When the USTA had its national training center in Boca Raton (Before they moved to Orlando), they had a series of banners around the courts with famous sayings from former athletes. My favorite one was always the one that said “I let my racket do the talking. That’s what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches” by Pete Sampras. Before the Big 3 came into the picture, Sampras held the record of the most Grand Slam titles, and he had a reputation of being a total competitor in a very quiet, confident and humble way.
Last year, before the US Open started, I listened to an interview with one of my favorite players. Francis Tiafoe was being asked about the state of the men’s game for the American players, and he was very upbeat to solidify that the US was back on the top of the list in regard to the number of players ranked inside the top 50 in the world. He was also emphatic to say that he felt that HE was ready to win a Grand Slam title. When he made the last statement, I scratched my head. I am a big believer that when a player, a coach or a parent creates expectations regarding results pressure gets added to the already difficult equation. In my humble opinion, the expectations that we create should be about hard work, attention to detail, goal setting and preparation for competition because the road is ALWAYS bumpy in the tennis world. Francis has not had the end of season that he (and all of us) was hoping for, but he is a smart guy, and hopefully he can get back to working on the simple things and allowing for his incredible game to show us big things.
Rafael Nadal was not only very smart but also very well trained (by Uncle Tony) on this regard. Every single interview that he made before a match, Rafa tried in every way to make himself the underdog!!! He praised his opponent (regardless of who he was), and he always played a little bit of a victim role with injuries. I believe that he did these two things to convince himself that there was a good possibility that things would not go his way, and this made him go on court with the mindset of fighting an uphill battle. Even his body language and routines before the matches always made him look as the hungrier of the two players (regardless of who he was about to play), and as a coach, I am grateful that I can always access those moments and continue focusing on the little things.
As we try to apply some of these ideas to our junior tennis format and process, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Ranking and rating systems are to be used as positive tools.
- Never forget that a ranking or a rating does not show that a player is working on building a game that will be sustainable and that will continue to improve.
- Rankings and ratings can show the level in which the player “is”, but they cannot show where the player is going!!
I like it so much that I am going to write it again!!! “I let my racket do the talking. That’s what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches”
See you on the courts!!!
