New School Tennis
Psychology
By Dr. Adam Naylor
I decided to reread Timothy
Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Tennis
recently. At my entry into the field of
sport psychology Jim Loehr’s work grounded my approach to help players with
their mental games. Gallwey’s reminders
of the importance of practicing non-judgment and Loehr’s 16-second cure
(between point routine) are valuable concepts… yet it is time to add some more
modern psychological studies to one’s mental game.
More specifically, recent
cognitive science has added some game changing wisdom that is ready to take to
the court. At the front of my mind are a
few things. First, how detrimental
emotional suppression is to performance… therefore dynamic preparation of our
emotions for competition is valuable.
Next, the concept of multiple mental apertures of focus… it is not that
thoughts are right or wrong, but rather which ones dominate your
attention. Lastly, it is so important to
appreciate the depth to which wording cues images that either free up motor
patterns or put bugs into the program.
All of these ideas could be dumbed down to “think positive,” but that
would really rob them of their competitive teeth.
A tennis player does not need to
know the scientific terminology or the nuances of the studies that support
them… yet he or she ought to benefit from this science when taking the
court. On July 18th in
collaboration with the Kevin
Pease School of Tennis at the Falmouth
(MA) Sports Center we will lay the foundations for the modern mental game.
We will turbo-charge the old
school concepts of non-judgment and the between point routine. You have likely already taken advantage of
various new string technologies, racket compositions, wicking fibers in your
clothes, and sneaker soles made by tire companies… now is the time to modernize
the mental game. Same old game of tennis
with a 21st century competitive mind.
See you in July! - Adam
Dr. Adam Naylor has over a decade and a half of experience working in
tennis - from elite juniors to NCAA players to Grand Slam competitors. His clients have competed on courts spanning
the globe. He currently leads Telos
Sport Psychology Coaching and is the consulting mental trainer to the Ivan
Lendl International Junior Tennis Academy.
He has been published in Tennis View, The Tennis Space, TennisPro, and
Baseline magazines. He authors Psychology Today’s The Sporting Life blog and is
a regular contributor to Boston.com’s Get Moving blog. For more visit http://www.telos-spc.comand follow him on Twitter @ahnaylor.
