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You’ve likely all seen this happen: A player we’ll call Robert will be playing a singles match, miss what appears to be an easy shot – and then cry out in anger at what’s just happened.
Common phrases from Robert include:
“I can’t believe I missed that.”
“How can I lose to this guy?”
“He’s giving me nothing to hit – the guy’s a pusher.”
“You are just awful today – awful.”
Seeing this happen, Robert’s peers will often say: “Yes, that’s Robert. He’s just so competitive.”
My reply: “If Robert’s so competitive, then why isn’t he competing?”
The recent Netflix documentary on Rafael Nadal revealed something very powerful: Nadal’s desire most of all to compete. As I’ve come to learn, while winning is a desired outcome we cannot control, what we can control is our ability to compete – to engage in the process of playing one point after another, ceaselessly committed to effort, problem-solving, and, yes, that major part of playing tennis known as movement.
Our latest issue delves into “Match Management” — what it takes to compete in ways both technical and tactical. While the serve is the most important shot in tennis, the forehand isn’t too…
