will reduce the likelihood that it will strike at a critical moment mid-rally, whilst increasing our ability to be able to successfully ignore it if it does happen.
Like so many skills that are very useful for tennis players, better inner voice control is also a valuable and healthy tool for all aspects of life, and could be well worth investing energy into.
Some people are so determined to improve, they spend endless hours working at it, but they make slow progress. Why? Then there are others who can make fast progress without that obsessive desire and full-time commitment. Again, why? - I have some answers, with the help of world class psychologist Adam Grant's latest book!
Firstly, understand how your brain works, and also that you don't need to change drastically, you just have to be honest with yourself, and then you can make the adjustments that will be most beneficial based on how your individual brain currently works.
It's important to be clear that how our brains work will change over time. This happens both naturally (rapid changes occur during teenage years, and slower changes beyond that), and as a result of new information and experiences that we encounter.
How's your brain currently? There's two aspects to this:
How do you seek and absorb new information? Are you reactive or proactive? Reactive means you are fully invested in absorbing new information that comes your way, like in an individual lesson in tennis. Proactive means you will also spend your own time seeking out new information and perspectives, like through reading books and articles on tennis, or watching educational videos.
How does your brain filter new information? Are you ego-driven, or growth driven? Ego restricts your ability to filter new information because you may feel you don't need it. You may dismiss it based only on where/who it has come from, and whether it contradicts your current beliefs. Those with a growth-driven mind will find it easier to be open to new information and to change their learning/training/development/habits as a result.
Let's just pull away from how your brain operates for a moment, and have a look at the 5 most powerful tools to help you get better at the fastest rate. These are applicable to everyone:
1. Understand who's your best teacher: Do they genuinely care about you and want what's best for you? Are they experienced and knowledgeable in the field? Do they know you well? If you have someone who ticks all 3 key factors of care, credibility, and familiarity, then you have found your best teacher.
2. Ask for advice as well as feedback: Feedback tells you how good or not so good you did, advice gives you ideas on how to get better.
3. Get comfortable with imperfection: Life (and tennis) is imperfect, and it's healthy and beneficial to accept and embrace that.
4. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable: Going out of your comfort zone is what elevates your rate of progress. For example: Do lots of training drills (comfortable), then make them more difficult so they cause you to break down and make mistakes (uncomfortable). Read books and watch videos (comfortable), but then make detailed notes on the things you learned from them (uncomfortable).
5. Make the process fun: It's normal to have a dislike for difficult and/or boring repetitive activities. That's because they are difficult and/or boring! The point is effective tools/training/drills can be made more fun with a bit of playful creativity. Fun whilst training will help fuel growth and development.
Let's now go back to those 4 categories and see which of the key points is most relevant to each one.
Ego-driven and reactive: These people can get trapped in a protective bubble that short circuits learning, and causes them to give up and lose hope more easily. They can also find streaks of high motivation and determination. They are least likely to ask for advice, and would benefit greatly from the guidance of their best teacher.
Ego-driven and proactive: These people will actively seek out more new information and feedback, but if it's negative, they will likely ignore it. Giving these people constructive criticism can be like talking to someone with AirPods in their ears, nothing gets through! Finding their best teacher will really help, along with embracing discomfort, whether it be hearing things they don't want (but need) to hear, or doing the drills/training they don't want (but need) to do.
Growth-driven and reactive: These people are often praised as coachable. Criticism and failure doesn't hurt their ego's, and they embrace new input that will help their development. Because they don't actively seek new knowledge, skills, and perspectives, they tend not to make fast progress unless they have someone taking a strong role in guiding and supporting them. Taking more responsibility for their own development is a valuable adjustment, by asking for feedback and advice, and actively going out of their comfort zone.
Growth-driven and proactive: These people consistently take the initiative to expand themselves and adapt. They are most likely to be high achiever's in their chosen field. The danger is they take on board so much new information, that they can't process any of it productively, and may struggle to decide which of all this information will help them the most. Embracing fun, and avoiding a perfectionist mindset would be the best adjustments for these people to make.
This article has been written based on 'Hidden potential' by Adam Grant (2023)
In 25 years of coaching, I've never come across a simpler and more effective way to describe these two crucial areas of the game, and what's most amazing is that these were written in 1925, almost 100 years ago, by former top player of his time Bill Tilden. I've spoken to numerous coaches and players, who also love this, especially the words for timing, as no-one could come up with what Bill did. I've been using this successfully with players on court for several months too.
