because your friends do it or because you just want to win. You want to
play tennis because you love it and you’re passionate about it. If you truly
love playing tennis, then it’s not going to seem like work for you, it’s going to
be enjoyable. Boris Becker, a German tennis player, says “I love the
winning, I can take the losing, but most of all I Love to play.” He’s saying no
matter if he wins or loses, he ultimately loves playing tennis, and that
mindset probably helped him because one of the best tennis players of his
time. So, it’ll help you be a better tennis player as well.
2. Courage- Having courage helps you feel comfortable taking risks.
However, taking risks is not always easy to do because it can sometimes
lead to failure, consequently causing criticism and self-doubt. But
courageous athletes don’t preoccupy themselves with the risk of failure.
They take risks anyway and try everything they can to make sure that risk
is going to lead to success. Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer, says,
“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let
fear stop you.” This quote is important because taking risks can be scary or
playing in a championship game can be scary, and that’s ok. Just
remember to have courage to take those risks or play as hard as you can in
that championship game and it’ll work out ok.
3. Vision- Having good vision means you literally have an image of what you
want for the future and how you plan on getting there. It’s helpful to create
a long-term goal for yourself, and then set smaller goals to help you work
your way up to the long-term goal. Also, literally using visualization is a
great tool to help with this. A lot of the Olympic athletes use visualization
right before they compete, which helps them get focused on the
competition. Muhammad Ali, the infamous boxer, has a quote saying,
“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something
deep inside of them: a desire, a dream, a vision.” And he’s right, having the
vision for what you want in the future is going to help you develop the
mindset you need to make that vision a reality.
4. Resilient- Resilience means that you can bounce back after a mistake, or
setback, or adversity. And a setback could be something as small as a
mistimed swing or a larger setback like playing a whole season without
winning a single game. But being resilient means that you’ll still be able to
succeed after you’ve experienced those setbacks. A good way to put this
one is to think about the old Japanese Proverb that says, “Fall seven times
and stand up eight.” It literally means even if you face a challenge, don’t let
it stop you. If you continuously experience setbacks, don’t let any of them
stop you – just continue pushing through them. There will always be
setbacks but you need to be ready to face them head-on.
5. Confident-Focusing on all the good things about you and your abilities will
help you stay confident in yourself. However, if you dwell on past mistakes
or shortcomings, then you won’t feel confident in yourself. Only focus on the
positive things. Stan Smith, a professional tennis player, says, “Experience
tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.” You could dedicate
countless of hours of practice and training and know all the skills you need
to succeed, but if you aren’t confident in your skills and abilities, then can’t
execute them successfully. Always be confident about your skills, your
ability to improve, and your ability to achieve your goals.