May 2002 -- Question: Anyone who has competed understands what it means to choke in a match. My question relates to a player’s physical skills and condition as they relate to the choking response. What is the role of these physical factors that might cause a player to choke?
Answer: The common thought that occurs in
someone’s mind when a player “chokes” is that it is mental or emotional. At the end of any discussion, it can still come down to that debate, but experts point out a plethora of evidence detailing how “choking” is a multidimensional phenomenon.
When someone comes to our facility, we profile them in a very sophisticated way to help them “face the truth” about what might be causing any problems they may have in competition. We want to be sure we totally understand each player’s
capacity before we start training them. And this capacity is determined physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I say this in my answer only to set the stage for how complex it is to answer your question in a short column. For the purposes of this discussion, we will only concern ourselves at this time with the physical part of the equation.
There is little question that a player’s skills and physical condition play a significant role in enabling that player to answer the demands of a tennis match. Let’s begin with skills.
When a match gets close or when a player feels pressure for whatever reasons, he must have confidence in his skills. For example, if a player possesses a backhand that is not effective overall, or even if the backhand is “perceived” to “go out the window” on big points, we all realize it is very hard to hit a great backhand when the player needs it. Also, if a player “feels” the serve may not get the job done on big points, he is probably in big trouble on big points.
Now, you might be saying that this is all psychological and I understand the arguments, but the player may not feel it is psychological. For that reason alone, the tennis professional must spend time either perfecting the stroke(s) or ensuring the player that the stroke in question is a good one. Creating practice sessions that enable the player to “feel” that the stroke is good technically, builds confidence in the player.
Aristotle had a great phrase for this issue: You are what you repeatedly do. So, if you always worry about a certain stroke or if you don’t believe a certain stroke will come through in the crunch (and even if it’s true), that stroke just isn’t as good as it should be in your mind.
It must be practiced and practiced under conditions where it tends to fail. Practice under pressure is a key way to improve skills and effectiveness under fire.
As for physical condition, it has caused a lot of players (and great players I might add) to choke. In fact, the most common phrase to use is that “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” If a player feels he doesn’t have the right amount of endurance to close out a match, it is much easier to choke. What types of conditioning are necessary to create a level of fitness that develops psychological strength? The answer is aerobic, anaerobic, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, speed, agility, dynamic balance, coordination and power. In the mid-1980s, I was at a professional event and heard a discussion in the locker room between two world-ranked players. One said to the other, “You are really looking fit these days.” His compatriot replied, “There is nobody in the game that’s as fit as I am right now.” Now, obviously there could have been some hormonal jockeying for position in a hierarchy occurring, but imagine this: How good would you be in the heat of a big match and, at 4-all in the third, to feel that you are, without doubt, more fit than your opponent? It can become a huge psychological edge.
Let me briefly explain how you must think about your conditioning. You must have a sound aerobic foundation because it is this foundation that enables you to recover quickly between points and on changeovers. Anaerobically, you must be able to utilize all the stored fuel in the muscles efficiently and effectively. Strengthwise, you must be able to develop force and sustain muscular contractions throughout the duration of a match. Good nutrition will play a role here as well. And for all the movement parameters mentioned previously, you must specifically train the way a match is played. Explosive sprints with agile changes in directions in combination with great coordination and dynamic balance will help you move on the court under pressure.
Physical issues definitely play a role in how well a player handles the stress of a match. It is up to us, the teaching professionals, to create the practice and training sessions that enable the athlete to overcome any of the potential physical obstacles that would contribute to choking.
Send questions to jgroppel@LGEPerformance.com.
