“I could’ve sworn that he looked just fine when he was practicing! I don’t know what went wrong during the match!”
These are common words of an angry parent or a perplexed coach after their tennis player has just performed poorly in a match. This can be applied to just about any sport there is, as long as there is a need to perform well to achieve a victory. I can tell you for certain that this has happened to me in the past, and I am sure that it has happened to just about every other tennis player. Based on my experience, I can guarantee that it is one of the worst feelings as an athlete. Having a good training session only to completely underperform on the match court is something that really leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
But how does this make sense from a logical standpoint? How can a high-performance tennis player have solid practice sessions and then follow it up with a poor match performance? I have been thinking about this question for a long time, and I believe that I have come up with an answer to help me understand this issue in greater complexity. That is the purpose of this article, and I have encapsulated this idea in the form of a metaphor: a bridge.
What exactly is this bridge that I am referring to?
The bridge is a metaphor that represents the connection between how well a player performs in training, practice matches, and tournaments. There are actually two bridges: one bridge between training and practice matches, and another bridge between practice matches and tournament matches. The strength of these bridges directly corresponds to the confidence that a tennis player has. If the bridges are strong and intact, then the player has an abundance of confidence and is able to regularly translate his game from the practice court to the biggest stage, where it matters most on the match court in tournaments. However, when these bridges are weak and wobbly, the player feels nervous when it comes to the tournament. Maybe from an outside perspective, he looked fine on the practice court; but inside the mind of the player, he feels a little unsettled about something potentially going wrong on the match court.
What are some examples of how this can happen? Let’s analyze one specific instance where the bridge can be weakened.
There are two types of settings on the tennis court: a closed setting and an open setting. A closed setting refers to practice sessions in which drills are carried out in a controlled and structured manner, as they only focus on a certain skill rather than allowing a fully normal point to be played out. For example, maybe the drill only includes crosscourt forehands without serves, or only focuses on crosscourt and down-the-line backhands. These types of practice drills are focused on a specific part of the player’s game, and they certainly do not resemble an actual point being played in a match.
On the other hand, an open setting is what we are accustomed to seeing in a match. There are no “restrictions,” since it is a completely normal point being played out in which there is no specific drill or skill that is being focused on. It is just an open point between two players.
Now, what is the purpose of me explaining the difference between these two different kinds of “settings”? Well, the transition between the two is exactly what the bridge is all about: being able to transfer your performance from a closed setting on the practice court to an open setting on the match court can be challenging for a player who is not mentally prepared. On top of that, throw in the pressure that comes with the bigger stage of a tournament, and you can find yourself in a heap of trouble if you are not fully confident and ready to perform in battle.
From an outside standpoint, one might think that tennis is a physical battle between two competitors who are hitting the ball against each other. However, what I have learned over the years as an athlete is that the mental game is not only a factor in tennis, but it is the driving force behind a competitive match. What a spectator sees from outside the court is a physical manifestation of the mental conflict not only between the two players, but within the mind of a single player.
I know that this all sounds a bit abstract at the moment, but I promise that it will begin to make sense as I continue to write. This idea took me years to understand, and writing it all out on paper is the easy part. Sports analysts talk all the time about how competition is “all about the mental game.” But what does that mean? This is a topic of discussion that I am still trying to comprehend. But the bridge metaphor is a step towards grasping the importance of the mental game, as well as the influence that it has on ultimate performance of the player in matches.
Tennis is not a straightforward game. It is far more than a collection of different shots like forehands and backhands. As you can see with my tennis articles, I closely examine the mental and psychological aspect of the game that can be linked to player performance, based on the experiences that I have had over the years on the tennis court. My goal is to continue making the bridge stronger and more durable. This is key to being a more confident and assertive player, particularly when it comes to translating my performance from the practice court to the match court.
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