Fear

When it comes to the "psycho" in psychophysics, the fundamental pathophysiology is fear. Fear makes us choose to push the ball over hitting that hard, deep topspin forehand we have been practicing. It turns our second serves into third serves and drags shoulder-high volleys into the base of the net. It turns playtime into humiliation, frustration and self-loathing. Fear is the real enemy, not a lack of talent.

Easy peasy then! Let's just give up fear! Let's go out there and whack the ball as hard as we can and hope for the best but accept the worst with the patience of the Buddha himself! No problemo!

Not so easy I fear...because...I fear.  In fact I fear therefore I am.   Fear is not a sick vestigial organ we can excise and discard like an inflamed appendix.  Fear is is an essential and beneficial component of the Ego.  It prevents us from driving 100+ mph, wrestling alligators or cheating on our taxes.  Those who live without fear are destined to strengthen the gene pool with their absence.  Learning to live without fear is foolish.  The trick is to learn to live (and play) with it.

So, if you can't dispel ego fears, you must confront them. You must counter the ill effects on your performance by shining the light of day on your deepest and darkest dreads. With that light, you obliterate the shadows of the ego, and with it the concerns that can wreck your game will lose their hold on your psyche.

Step one is to recognize when your ego's fears have you cornered. To this end, we assemble a little petting zoo of psychic goblins, their source in psychopathology and their effects on your game. Several memes can serve to help us manage these little varmints. Of course, the best is whatever works for you. The following are the more common fears I have encountered:

Sources of Fear in Tennis - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
• embarassment
  cause:
  • history
    response:
    • "I am still here!"