Mental notes from an almost tennis meltdown

I used to think I was mentally tough until I started playing tennis, but then I realized I am just strategic. You see, I wake up every morning, have a cup of coffee, and for a few hours, I am a semifunctional adult. In those hours, I tackle all the tasks I must do for the day, and I call that my peak neuron hours. But this is something I can control. It's a product of a system, and in a tennis match, you don't control any particular shot other than your serve. 

Funny enough, that is the best part of my game most days. 

A tennis match, though, is a battlefield where anything can occur, and the person on the other side of the net is doing everything possible to make your life miserable. So it's your job to keep your side of the net a sanctuary of sorts. If you start to crumble mentally, you're done. It doesn't matter how good you are at hitting the little green ball. 

So, I have been working on the mental side of the game, and yesterday, I was tested early. I played a match against a guy who hits pretty big and plays offensively. During the warmup, I felt a little off, but I tried to stay positive. Then the match started, and about 20 minutes later, the first set was over. 

I lost 1-6. Sheesh. 

Now, a couple of things are going through my mind. First off, my girlfriend and I designed a game to keep our vibes up beyond the tennis court. If either of us brings down the vibes of our little team, they owe the other person $20. So my first thought was to keep the vibes up because if I had a pity party in my brain for the entire next set, it would be guaranteed to carry over until I got home, and I really didn't want to lose $20. 

Second, was a line my grandfather used to say when he was alive. He said, "Make the most of the best and the least of the worst." Instead of having the thought pattern in my brain be "you look like crap from the baseline," I decided to focus my thoughts on what I felt comfortable doing. My serve. I was serving well, so just because I was doing many things wrong didn't mean I had to lose confidence in the one part of my game that was working.

With the second set underway and my mind still in good shape, I continued to battle. And battle we did, winning the second set 6-2. By focusing on what was working, refusing to give in to the negative storm of thoughts, and not wanting to hand my girlfriend $20, I was able to play some good tennis. 

Then came the 10-point tiebreaker. It was a close one. Back and forth, we exchanged mini-breaks. Finally, I took hold of an 8-7 lead with my serve coming up.

Closing a match is another mental beast, and the best tennis players are closers, like Mariano Rivera in the 90s. With two serves on my side, I finally had the positive neurons come back me up. Instead of being scared of the moment, my mind said, "You put the reps in, so finish this shit." 

It wasn't exactly Hemingway, but it worked. The mind and body were in sync, and we closed the match. 

Bing, bong, bang. Crisis avoided. $20 saved. 

On to the next.