Pressure!
Friend or foe?
Barry Davies, a BBC Tennis commentator, thinks it’s foe.
Whilst watching another Wimbledon melt down he exclaimed, “has anyone, anywhere in the world, ever satisfactorily explained what pressure is and how it suddenly takes over the human mind and body?”
And then later, in the same match, another BBC commentator say’s, “Absolutely amazing. Djokovic, under so much pressure, is playing his best tennis of this match. Playing with so much freedom. How does he do that? HE IS A BIG POINT PLAYER.”
They still give the impression that ‘pressure’ is something to be fought against, to be broken through. Something that only the elite can do.
What is true is that people that are trained in Big Points will beat opponents of exactly the same standard, on a predictable basis, time and time again. And this holds true for any ability level. Any age.
What if I told you that not only is pressure NOT your foe but your friend?…. but that it’s actually an essential & critical part of winning matches.
And not only that ..
(Hold onto your racquets friends)…
…. what if I told you that without pressure, you literally CANNOT be successful. CANNOT play above your best. CANNOT win those points and matches that really matter.
Most of us practice all our lives and even play matches with the aim of hitting the ball better.
We play better. We win. Simples?
Not so.
If you are equal, plus or minus 5 -10%, then who is better at winning, will win. Simples.
Just consider that all the break or save points. The closing out points ..and some other spontaneous points this dreaded thing called ‘pressure’ rears it’s head.
Understand that ‘word creates world’. Ie what we say about something is how it occurs to us in real life.
It’s a made up story ( by ourselves!) not a fact.
And pressure has a bad rap.
If you google ‘pressure’ up comes the following words……..
…. Strain, stress, tension, heat, burden, load, weight, trouble, care, adversity, difficulty, coercion, force, compulsion, constraint, duress, oppression, enforcement, demand, goading, provocation, harassments, intimidation, arm twisting, persuasion …and more.
Nothing friendly here!
Let’s consider what actually happens.
FIVE of the most potent chemicals floods our sympathetic nervous system, preparing ourselves for fighting or fleeing, but either way to do this above our best!
The adrenal medulla produces a hormonal cascade such as estrogen, testosterone, cortisol as well as the neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin.
All this, without going into detail, makes you ‘wired’ . Automatically your heart, brain, eyes, body is given everything it needs to fight at it’s very best (even above your very best).
In the background, your various systems are going like crazy to make sure you have enough without having too much. The COMT Gene in your frontal cortex is doing it’s best to regulate dopamine (which is the pattern recognition chemical). Too much or too little, like petrol into the carburettor, is inefficient. The COMT gene needs training. The trained, simulation of risk and match situations.
What is clear is that the above situation is not normal. The brain, heart, body, mind are automatically shifted into an abnormal operating situation.
If you don’t know what’s going on and haven’t trained under those conditions, ‘pressure’ will be your foe. And the language we use to describe it, reinforces the negative connotation.
Alternatively, if you DO know what’s going on AND have been trained to operate under those conditions AND witness yourself doing ‘the impossible’, on command on a regular basis, then it’s your friend. And the language you use to describe it reinforces the positive connotation.
What’s there not to like?
You get powerful (legal!) drugs flowing around your systems.
You get endorphins that make you happy.
You get to play amazing tennis without effort or thinking.
And the ‘high’ of winning.
For us, big point players, there is a rush. We begin to seek out these situations and embrace them.
It reaffirms who we are. What we are uniquely trained to do.
Let’s rename ‘pressure’ as PRESS YOUR opponent!
It’s an unfair competitive advantage.
TRAIN SMART. FIGHT EASY.
