Talk about getting a taste of your own medicine!.
The toughest opponent you will ever face is the one you see every morning in the mirror. The mind can sabotage our best intentions with excuses, negative thinking, and poor practice scheduling.
One of the ways to overcome such mental trials is to practice mentally as well as physically. Way back in the day I had Dave and the late Gregg Peck to watch practice. They would head to court 9 where nobody would see them and I would sneak down there to observe. They practiced “tired” for lack of a better word! The rationale was you may have to play tired in a tournament, so why not practice tired. Fast forward …….
Okay here is the ole ball coach always preaching about hanging in there when you are playing terrible. Today was such a day. As I was getting thrashed and unable to return anything back to the front wall it occurred to me that I am always telling people to hang in there and fight. Well, that helped me hang in there and fight. Instead of being defeated 15-3 every game I got 11 or better each game.
Okay, I still lost but I did hang in there and had a chance to win a few games but blew it. The legs were heavy, the racquet seemed like a 250g although it was a 175, and my coordination felt like Japanese language lip synching in a 1980s martial arts movie. Moral of the story? Easy to say, hang in there, and hard to do. Therefore this is my promise to you! I will never give you a task I have not tried, and you hang in there, even when you’re fried!