Any sport is a mirror of life and tennis is no exception. This article looks at ten success tips which can be found in the games and commentaries of Wimbledon 2006. Many of them are worth remembering and applying. Even great Wimbledon champions like Roger Federer have some fear of failure in their minds. Former champion Arthur Ashe wrote: Every time you win, it diminishes the fear a little bit. You never really cancel the fear of losing; you keep challenging it. Fear of losing or failing is probably the greatest destroyer of dreams there is. Any achiever needs to keep challenging their fear of failure by taking action anyway. At least, they will have tried. People need to stick out their racquet (take action) and find out what good things can happen. Rafael Nadal, the king of the clay courts and the world number two had a close match with Robert Kendrick. The commentator asked: "Was doubt creeping in to Kendrick's mind. Was he saying to himself: 'I can't really win.' " Even, if we are succeeding, doubt can creep in and destroy our success. Too often, we equate our reality with failure instead of believing in our own ability to succeed. Nadal took full advantage of Kendrick's doubt and survived to progress into the second week of Wimbledon. Even victorious people can fail when they forget who they are. Past success is no guarantee of future success but it helps to remember past victories. Venus Williams was nearly defeated by Lisa Raymond in the first week. However, Venus upped her game in time and turned the match around. Virginia Wade observed that Venus must have remembered who she was: "I am Venus Williams, the Wimbledon Champion. I have come back from this kind of situation before." A group of commentators discussed the fact that Andrew Murray, the new British hope, had no coach. Andrew Castle remarked that it was better to have no coach than the wrong coach. However, he felt that Andrew still needed a coach to bully him for the next few years and to give him a clear strategy for winning. Many achievers credit their coaches with the speed, at least, of their achievements. Many of us need someone to guide us when we are slacking or being short-sighted. Miss Chakvetadze of Russia played Justine Henine-Hardenne and started to lose. Part of her strategy for dealing with this was to hit the grass court violently with the edge of her racket This did neither the court nor herself any good but showed how high her expectations of herself were. Meanwhile, Roger Federer had won three matches in the first week of Wimbledon. But Federer, the world number one, is not somebody who stops practising when he is winning. He realises the importance of momentum and not taking it easy too soon. As the weekend approached, he revealed his plan for balanced living over the two weeks of Wimbledon. "I will play on both days off just to keep the rhythm but I will just lead a normal life over the weekend." Jimmy Connors, another great Wimbledon Champion, used to chase every ball as if his life depended on it. Pat Cash, the great Australian player loved the way Jimmy played: "Jimmy was my hero. He played like every point is the last point." Jimmy could see a man after his own heart in Rafael Nadal: "Rafael, at twenty, is number two in the world. He has the desire to go after every ball. I love to see that. He has the desire to be the best player in the world on all surfaces. He is a leader because of his excitement and passion for the game." Most self-help gurus stress the importance of excitement and passion in achieving success of any kind. Most humans will not stick with something if they are not excited about it for some of the time at least. They need to keep visualizing the achievement of their goals in order to maintain their enthusiasm. Jimmy often talks about being willing to pay the price. In tennis you pay the price in hard practice and by being willing to fight for every point. Nadal is willing to pay the price to become a complete player (on grass as well as clay). Nadal also goes to the gym to become strong as well as skilled. Even older players like Agassi at 36 can still carry on if they are willing to pay the price of hard work and travel and absences from home and family. Nadal and Agassi met in a clash of Titans in the second week of Wimbledon. Chris Bailey commented: "Agassi has had back trouble but he can't hold back against Nadal. He will have to suffer some pain." Jimmy Connors heard the word 'pain' and was straight in there with his comment: "Isn't that what it is all about? Nadal is willing to do whatever it takes to be the best player in the world. These are the kinds of matches I used to like because they test your guts." Both Agassi and Nadal, like Jimmy, have a do or die attitude. But they have their own style. Andre has a quick pace and wants to keep things going. Nadal likes to take his time and has enough experience not to be rushed by Andre. The commentators at Wimbledon seemed to me to talk more about mental attitude than they did about technique although, at times, it is impossible to separate the two. For example, Jimmy Connors remarked: "You can be aggressive by playing serve and volley or by staying on the base line." Jimmy continued: "Foot work gets you in position for a powerful stroke. If Andre's footwork is a little slow it will hurt him." Good footwork is the basis for success in many sports or activities. In the martial arts, you need to end up in a powerful stance before you can punch hard. Learning effective footwork is equivalent to learning the basics in any non sporting activity. I was at one of Derek Gehl's London seminars before Christmas. I asked the man next to me what was the secret of his success in internet marketing. He replied that he started to succeed after attending an intensive course on html. Some great internet successes achieve wealth and guru status without any knowledge of html but I still feel it is well worth putting some time at least into the study of this basic internet language. Nadal has the confidence to know from his last match that he can come back from the brink of defeat and win. Nadal can also play serve and volley tennis. Pat Cash at this point revealed some of the 'black hat' methods that can be found in tennis and elsewhere. Pat, himself, was a great serve and volley player. He confessed that this kind of game where you serve and then rush up to the net to volley the ball involved a lot of bluff: "Get in there and bluff. Jump around looking ugly. Scream and grunt to try to put the other guy off." Some of the women players seem already to have taken this advice to heart. Agassi lost the first set by a tie break. What can he do? Jimmy, as usual, had the answer: "It is a matter of will and thinking that every point is the main point. He needs to get rid of the frustration of losing the first set and begin the second as if it is a new match. He has to face up to the grind of 3 more sets at least and be willing to pay the price." In the end, Nadal won but Agassi had put up a gritty fight and the audience gave him a great send off. Ten more success tips, then, emerge from Wimbledon 2006: Keep challenging your fear of failure. Keep sticking out your racquet. Expel doubt from your mind. You really can succeed. Remember your past successes rather than your failures. Hire a coach or mentor if you want to accelerate your success. Keep up the momentum of success but lead a normal life as well. Chase every ball. Don't give up easily. Visualize the excitement of success when your desire to continue flags. Be willing to do whatever it takes even if this involves pain. Pay the price and be willing to face up to the grind that may be necessary. Learn the basics whether they are footwork or html. Be aware of possible intimidation tactics and don't be influenced by them. I was hoping this would be my last article on Wimbledon 2006 but there is so much great material that there may be one more to come! |
