Confidence?

If you are a Tennis fan, I'm sure you watch some tournament matches on TV.

When the commentators bandy about the word "CONFIDENCE" they are doing a disservice to the viewers. 

The implication is that "confidence" is some magical commodity floating free in the ether that miraculously enters the persona of a player during a match.

The reality is quite the opposite!

As old as I am, I still remember the feeling of sitting in the school bus with my homework assignment complete and correct, as opposed to the gnawing feeling of trying to finish my homework riding along on that bumpy bus just as it pulls up to the front door of the school.

That is a true visceral response that can raise or lower your ability to compete at your best.

In Tennis terms it relates directly to your belief in the laws of physics and your ability to produce a swing that shapes the ball flight as needed in that very brief moment.

It's not a thought!

It's a free-flowing mental image that produces a physical action in the flash of an instant!!

That's what confidence is on the tennis court!

If you have to figure out what to do every time the ball is crossing the net on its way to you, I have to wish you the best of luck, and believe me you'll need it.

Do you understand why a tennis ball curves? If you don’t, you’ll not have the "confidence" to swing away aggressively at a target of value. You'll nudge, push and pray.

The next time you hear that announcer use "confidence" in their commentary, I want you to insert the word competence in its place.

"COMPETENCE" is the giver of birth to "confidence!!”

Learn the correct swing. Select a logical target and then that magical and mystical aura of "confidence" will envelope you.

Practice purposefully with match intensity and focus on the techniques that must be executed to adhere to physical law, and your "confidence" will let you perform at the next level.