This question has been asked often by students of mine - but only after they’ve known me for awhile. The reason they wait so long to ask it is because they don’t ever want to admit that the reason they lost a match or a shot is because they ‘choked’. When push comes to shove, however, every player out there must admit that they’ve let their nerves get the best of them at one time or another; and it doesn’t feel good to admit it. Our failure to perform to our known level of ability is sometimes too much to bear. We make excuses. We find a scapegoat. It was the wind. Or the sun in my eyes on that last double fault. My opponent’s constant ‘grunting’ threw me off. God forbid we be honest with ourselves and perhaps admit that we need some training in order to prevent this type of behavior in the future.
Training? Yes, training. You see, to some observers, people are either born ‘mentally tough’ or ‘mentally weak’, period. While people do have different personality types, I, for one, DO NOT believe this theory holds any water. Rather, I believe that players can be trained to deal with the dilemma of pressure. So back to the original question: How do you keep from choking under pressure?
First, ask yourself what your definition of ‘choking’ is. If you are referring to, let’s say, a second serve that is normally very reliable but is letting you down during key points, then you are dealing with what most people refer to as ‘choking’. (We’ll deal with that in a moment.) However, if you are dealing with shots and strategies that you’ve seldom dealt with before (perhaps you are attempting to serve-and-volley when you normally play from the baseline), then you have hit an area where you don’t have much experience. In this case, your nerves are getting the best of you because you know, deep down, that you haven’t yet acquired the skills necessary to accomplish the task you are attempting. This is not choking, but rather a lack of skill in making choices that give you the highest percentage of winning. Make sure you’re not confusing ‘choking’ with inexperience.
Getting back to what ‘choking’ truly is, and how to prevent it, let’s take a look at a match situation, and see how two players might face it head-on. First, let’s look at a player who has a very laid-back personality and doesn’t get excited about too much. (The Swedes from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s are good examples: Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Joakim Nystrom etc). Let’s call this guy…Lars (sounds Swedish, right?) Okay. People like Lars who play tennis in a ‘laid-back’ manner (emotionally speaking) are far less likely to ‘blow up’ when they miss a shot. They are far less likely to talk negatively to themselves on the court; and they are far less likely to ‘choke’ than a person with an ‘excitable’ personality. Why is that? It is because Lars’ naturally laid-back personality allows him to not really get too emotionally ‘wound-up’ over the consequences of whether or not he misses a shot. It’s his personality to ‘roll with the punches’ and focus on one shot at a time. Does that mean Lars is naturally going to be a better tennis player than most? Not at all. It is simply a facet of his personality. There are other areas of Lars’ game where his ‘laid-back’ personality is often times a hindrance. For example, Lars has trouble motivating himself on the court during practice, and has a much harder time putting pressure on his opponent - again, a facet of his laid-back personality.
Now let’s look at an ‘excitable’ player named ‘John’. John’s excitable personality leads him to be fierce, driven and ultra-competitive on the tennis court. As a function of his ‘excitable’ personality, he is driven to expect rewards when he performs well, as he feels he’s ‘earned it’. However, there are times when the pressure to hit a good shot weighs more on John than it would on Lars, even if they were facing the exact same situation on the court. The reason? John’s excitable personality causes him to become emotionally invested in the outcome of the match (or point, or shot, etc), which leads to him putting pressure on himself to perform well - but often times just the opposite happens. All of the consequences of not performing outweigh the consequences of performing well for him. How come? He expected to perform well and expects positive results. In his mind, he thinks “Woopty-doo. I’m supposed to beat this guy, so there’s no big reward if I do. But if I don’t…”
You can see now why the pressure mounts for excitable John. John’s completion of the sentence “But if I don’t…” would give you more insight in to why people ‘choke’ than you can imagine. Imagine if you could just keep on asking John questions after he finishes the sentence “But if I don’t…” Let’s ask John and see shat he says:
Q: -”John, if you lose this match, what’s the worst that can happen?”
A: -”Well, I’ll be out of the tournament.”
Q:- “And?”
A:-”And everyone at the club will know I lost and wanna play me to see if I they can knock me off, too.”
Q:-”What’s so bad about that?”
A:-”Well, how would you like to spend 5 years and $10,000 on tennis lessons just to lose?”
Q:-”This isn’t about me, John, it’s about you. How does spending all that time and money on your game make you feel?”
A:-”Like I wasted a lot of time and money.”
Q:-”How does wasting time and money make you feel?”
A:-”Like a complete fool…”
The answers really are there, and once you find those answers you will be able to embrace the pressure. John’s ultimate reason for not wanting to lose the match was because he’d feel “Like a complete fool.” His insecurity is what’s causing the pressure. It has nothing to do with his abilities. He feels his performance on the tennis court is what determines whether or not he’s a fool as a person.
Now those were just two examples of two distinct personality types. I offered them up for you as a way to relate to the experience. However, no matter what your personality type, you can train yourself to deal with pressure. The way to beat the ‘choking’ phenomenon has been studied by sports psychologists and men of genius as long as sports have been around. While I claim to be neither a psychologist nor a genius, I will tell you that through my observations and experiences over the years, the one sure-fire way to get a handle on pressure is to embrace it. The simplest way to embrace pressure is to realize the cause of it. Most pressure comes from the fear of an unwanted outcome. The key word here is ‘fear’. Now that you know this, you must ask yourself a question: “What’s the worst that can happen, and what are the consequences if my fears are realized?”
Example: Jessica is down 30-40, at 4-5 in the third set of her state qualifying match. She’s on her second serve. She’s worked hard to get to this point, and if she can win this match she’ll make it to the State Tournament for the first time. She’s a senior in high school and it’s her last chance. If she double faults, it’s all over. You can see why she would be feeling the pressure. Is there a way to beat this pressure? Is there an answer to the question: “How do you keep from choking under pressure?”
Yes, there is; but here’s the kicker: Jessica would have had to train herself prior to getting in this situation in order to beat the pressure by embracing it. She would have had to declare her intentions, goals and possible outcomes far in advance. She would have had to understand that she wouldn’t define herself as a person by her results; win or lose good or bad. She would have been training herself to see - and meet - pressure in a whole new way. She would be empowered to embrace the pressure, make it her own, and know that, win or lose, she’d ‘put it all out there’. She would’ve realized long ago even if she didn’t get her desired results, the world would not end; and that if the moniker of ‘State Tennis Championship Qualifier’ didn’t follow her name in the yearbook, that the sun would still come up in the morning, she’d still be ‘Jessica’, and she’d still be okay with it.
Kyril Popoff is a former NCAA Div1 All-Conference Tennis Player, Instructor, Coach and Author.
His books include THE TEN LAWS OF TENNIS SUCCESS and FOCUS & WIN: WHY YOUR TENNIS GAME ISN’T WHERE YOU WANT IT TO BE, & WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT!
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