Don't let your emotions get the best of you

What: At a camp for elite junior tennis players, a camper struggles with keeping his emotions under control during match play. With great athletic potential, this player is easy to show anger and anxiety with bad calls, personal errors and opponent moves.  He rides an emotional rollercoaster during play and this performance matches his emotions. His potential is far from reached, especially in late rounds of competition when it is its most crucial. When competition begins to get tough, he begins to crack under pressure. The main issue for this athlete is the ability to control his emotions. His emotional distress weakens his ability to perform to his potential during match play. Being able to control his emotions during a match will help improve his performance and his consistency.

SO WHAT:  My initial analysis of this athlete is that he is letting his emotions control his performance. He is letting his emotions get that best of him and his performance suffers due to his inability to cope with his emotions and stress.  According to Gill and Williams (2008), in competitive anxiety, physiological arousal typically is accompanied by cognitive worry, and increased cognitive worry is associated with lower self-confidence and poorer performance. His performance is based on his emotional state during play. He needs to be able to control these emotions and stress so that his performance is not affected. Gill and Williams (2008) provide emotional-control strategies, such as Lauer’s three R’s for anxiety control and performance enhancement on hockey players. Lauer’s three R’s can be applied to this tennis player’s problem as well. The three R’s stand for react, relax and refocus. When an athlete is quick to get angered or anxiety levels increase, Lauer suggests reacting to this negative stimulus. An athlete must realize this negative emotion is occurring and try not to let it control them. The athlete then must relax, which is the second R. They must calm down by using deep breathing or self-talk. The last R is refocus. The athlete must then refocus on the game or situation and not let this emotion hinder their performance.

NOW WHAT: First and foremost, a meeting with the athlete should be completed to discuss all his current emotional and anxiety state during play. Determining what thoughts are going through his head and how they make him feel when a bad call or a personal error is made are crucial in the process of helping this athlete. This will allow me to recognize his control issues and then decide how to specifically help this problem area of his game so that his emotions do not hinder his performance. Using Lauer’s three R’s will be the main strategy to help him control these negative emotions. First, he needs to be able to recognize this stress that occurs due to bad calls or personal errors. After recognizing these feelings of emotion he can notify himself of what is going on and to not let it affect his anxiety level. Being able to accomplish this step is crucial so that he knows what is going on in his body psychologically as well as physically. After determining these negative emotions have taken place, he then needs to proceed on to the second R, which is to relax. Relaxation strategies, such as breathing techniques and self-talk, will be given to him so that he can use either to be able to relax on command. The breathing technique will be to breathe slowly and deeply while counting to four (Gill & Willams, 2008). Deep breathing is a simple way to relax quickly with control ones heart rate. Self-talk strategies will also be implementing for relaxation. Positive self-talk may include “I hit the net with that serve but the next one will be an ace,” or “My opponent got that one by me but next time they will not.” Lastly, after he is calmed down using a relaxation strategy, he needs to refocus. He needs to refocus of the match he playing. Simple cue words or phrases can be used to help to get back in that game (e.g., “Focus on the ball,” “Ace this serve”). Once the athlete is refocused, he can return to the game without letting the emotion and stress effect his performance. Another strategy as a coach at camp will be to give positive reinforcement to the athlete as well as using Lauer’s three R’s. The “positive approach” appears to prevent or counteract stress produced by competitive demands as well as increases enjoyment of the activity at hand (Smith, Smoll, & Barnett, 1995). I think this state that the athlete needs to have fun as well in sports and not let emotions harm their performance. Having fun and a good attitude may prevent these emotions from entering the mind in the first place. As a coach, staying positive and not putting stress on the athlete will relieve the athlete from increasing their anxiety levels.

CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our athlete is struggling with managing his emotions during play. His emotions are negatively affecting his performance and limiting his potential to be the best tennis player he can be. Using Lauer’s three R’s will help him keep his emotions under control. Being able to react to his negative emotions, relaxing instead of becoming more aroused and finally being able to refocus on his tennis game is his ultimate goal. The strategies of Lauer’s three R’s should help him fill in that gap in his tennis game in becoming a complete tennis player. Also as a coach, giving him positive support throughout practice and during match play should help him enjoy tennis more while not receiving more stress from an outside source. Staying positive will be his key to success.

RERENCES

Gil, D.L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise (3rd Ed.). Champain, IL: Human Kinetics

Smith, R., Smoll, F., & Barnett, N. (1995). Reduction of children’s sport performance anxiety through social support and stress-reduction training for coaches. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 16(1), 125-142.