The Hibby-Jibbies; Aka Winning when Up

Once you get into the intricacies of tennis, there are a lot of questions you can ask that don’t involve technicalities. You already know how to hit a forehand. You already have an awesome backhand, approach shot, volley, overhead, and serve. And yet, whenever you are up in a match, you get the hibby-jibbies (yes, google it, great word) and can’t pull out a match. Been there, done that. I have, I unfortunately admit, lost off of match points (more than one, I may add), and not once but multiple times. Every tennis player goes through those heart-breaking losses that make you question why you love this game and why you’re even playing it.

But once you cool off, and I’m assuming you have if you’re onto the next paragraph in this blog and not crying in a corner somewhere or smashing up all your racquets (don’t do that!), you’ll perhaps start to ponder—what on earth got me to that point?

As a teacher and coach, self-reflection is part of my job. But as an athlete, as much as it may hurt, self-reflection is an important task for you as well. Everyone can reflect on wins. How awesome they played, how the opponent was frustrated and upset and you owned them, but thinking about losses, especially close losses, can feel like pulling teeth. However, it’s crucial for the development of your game.

My parents/coaches always told me that losses are more important than wins. I always gaffed at the fact; winning is winning, after all. But now I realize that losses is where the true learning takes place—not only of the game, but of yourself in the game. Because, as much as we can coach the way that we approach the game, tennis is a very individual sport; there is no “cure-all,” no right answer. If there was, the people who had that answer would be making a whole heap of amount of money. Every player needs to reflect and see what exactly happened in that moment. So rather than prescribing a way of dealing with losses and not letting the “I was up but then I lost” conversation happen, I’ll tell you what I have done as a tennis player myself to combat those feelings.

I don’t think I’ll forget the match that I’m going to talk about; Washington State, regional qualifier match, clinching point. I had match points, but then I lost. It happened in slow motion, and I was wrecked after, primarily because I let my teammates down. But sad weepy stuff aside, I learned something important that day; I needed to elevate my game on match points so that it would not happen again. I had a tough time at it coming back from that match; my emotions and the thoughts of that loss creeped in every time I was up; I was up 5-2 in the second and I would think “Don’t lose, don’t lose.” Of course, I don’t have to tell you that that’s not the right mentality to approach a potentially final game of the match. While I’d love to take you through the rest of my season battling this one loss, I’ll skip forward to what I changed to help me change; I serve and volleyed at match point, every match, even if I was crazy terrified to do so. Yeah, I’m not much of a serve and volleyer—correct that, I am NOT a serve and volleyer. So, you can imagine my opponent’s surprise as I rush to the net at match point, eyes blazing, the single point of the match where I even come close, willingly, to the net. It worked. Simple, easy, but it helped me focus on something other than “Don’t lose.” I realized that I could control my thoughts by forcing myself to focus on something tangible, something that I can control; bend your knees, hit crosscourt, hit at least ten balls in this next point before you attack. My matches did get smoother, and I got calmer.

Now, you may have a specific situation in mind. Like I said before, I don’t have a fix-all for you in this blog, because I don’t believe there is one. I think every individual has their own path to figuring out themselves and what they can do for themselves on the court to make them a calmer, more level-headed player. Self-reflection, while it has “self” in front of it, doesn’t necessarily have to be an individual journey. I do suggest you talk to a coach at Seminole High Performance, all of whom have gone through matches at the highest level, to help you get started in the process; even for some advice as to where to start.