Lack of Intensity

September 27, 2010

Competitive intensity has been on my mind lately, and more specifically, a drop in competitive intensity during a match or even a lack of intensity from the start. What drives that behavior? Why do tennis players not compete at their highest level at all times?

My personal opinion is that much of this behavior is rooted in Results Oriented Thinking. Players believe that they can beat their opponents because they have beaten them before, know their reputations or perhaps observed that their opponent has reached his breaking point in a match. I’m sure we could list several more reasons for this phenomenon, but the thought of the result drives how hard we compete instead of focusing on the process of playing tennis. When we think about winning (something we cannot control), it’s only natural that the level of our performance will vary.

A couple of thoughts come to mind when I contemplate the problem of drops in intensity. Number one is respect. When you let up in a match, you are essentially telling your opponent that you can beat him or her without having to play your best. That’s disrespectful, and also potentially dangerous. For example, let’s say you are playing someone that you beat quite easily 6 months ago. You should feel confident that you beat this player previously, but do you know what this player has been doing in the last 6 months? Perhaps he’s been working extremely hard on his game and is now ready for a breakthrough. Maybe he simply had a bad day the last time you played. You may not know the whole story. You have to show all of your opponents the proper respect or else you may be unpleasantly surprised.

Another example is when your opponent is injured. You can’t let up when you see this. If your opponent has chosen to go on the court or stay on the court, then he believes that he is fit to compete and you need to respect him for this. If you do drop your intensity and your opponent starts to play better, will you be able to bring your game back to a higher level? Don’t count on it. I saw this exact scenario occur a couple of weeks ago, and the injured player emerged victorious because his opponent couldn’t find his best game again.

The second thought I had on this issue was why would anyone choose to play less than his or her best? When you drop your intensity, that’s what you are doing. You are choosing to play less than your best. You’ve decided that you don’t need your top performance to beat this person. You can coast through with something less. And perhaps at a certain level, you can get away with this, but when you start pushing yourself at a higher level of competition, it’s likely that you’re going to struggle because you’re not accustomed to performing your best at all times. You’ll be too used to cruising through your matches without having to work hard.

How do you maintain your intensity and a high work rate during a match? Bring your thoughts back to what you can control – your respect for the opponent and how well you play. Choose to respect everyone you play and always give them your best. What happened in the past has no bearing on the next match. If you can beat her 6-0, 6-0 by playing your best, then go out and do that. Play your best on every single point (The Reset Button) and don’t focus on the result (you can’t control that). If your opponent has reached her breaking point, don’t let her back in the match by letting up. Continue to give her your best and exploit her breakdown. Stay focused on the process of playing your best tennis on each and every point.

Of course, this is easier said than done, and it requires a lot of practice. However, if you stick with this approach to your matches, the level of your performances will be more consistent and you will become a better player in the long term.  What challenges have you had with competitive intensity?