I know, I'm getting all Plato on you all. What, do you think, is the philosophical inquisition of tennis outside of tennis? Actually, instead of sounding fancy and smart (I have a masters degree after all), I'll explain what I mean in simple terms, because, unlike what Plato thought, simple is best.
Tennis outside of tennis to me means what goes on outside of the court. Now, I could write a book on this. I could talk about fitness, I can talk about nutrition, I can talk about motivation. What I want to talk about, though, is what physically can be happening outside of the cage that is the court during a match. Often, I see a player look over to me as the coach, with either a deer-in-headlights "help" look in their eyes, or a look of "see-I-did-what-you-told-me-and-it-didn't-work-did-it." Sometimes I'll get the elusive "This-is-awesome-I'm totally-having-fun-and-kicking-butt-and-I-want-to-share-this-awesomeness-with-you-cuz-you-rock" look. Oftentimes my look back to any of these is a look that says "Stop-looking-at-me."
It's not just about looks back and forth. First of all, looks shouldn't be happening because once you are on the court, you are in the cage fight that, unfortunately for everyone outside of the match, is only your cage fight. Unfortunately again, this often doesn't happen that way. Ideally, you play against your opponent and only your opponent. You fix all the issues that happen by yourself, because tennis is an individual sport. Sometimes though, others get involved. I've seen parents yell at their own children outside of the fence. I've seen parents yell at the opponent outside of the fence. I've seen refs that make blatant errors in calls. I've been told by refs while I was playing on the court that a.) I play well (at 5-5 in the first set) b.) that the ball I hit was in but "I didn't want to overrule it" and c.) that "I heard the ball hit your shoe as it was sailing four feet out and thus it is the other players point." I've seen coaches stand behind players courts and speak to them in their own language, saying whatever comes to mind. I imagine if I asked players anywhere about horror stories about what happened during a match, often what I would hear would not be what the opponent did, but what someone outside of the court did instead.
The more I played, the more I realized how focused you needed to be on the court. The court is your cage, and as soon as you enter it, nothing outside of that cage matters, even if it takes forceful focus to keep you playing just the ball. Regardless of what happens, at the end of the day, it is you, not your mom, or your coach, or your opponent's dad, or the ref, that wins or loses a match. It is all about how you play, and if you let others get under your skin. Tennis, like most sports, requires a thick skin and a stubbornness and laser focus that many people who don't play competitively don't understand. That thick skin develops as you develop that laser focus, and experience more "crazy stories" and learn to brush it off instead. Remember how Federer got rushed by a crazed-in-love fan at a tournament? He was spooked, but after one shaky point, he zeroed in his lazer focus and continued to dominate that match. You can never predict what will happen in tennis outside of tennis, but what you can work on is developing that thick skin to combat it.
