Fix Your Tennis Flow
First published on 9-09-2009. Bookmark & share
by Randy Lynn Rutledge - a previously certified USPTA Tennis Teaching Professional
( Note: retired in good standing, but stopped making USPTA dues payments )
( Note: retired in good standing, but stopped making USPTA dues payments )
This article is about selective tennis focus.
Focus your attention only on things which are relevant to the flow of the tennis action of the present moment while the ball is in play. A typical tennis playing environment is filled with many possible distractions. Distractions can be of the moment or they can arise from within our own mind.
Distractions of the Moment
These are dangerous if undue attention distracts our attention away from the tennis action of the present moment. These distractions happen when any visual or audible stimulus (including any tennis action) captures our attention in a prolonged manner which causes a reduction of our ability to focus all of our attention on the tennis action of the present moment.
Audible or visual "noises" (spectator vocalizations, passing cars, crawling or flying insects and birds, overhead airplanes and the like) can pose a threat of distraction if a tennis player has not developed an ability to narrowly and selectively focus their attention only on the relevant tennis action of the present moment. The present moment flows, so our attention must flow with the present moment. Distractions cause our attention to become static.
Distractions of the Mind
These distractions are caused by excessive thinking about any single event or action which is no longer about the action of the present moment or never was about the tennis action of the present moment. The trigger for these kinds of distractions can be random thoughts entering the conscious mind or spending excessive time thinking about anything which is no longer, or never was, associated with the tennis action of the present moment.
Train Your Tennis Focus to Flow with the Moment
The present moment flows (it is not static), so the focus of our attention must flow with the tennis action of the present moment. Distractions cause the focus of our attention to become temporarily static.
Use tennis practice sessions to align your tennis actions to the flow of the moment. Work to eliminate moments of static focus by making every effort to immediately adjust the focus of your attention each time that you notice your attention becoming aligned away from the present moment.