 |
Mental Equipment
February 1996
Article
Contact John Murray
Mental Equipment Archive
Get John F. Murray's book Smart Tennis at Amazon.com
Tennis Server
HOME PAGE
Do You Want To Be A Better Tennis Player? Then Sign Up For A Free Subscription to the Tennis Server INTERACTIVE
E-mail Newsletter!
You will join 25,000 other subscribers in receiving news of updates to the Tennis Server along with monthly tennis tips from tennis pro Tom Veneziano that won't be found on the web site.
Best of all, it is free!
Do You Want to Follow The Pro Game Too?
Then use this link to join the
Tennis Server Match Reports
for photography and match reports from around the world.
|
Player Profiles:
Top Pros (Women)
 |
TENNIS FEATURES: |
 |
TENNIS COMMUNITY: |
 |
EXPLORE THE TENNIS NET: |
|
| |
|
Increasing Self-Awareness
Dr. John Murray |
Whether you hope to capture Wimbledon, quarterback your team to
the Super-Bowl, or defeat Fred in ping-pong, there is
no substitute for self-awareness.
Competition is as demanding as it is exciting. Athletes and coaches
make huge investments understanding and exploiting
opponent weaknesses. Indeed, knowledge of the adversary is a key to
success. However, many do not realize that knowledge of oneself, or
self-awareness, is equally vital. Subtle variations in our
attitudes and actions, prior to and during competition,
profoundly affect performance.
Our actions influence how we think and feel, just as our thoughts
and feelings influence our behavior. Everyone has a unique way of
performing best. Some thrive on high levels of arousal,
while others prosper at lower levels of activation (See the September, 1995
Mental Equipment article). Similarly, confidence levels associated with maximum
performance vary across individuals (See the January, 1996 article).
Although specific mental states are associated with optimal
performance for each individual, these states are often difficult to
replicate because the athlete has not invested in self-knowledge.
Unfortunately, self-ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of competitive law!
How can self-awareness be increased? Here are some suggestions that
will help you learn more about yourself and the factors most frequently accompanying with your best and worst performances.
Following a competition:
- Rate how well you performed on a scale of 1-7, with 1 being your
worst performance ever, and 7 your best.
- Estimate your levels of arousal, confidence, concentration, and
fear on scales of 1-7, with 1 being lowest and 7 highest. Include ratings both before and after competition.
After some time, familiar patterns will emerge. By continuing
this self-monitoring, you will increase your self-awareness and learn to discriminate thoughts, feelings,
and actions associated with excellence from those associated
with chaos. This knowledge will help you replicate the
more desirable states in the future.
Maybe what Socrates really meant was that the unexamined match is not
worth playing! Until next month...
Mental Equipment Archive
If you have not already signed up to receive our free e-mail
newsletter Tennis Server INTERACTIVE, you can sign up here.
You will receive notification each month of changes at the Tennis
Server and news of new columns posted on our site.
|
This column is copyrighted by Dr. John Murray, all rights reserved.
Dr. John F. Murray is currently a licensed clinical psychologist and sport psychologist in Florida. In addition, he is a tennis professional (having taught tennis internationally in North America, Hawaii, Europe, Middle East), formerly certified with both USPTA and USPTR. He has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and masters degrees both in Clinical Psychology and Exercise & Sport Sciences from the University of Florida. He maintains a personal web site at http://www.johnfmurray.com/.
Questions and comments about these columns can be directed to John by using this form.
|
|
|
|
Popular Tennis books:
Most Recent Articles:
September 1, 2010 US Open: The Word - Murray, Lacko, Williams, Marino, Monfils, Andreev. Editorial by Jane Voigt, photography by Harvey Rubin.
August 31, 2010 US Open: What's Age Got To Do With It? Clement, Baghdatis, Djokovic, Fish, Hajek, Troicki. Editorial by Jane Voigt, photography by Harvey Rubin.
August 30, 2010 US Open: And Away We Go - Oudin, Clijsters, Roddick, Savchuk, Arn, Robert. Editorial by Jane Voigt, photography by Harvey Rubin.
August 29, 2010 US Open: Who's In, Who's Out by Jane Voigt.
August 26, 2010 Between The Lines: U.S. Open Indicators by Ray Bowers.
August 22, 2010 W&SFG Men's Masters: Federer Casts Out Fish To Reel In Cincy Title - Roger Federer, Mardy Fish. Editorial by Vince Barr, photography by Pablo Sanfrancisco
August 21, 2010 W&SFG Men's Masters: Fish Swims Past Roddick, Roger Rolls Over Baghdatis - Marcos Baghdatis, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish. Editorial by Vince Barr, photography by Pablo Sanfrancisco
August 20, 2010 W&SFG Men's Masters: Nadal bounces out, Federer & Roddick On Collision Course - Nadal, Baghdatis, Federer, Davydenko, Roddick, Djokovic, Fish, Murray. Editorial by Vince Barr, photography by Pablo Sanfrancisco
August 19, 2010 W&SFG Men's Masters: Federer Walks, Roddick Talks, Murray Balks - Nadal, Bennetteau, Soderling, Roddick, Baghdatis, Berdych, Davydenko, Ferrer. Editorial by Vince Barr, photography by Pablo Sanfrancisco
August 18, 2010 W&SFG Men's Masters: Roddick Rallies, Nadal makes a Dent. Editorial by Vince Barr
|
|
