Last week I was out at a tournament with one of my players. Before he went out to play, he turned to me and confessed, ‘Marc, I’m really out of form. I’ve lost five matches in a row, I’ve got no confidence, and I just don’t know what’s going to happen today.’
Now out of context, sure, this player seems out of form. But the reality is he has stepped up a level. He was getting beaten by better players rather than losing. But still it was affecting his ability to go into a match positive.
What are form and confidence?
Confidence is the belief you have the ability to perform well. It’s a state of mind. So, to influence it we need to try and help our players reframe their thinking. It’s usually easy to understand why our confidence and form are low, but to improve our confidence and form is harder.
Focus on what you can control
Like the Chinese farmer story taught us last week (if you haven’t read it, you can here) – thinking in terms of good and bad is not helpful. It’s better to just focus on what you can control. So, at this point I talked to my player about what he’s really good at. I asked him, ‘What are your strengths?’
‘I’ve got a good serve, and my forehand is big. I can also grind. I know I can out grind anyone.’
‘Right,’ I said. ‘So do that today.’
When you know what you do really well, it gives you a plan. And if you can go into a match focusing on your strengths and not allow the opponent to take that away from you, you give yourself the best chance to perform. So, I told him to focus on hitting his spots on serve. If he gets an opportunity at a first strike – go big with a forehand. And if he was in a rally, to believe he could out last the other guy.
Because if you can believe in what you’re doing, your confidence will go up and if your confidence goes up, generally your energy and performance go up too.
Repeat what you do well
He ended up winning the match.
After, I asked him if he was in-form now, because he’d won a match.
He laughed. ‘No.’
And that’s the thing. Form and confidence will fluctuate but they are both in your control. They rely on your thinking, and you can control your thinking by focusing on what you do well. Focus on your strengths and repeat using them.
This will give you the best chance to execute and if your opponent still beats you, well you shake their hand and congratulate them.
Regards,
Marc Sophoulis