An honest assessment from a top tennis player

Dec. 28, 2016

Introduction

Julia has a holiday break whole week, so she decides to take some time to work on something different - Mental toughness training. Learn something about dealing with worries, how to handle the stress of practice, contest and study.

She plans to do some study on professional players - tennis player, how they handle up-and-downs smartly. And then, she came cross this article to read.

Study 

Victoria Azarenka: An honest assessment of my 2015 season

First, look up her professional records on tournaments:
http://www.espn.com/tennis/player/_/id/421/victoria-azarenka

Take notes from the article, learn how healthy professional player handles down-time smartly.

1. End season early, Wuhan Open - Oct. 3, 2015 ( Oct., Nov., December) 3 months training, no matches.

Fact: 
Surprising loss in second round in Wuhan,
Work on the mental part:
1.  only thing I can do is to stay in the present, in the now, and figure out what's next.
2. There is always a new season, a new tournament, a new chance.

2. My injuries
Facts:
Play with pain in Wuhan open

Work on the injuries:
Deal with pain, play through it, train through it, pretend that it is not there.

Learned through the experience:
Learn that the hard way. Take time off.

3. Australia - start new season
Facts:
my ego came along with the nervousness

Give out an ego talk:
How it is a good thing?
You're the best and nobody can beat you.
Having a healthy ego is absolutely necessary to reach the top.

4. New coach
Facts:
Contact Serana if it is OK to work with the coach Sascha Bajin

Argument:
Being honest is the only way to do business in my opinion.

Give out  a talk about hitting partner:
...

Talk about emotional toll - inconsistencies from hard court swing to ......
father underwent surgery ...

Self-talk:
How fortunate I am to play.

Talk about training place - Croatia - a country

5. Peers
Serena - No. 1
I believe in myself and nobody can put a limit to what I can achieve.

a lot to do , a lot more to learn.

my thoughts, raw, uncut and honest. Nobody can twist and turn it around.

Actionable Item:

Do some research on emotional toll, how top-players handle emotional toll properly.
Google search keyword:
how tennis top player handles emotional toll

More readings:

1. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/obesity/Pages/The-Emotional-Toll-of-Obesity.aspx


2.https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201012/sports-the-power-emotions

In fact, one reason why the best athletes in the world are at the top is because they have the ability to control their emotions rather than their emotions controlling them.