The Sports Psychology Blog
This Sports Psychology blog comes, as former British tennis player, Tim Henman brands Andy Murray, miserable!
Tennis: Andy Murray - Miserable!
Andy Murray has promised to address his on-court attitude, after Tim Henman described him as being 'miserable'. Henman went on to say, that Murray needs to improve his behaviour, if he is to ever win Wimbledon.
Murray,in response, says. that off court, he is generally a pretty happy person. So, therefore, we can presume, that his misery, is directly related to his experience of playing tennis.
So why would Andy Murray be miserable? It's more than likely, that a perfectionist streak is negating the Scotsman's happiness. Perfectionism is not a pleasant trait. It means that you are never happy with what you do, however well you do it.
Somehow, being excellent, is never quite good enough. There must always be more. You always feel weighed down by a subtle pressure, without quite knowing how and why.
Now the desire to improve and excel, is of course, a desirable trait in champions. But being subject to perfectionism, means that you tend to beat yourself for the things that have gone wrong, rather than focusing on the positive things that you have accomplished in a match.
Being hard on yourself, doesn't mean that you care. It means, that you feel you need to put yourself under continued pressure to succeed. Which simply creates internal stress and anxiety. Or misery!
If Andy Murray can begin to make both an attitude and focus switch, both his happiness levels and of course, the quality of his game, can and will improve. The happier you are, the more your game flows and the more instinctive your shot-making becomes. Leading to more happiness etc.
Being happy, doesn't mean that you lose your competitive edge. It means that you are in closer harmony between your mind, your body and your game. The Golden Triangle of Acceptance. And closer to the state of 'deep-play', where the game plays the player.
When Andy Murray experiences that exalted state on a regular basis, he will wonder how and why he was ever miserable.
