Introversion Syndrome

You think too much! How many times have you been told that? Maybe never. Maybe, like me, hundreds of times. I believe it is because I am an introvert and introverts are lost in their own little world. We are thinking all of the time, even when it is more appropriate not to think. Sometimes it is more important to attend to what is going on around you, say when a ball is whizzing at your head at 100 mph. Introverts do not shut out the world around them. Quite to the contrary; introvert's brains are bombarded by external stimuli all the time. That is not to say that extroverts are dullards either. Extroverts perceive the world around them with equal clarity but are better able to filter out extraneous or distracting stimuli and focus on what is important to them. Did you ever wonder why jocks seem to be more socially adept than non-jocks? Now you know - they are largely extroverts, and when it comes to being charming, engaged and entertaining extroverts (nearly) always win. It also helps to be an extrovert when you are a quarterback looking over the line for a receiver while a 300 lbs linebacker is sweeping in on you from your left side. That same filtered view of reality also helps when you are tracking a groundstroke into the sweet spot of your racket or reacting to an unexpected lob.

If you are an introvert you may find yourself more easily distracted by "stuff" that happens during a match. You may find it difficult to shrug-off bad calls, your opponent's lucky tip-overs or your partner's moans and groans. So, job one is to try your best to filter out all of the nonsense that happens in a tennis match. The best way to do that is to stop caring about it all, and while that may seem an insurmountable task - it isn't, and I can tell you how to accomplish it.

Becoming a Spectator

If there is a magic bullet in this entire site, it is this. To be successful, and especially happy, playing the game of tennis, you must send your ego to the stands! Not the bench - the stands. You need to get your ego out of the game and make of it a spectator. You can't even retain it as a part of your entourage. It must not take the role of coach nor of parent nor even spouse. You can allow it to cheer from the sidelines, even take a vested interest in the outcome, but you must not solicit or accept any advice from it. The ego knows nothing about playing tennis. It lives in the cortex of the brain, not the thalmus and as such it is slow-witted, un-coordinated, emotional, negative, impatient, fearful, depressive, angry, and generally unreliable. Take the ego away and free up the thalamic region of your brain and you will discover to your delight that you have a side of your mind that is steady, reliable, patient, confident, faithful, co-ordinated, calm, quick, graceful and fearless. It's not easy to convince your ego to step aside. When the thalamus is playing you into the zone, the ego does not really feel the "thrill of victory". It cannot take credit for your brilliance. It is very much like watching your child play a match. You can celebrate, relate, even identify with the player on the court but there is always a touch of envy. You want it to be you out there earning the applause of the crowd. The good news is that it is you, and in the end, your ego does get to take credit for that which your thalamus has wrought. The bad news is that keeping your ego in the stands is harder than it sounds. Anyone who has hit three great shots to set up a sitter at the net then slapped it over the baseline has experienced the embarrasment of their ego stepping out onto the court saying "I'll just take it from here...".