What I am about to share with you is the most common and potentially disastrous question any tennis player, coach or parent can ask – and the two questions you should ask instead.
First, here’s a basic understanding of the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind accepts whatever is delivered to it. It has no ability to reject ideas or information. What you think and say becomes the programming from which your subconscious operates from. It runs on the fuel YOU give it.
One challenge though…
Too often the subconscious receives awful instructions. As a result, the tennis you are currently playing is based on the programming contained within your subconscious mind.
Any person knows that you cannot play great tennis with poor instruction from a coach. What happens when the poor instruction comes from your own mind?
The most commonly asked question after a mistake or a loss (from players - and dare I say even some coaches and parents) is “What did you do wrong?” or “What happened?” Have you noticed that nobody ever asks, “What happened?” after you win. The answer to “What did you do wrong” creates a mental picture or re-run of the errors performed to the point where the mind can only see how to make an error or lose a tennis match.
The worst part about searching for what you did wrong is that it becomes a mental habit. Your focus is always looking for the “wrong”. Ultimately your subconscious becomes programmed to repeat your failures – automatically.
How do you change it? Ask the two questions that I encourage every tennis player to consistently ask themselves - “What did I do right?” and “How can I improve…?”
“To play better tennis you must think better thoughts, regardless of circumstances. This is the art of becoming non - judgemental.”
Challenge yourself the next time you make an error to answer the 2 questions that will program your subconscious for “Automatic Success”. It is easy to focus on results and circumstances. You must learn to think hard and look for what you did right.
The very shot you missed is one you have probably made a thousand times. There’s no need for reprimands over one error when you contain the greatest computer the world has ever known between your two ears. Your subconscious will do what you ask it to do. Your job is to program it with the “right” stuff before you infect it with a virus that could shutdown your game.
Scott is the author of The Power of Subconscious Goal Setting, Psycho Tennis, 23 Mental Laws of Tennis and more. Also a former ITF Pro and has been coaching for 14 years. For more information visit
www.PsychoTennis.com
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