[tennisbiz] Re: Dealing with bad attitudes

Hello Randal,

I have done a study for my licentiate in physical education and training
& coaching in tennis. It's about determinants of feelings and behaviour
before an important match and during a match when the player is playing
worse then he had expected.

The results:
    When your player is worried or when he has a sort of anxiety before
an important match, the cause can be : 1. that the player thinks to stop
with competition in 2 two years.
2. IMPORTANT: that the player relationproblems with the coach wants to
solve with extern copingstrategies
3. that the player very closed is, isolated from the coach and a
negative behaviour toward the coach.
4. IMPORTANT that the player perceives his ability lower compared with
other atletes.

    When your atlete's motivation and concentration before the match is
bad, you must seek the cause in: 1. the relation between the atlete and
the coach, does the atlete accept the coach ? If he don't, no motivation
and concentration can be the result.
2. the relation between the father and the coach, Analyses show that
there is lower motivation and ceoncenration when this relationship is
bad.

    When your athlete has a somatic anxiety or a high tension before the
match, you must seek the cause in the coach : When the athlete feels
that his coach is not satisfied about de athlete's performance of the
past competitionperiod, he can have a higher tension before the match.

Then during the match :
When your athlete doesn't have positive toughts during a bad match, the
cause can be: 1. that your athlete attribute his faults to personal
causes when he's playing.
2. that your player perceives a low ability compared with others.
3. that the father has low confidence in the performances of the athlete
for the next season.
4. that your athlete perceives a lower enjoyment in his sport , so keep
your training pleasant

    When your player is angry in the game and when the interest in
fighting back is gone, the cause can be :
1. that your athlete is ego orientated, this means that he not can lose
from others, that he always will compare with other. So the coach must
teach the player to be task orientated and he can begin with creating a
Mastery climate. ( pay the atention at improving your own abilities in
stood of paying attention of "must winning from others" )

    When your athlete has a high tension, while he's playing, the cause
can be : 1. that the athlete feels that his mother didn't like the
performances of the past season.
2. that the athlete peceives less enjoyment in his sport.
So making his sport (the trainings) pleasant is very important.

I hope that you find something useful in these tips.
 
Received on Thu Apr 19 2001 - 08:54:19 CDT