The Role of Optimism in Your Game



Michael Chang and Brad Gilbert: models of optimism.

Dr. Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, believes that optimists differ from pessimists in that they think negative or bad things are temporary, while pessimists think they are more lasting.

Effective competitors must deliberately strive to be optimistic by focusing on the positive elements of the court situation while downplaying the negative. This creates good emotions which will impact their games positively.

In the first two articles we saw how this focus was the difference in two of the most famous come from behind victories in professional tennis. These were Michael Chang’s amazing enduro win over Ivan Lendl at the French (Click Here), and Brad Gilbert’s mental destruction of Boris Becker at the U.S. Open. (Click Here.)

Now let’s apply the same principles in some concrete examples that are common at the club level. You might not ever win a match in a Slam, but you probably have your own tennis dreams that cultivating optimism will help you reach.

Emotion and Outcome

In competition your emotional state helps determine your performance, and it behooves you, therefore, to elevate your mood as best you can.

Put simply,…