I think coaches these days can easily get caught up with over-analysing the game, and sometimes the simplest things are best. Yes, the game has changed a lot in 100 years, but footwork and timing are two areas that are timeless. The human body hasn't changed in that time, so the purpose and ability to use footwork hasn't changed. It doesn't matter what technology you have in the racket either, as timing the ball requires the same skill now as it did back then.
The purpose of footwork (by Bill Tilden): Footwork is the means to perfect weight control and balance.
We all know the importance of balance, but weight control is something slightly different, and crucial when it comes to achieving that great timing. Balance is always about stability through the body, but weight control (and distribution) will change depending on the circumstances of the ball and the shot being attempted. I've found that body weight awareness is also a great way to think about it, having awareness of how your body weight is distributed when preparing for the shot.
How to time the ball (by Bill Tilden): Timing is the transference of the player's weight into his stroke.
The simplicity of it is genius, and it works well on every kind of shot from defensive to neutral, to attacking. Even just the smallest amount of body weight transfer forwards enables better timing, and more efficient transfer of energy from the body to maximise racket speed at contact and therefore power, spin, and control. Get out on court and try it!
I always wondered why parents would often say to me 'When I tell my child to do this or that exercise to help their tennis, they don't listen, but they'll listen to you, so could you tell them?'. I was left thinking 'what is wrong with these mini humans? Surely good advice is good advice, so it shouldn't matter who is giving it?'.
Yes, you might be thinking of simple reasons why this happens, and yes, we all know that to differing extents, teenagers don't listen to their parents, but what is actually going on, and why is this also important for tennis coaches to understand?
Based on the very latest science, the answers are quite fascinating, and I think worth summarising and sharing. Understanding it certainly brings home the importance of my role as 'coach' in their lives, and enables me to be more effective in that role.
The first thing is that the teenage brain is hard-wired through evolution to tune out the voices of their parents, and tune in and be more attentive to 'other' voices. With their peers, it's about forming friendships and gaining independence, and with other adults, it's about developing their understanding of the world through different people's experiences.
Whilst this evolutionary process is going on, there also comes a point (between the ages of 10-16) where the child's developing brain subconsciously knows the child's parents so well as people, that it feels they no longer have anything to offer it in terms of continued brain development.
For these 2 reasons, children will often zone out and tune out when their parents are talking, but seek out and be more interested when non-parental adults are engaging with them.
Of course, I should say at this point, these processes occur during childhood and adolescence, and not beyond. Your teenager should slowly turn back into a normal person as they reach early adulthood, who loves, respects, and fully values you as their parent!
The other important aspect that comes out of the science and research with kids and teenagers, is the tone of voice used by parents and other adults like coaches and teachers.
Children and teenagers simply don't respond well to a controlling tone of voice, a pressuring tone of voice, and certainly not to a disappointed or angry tone of voice. We probably sort of know this, but why is it the case?
Put simply, children and teenagers need constant re-assurance that they are loved, valued, and respected by the most important adults in their lives, their parents. Teenagers may sometimes act like they don't need this, but it is just an act, they are in fact quite needy! The point is, that any negative tone of voice, automatically sends a clear message to the developing brain that this love, value, and respect is under threat or in some way conditional, which can then lead to the unhealthy internal processing of negative emotions and feelings.
The reason for the negative tone of voice doesn't matter, and so although it might seem justified by the parent/coach/teacher, it will never have the positive/beneficial effect on the child/teenager that is desired, and if done repeatedly, could even end up being a cause of mental and emotional stress in later life.
In fact, it's been shown that children don't respond to any parental anger in a logical way. For example, if a parent is showing anger to, let's say, an annoying driver who's holding them up, the witnessing child will internalise that anger as though it were directed at them. I was amazed by this, and it might be worth reading that last sentence again!
As I'm sure is very common knowledge by now, the part of the brain that deals with decision making, logical reasoning, and consequences of actions, is the last part to fully develop, so teenagers often rely on emotions to make decisions rather than logical thought, hence why they don't always make the best decisions, especially when it comes to reacting in the moment.
As coach, my biggest superpower is empathy, and having this understanding fuels it. I often easily understand why certain behaviours and actions have happened, and can then address them calmly and productively, and it's very pleasing to see plenty of significant improvement with certain players who used to struggle with anger and/or poor behaviour and attitude.
