Having FunOne of the keys to the ideal mental performance state lies in understanding the simple statement, ‘have fun’! However, it is not so easy to have fun, especially for high performance players in competition. The ability to have fun stems from a certain outlook of life and this outlook may come somewhat naturally to some, but for others can only arise through the understanding that comes from a deep awareness of what is real and unreal.
The biggest obstacle to having fun is the decease of ‘being serious’. Why do players become so serious? Seriousness is a sign that the ego has entered the scene. The motivation is no longer fun, but ego-gratification and recognition from others.
In the beginning, it is all fun and youngsters or adults are running around trying to hit the ball and simply playing. When does it become serious? Sometimes, it is the parent or the coach that precipitates this change in attitude. After all, good money is being paid for lessons and who wants to ‘waste’ money on just having fun? Sometimes it is the recognition of talent and relative success that pushes the player into the disease. Often, it is the player him or her self that is driven to the disease in a deep-rooted psychological desire to achieve success and recognition in order to be loved and accepted.
On an unconscious level, it is a commonly-held belief that having fun is good on a certain level, but essentially non-productive; a sheer wastage of time and only when one starts playing seriously is real progress made. Is this true? Having fun need not mean being unfocused or not trying one’s best. There is a need to redefine the word, fun , so that players are not ‘forced’ into becoming serious players. Why can’t we create a paradigm that allows players to play for fun and yet also work hard to be the very best that they can be? There is no conflict between the pursuit of excellence and having fun, and yet so many people are smitten with the serious disease and at such early stages in their development.
There seems to be no alternative available to the player. Either one can have fun, which seems to imply giving less than one’s best or one can be serious, in which case one is spiraling into a direction that will make relaxed play virtually impossible. The serious disease, not only makes peak athletic performance very difficult, but much more importantly, it renders the journey and its victims absolutely self-tortured and miserable……….not a pretty sight and one too many coaches and parents are paying too little attention to.
We need to provide a third alternative; one which will allow the player to maintain a playful attitude and yet still compete at the highest level he or she is capable of. A joyous pursuit of excellence, not for some arbitrary goal, but art for art’s sake! There seems to be very little done in our lives that has intrinsic value. Almost everything we do, we do for some extrinsic reward. Tennis is no different and for me therein lies the the root of the mental struggles so many people are facing both on and off the court. Unless we fall in love with the process of playing and become totally absorbed by it, we will continue to struggle mentally, it is inevitable.
I call it the obsession with improvement. Everybody is consumed by a need to get better. Ironically, often it is this need that gets in the way of improvement happening.
We know that learning takes place in the pursuit of fun. All around the world, the best soccer players in the world learn their trade on the streets of their home towns kicking around an empty can of soda or pairs of socks rolled up into a ball. It is only much later that their natural skills are honed with professional coaching. This is also when the serious disease often kicks in and the fun disappears. Ronaldinho, widely recognized as the greatest soccer player in the world, seems to be an exception. He has a smile on his face almost all the time and truly seems child-like in his approach to the game; an enthusiastic and passionate outpouring of energy simply for the love it. The same is true in America with basketball. Where did the greats really learn to play the game and how did they do it?
And what was their motivation and how many people were watching? The truth is they were playing for fun and it did not matter who was watching, there was a ‘natural’ innate desire to be total and give 100%, even though ‘nothing’ was at stake.
My understanding is that many players could develop this approach to the game if coaches and parents begin to change their mindset. Ultimately, players themselves must take responsibility themselves for their perspective on Life and tennis, but certainly authority figures can make this easier or more difficult.
Playing for fun or love of the game, in its pure form, is an extremely powerful motivator, all we need to do is to nurture and strengthen it a little so that the players become immune to the serious disease.
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