To Fight or Not to Fight
Per-se-vere
Synonyms: persist, carry on, keep going, struggle on, keep at it, press on, stand firm, hold on, stay the course.
When I was a junior player, I was told that in order to be a champion, I had to be a great “fighter.” In hindsight, I wish I had been told that, to be a champion I had to persevere.
Let me explain.
In tournament play, a closely contested first set is often followed by a complete walk-over in the second set. Just take a look at any random draw sheet of a completed tournament and you will find many scores like 7-6, 6-1, or 7-5, 6-0. In my playing days, I also fell victim to this phenomenon many times. I would play my heart out in the first set, get close, and have my chances, only to have the second set completely run away from me. This was very frustrating for me. I was told to forget about the first set and to start fresh. I was told to change my strategy, but most often, I was told to fight harder in the second set. And yet every time I tried to “fight” harder after losing a very close first set, I just couldn’t find the energy to do so. Trying to fight seemed to make matters worse.
It wasn’t until I learned the psychology behind my energy lapse that I was able to be a much better and tougher competitor … a better fighter you could say.
When we lose something very important to us, something we have a great deal invested in, we go through a process of feelings connected with this loss (mourning). This feeling is one of lackluster, a depressed level of energy. For non-competitive tennis players, this might be a little far-fetched. However, anyone who has been involved in competitive tennis knows how consumed and involved our minds get during a match. Aside from that, it is very easy for us to lose perspective. Just think of watching a scary movie late at night. I am sure that I’m not the only one who has checked the closets or under the bed for monsters. It’s not like I didn’t know the movie was not reality.
Losing a first set is not like losing a family member or something along those lines, so the period of sorrow usually does not last too long. If you can manage to “hang in” for a little while, your level of energy will surely return. You will be able to put the first set in perspective and continue at a high level. However, in my early matches, in a 10-minute period in the second set, I would usually be down 4-0 or 5-0 already. By then, it was often too late. I was completely frustrated at my inability to “fight.” So my advice to my students after losing a close first set:
â–ºGive yourself some time
â–ºDon’t make any radical game changes (yet)
â–ºDon’t misbehave when feelings of anger set in