If I'm totally honest, I didn't have this understanding or influence even 5 years ago. They don't teach you ANYTHING about this stuff on coaching courses. I used to think that some kids are just more prone to playing up, behaving poorly, and despite trying, I certainly was never able to make any significant impact on those kids. Though I've always believed behaviour/attitude/attention can improve over time, I didn't have any skills or tools to effectively achieve that. The difference is that with my ever improving understanding, I now do.
(Edit April 2024): A final point worth making is that empathy is all well and good, and even without scientific knowledge, most adults (if they try hard enough!), will remember what it was like to be a teenager. Given how technology has moved on at a very fast pace, it's important to accept that adults today DON'T KNOW what it's like growing up as a teenager TODAY. A willingness to listen to them, and to understand them as an individual, but also as a teenager growing up in the 2020's, is probably the best an adult can do to achieve connection that will allow them to help, guide, and support better.
As with everything I express and make public on my website, I always welcome your thoughts, feedback, advice, and constructive criticism. It helps me get better. Do feel free to get in touch!
Carlos Alcaraz lets slip his amazing mindset in Miami during his pre-tournament press conference: This was perfect timing for me as a coach, as we were talking about the tennis god Rod Laver in our Team Hawker Squads the very same week, and gaining an insight into his winning mindset from a post-match interview from 1974 with then coaching legend Vic Braden.
This was part of a term-long project that saw all our squad players delve deeper into non-outcome based reasons for playing competitive tennis. The theme very much on development of life skills, character development, and pure enjoyment!
Carlos Alcaraz won his maiden Grand Slam last September in New York at 19 years old, and is widely touted as perhaps being the next established No.1 Men's player. He came from match point down twice last year in Grand Slam matches, including in New York, so this guy not only knows how to win, but also how to find his best tennis when he really needs it.
He continues to impress this year, and this quote was a few days after he had won the Indian Wells event. Here's what 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".
Yes, you read that right, this legend says he has a mindset that involves not minding about the result, and not even minding if he's playing well or not! He's there for the enjoyment, and because this mindset allows him to be so relaxed, his body is then primed to produce his best or near his best. It's obvious really because any pressure to win, tends to lead to stress and anxiety, and extra pressure to perform. Of course, with that tends to come a lower level of performance.
Our players have made great strides with their mental/emotional skills, and we focus on finding ways to enjoy competition and stay relaxed, as we know this will lead to more success on court! Thank you Carlos and Rod, for helping our players to be happier and to play better when on the match court!
The ABSOLUTE BEST quote for anyone who wants to achieve success! (from January 2023): Clearly it's not, but you're here now, so you may as well have a read! Read it slowly and take it in, I think it's gold!
Viktor Frankl (1905-97): “Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication.”
This very much relates to how I coach. For me, it has always been about taking the focus away from the uncontrollable's (like winning), and shifting it subtly towards healthier focuses that are in a person's control, and will paradoxically help them to win more.
I love the use of the word dedication, because by nature it suggests you're investing your effort and energy with such a direct focus that future outcomes are not distracting the mind, and therefore not raising levels of stress and pressure, as they inevitably do. Of course, dedication can only come from within, but regardless of the differing levels of dedication our players have to tennis, it's always a privilege and a joy to support them on their tennis journey!
This sums up everything I'm trying to instil with our Team Hawker squad players, when working on mental/emotional skills for competing.
Earlier this summer Ronnie O'Sullivan won a record-equalling 7th World Snooker Championship, and when asked how heavily that number 7 had weighed on him, he replied:
'Not at all. Don't get me wrong, the records are nice when you get them. I've just never performed well when I'm going for stuff like that (who has?!). I just try to enjoy the game, work hard, compete, and enjoy what I do'.
Every word is gold! Whether someone is trying to achieve GOAT status in their chosen sport, or just trying to win a Matchplay match at Hawker!
I know this is easier said than done, but all the skills we've worked on through the winter give our players the opportunity to take a step closer to developing that relaxed and superior mental state for competing!
Kids can't concentrate as well today as they could 10-15 years ago. I've seen it first hand, and the research backs it up. Some of the examples I could give you of inability to concentrate are just ridiculous!
This book explains clearly why it's happening, and not just to kids. Johann Hari spent years travelling the globe, talking to experts, collecting the latest research, and experimenting.
Social media and smart phones are unsurprisingly part of the problem, but why and how they are so bad for concentration is both surprising and alarming.
They are also only the tip of the iceberg, with numerous other factors contributing to our diminishing ability to focus! If you're interested, then have a read of Stolen Focus!
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