Tennis Sport Psychology: Do you really want to win?

Allan Fox, Ph.D.

The game we play at the office includes most of the same psychological needs as the game we play on the tennis court.

Excerpt from "If I'm the better player, why can't I win?"

TENNIS IS A GAME OF LIFE

A tennis match is a violent psychological struggle. Both antagonists are fighting for their own egos, seeking ways to strengthen their sense of power and enhance their self-images.

Does this sound a little overblown? After all, a tennis match is just a game. But what is a game other than a contest of sorts, played to obtain strictly psychological currency? Certainly, it is to be distinguished from "real" contests where more vital interests are at stake, such as food, shelter, security and other things necessary for the preservation of life.

But let's take your job. You would probably not question that it is a matter of utmost seriousness. Earning a living as a banker, lawyer, auto salesman or builder is considered inconceivably more substantial than winning tennis matches-than playing "games." But how necessary is your particular job to maintaining life? Not very, in the United States. We are incredibly affluent and have many wants, but very few needs. If you lost your job, you would survive. Although you might feel disgraced and might not retain your former position psychologically, or your former "status" in the community, you would still eat, sleep and survive adequately.

For most of us, the game of life we play has little to do with survival and a great deal to do with seeing how much of America's excess wealth we can accumulate. Not because we really need it, but because acquiring a good slice of the pie boosts our self-image, increases our feelings of security and satisfies our need for achievement. Moreover, wealth and possessions are the way we keep score in business. That is how we know who is winning.

In other words, the game we play at the office includes most of the same psychological needs as the game we play on the tennis court. But one is called a game, the other work. By likening our professional and working lives to games, I'm not belittling them; I am merely trying to put them in perspective, for both are based on our psychological as well as material needs. Between 1968 and 1975, I worked in the investment business and during that time, I became aware of the similarities that exists between the covert warfare that takes place on a tennis court and the marginally less covert attrition that takes place during a business deal.

Over Martini lunches, I used to hear a lot of talk about business etiquette. The man trying to sell me a deal usually stressed his moral commitment to long-term business relationship; and how I might be better off giving up certain points in the short term to enhance the relationships for the long term.

Although valid to an extent, this was often just so much sugar coating on the pie. I had to be aware of the possibility that he was after as large a slice of the pie as he could lay his hands on-right then and there. Underneath all the friendly talk, business is extremely rough and anyone who falls for the fa�ade doesn't survive long.

In tennis, as in all games, there is a social fa�ade based on rules and etiquette that attempts to shield both the viewer and the competitor from the harsher elements of the combat. The need to win in a nice gentlemanly fashion is instilled into us very early. But beneath that clean, white veneer, a tennis match has all the potential required to become nasty, threatening and rough. This is true because, deep down, we all want to win no matter how reluctant we are to admit it to ourselves or to others. And if it is necessary to become nasty on court in order to win, many people will get nasty.

No matter what kind of genteel attitude your opponent may display, you don't really know what he is like until it gets down to the crunch. He may want to win very badly. Don't allow yourself to get so caught up in the etiquette of the game that you forget about winning.

For more techniques, great stories and lessons on how you can improve your mental game in life and on the tennis court, read his tennis classic.

IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?

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Payable to: Allen Fox Ph.D.
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Allen Fox is a former Davis Cup member and top-U.S. player. Former coach for the powerful Perpperdine University tennis team and doctor of Psychology, he says, "Tennis is a mental test. When you lose, your self-image

"Anyone who wants to win more tennis matches should read this book! It will definitely help you as a competitor."
Vic Braden

"The best book" I"ve read on the mental aspect of tennis.
Billie Jean King

"Unfortunately, Allen Fox is right about his observations in this book. I ought to know; I was on the receiving end of his knowledge a few times."
Arthur Ashe

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