The Sports
Psychology Blog
Today's Sports Psychology blog looks at what it might take to beat Roger Federer. It's beyond physical capability. But the superior psychology it takes to beat a legend.
Tennis: Juan Carlos Ferrero - Shrinking Roger?
It's Wimbledon Mens Quarter Final and Juan Carlos Ferrero is taking on Roger Federer. Roger has had most of the second week off. In normal circumstances he would be expected to dispatch Ferrero with the minimum of fuss. But these aren't normal circumstances. For Federer it's almost like the first Monday. Searching for a rhythm. Feeling out the grass. Finding his game.
This is Ferrero's chance. The question for the sports psychology weblog is, has he done the right mental preparation to take it? Has he prepared for the what if's?
What if it goes to five sets and Ferrero is 4-1 up. Will he have the mental strength, the bottle, to finish off the champion? Will he have the belief to seize the moment? Or will he cower in the realisation that he is about to topple the four times champion? Will the moment be too much for him? It's classic sports psychology.
The right mental preparation would be to think all of this through. And to have a strategy. A strategy that prepares for 4-1 up in the fifth. That takes out the awe. The awe of the mighty unbeatable Federer.
Federer, like Sampras, Borg etc., can win matches on reputation alone. Think Borg v. Amritraj in Wimbledon 1979. Champions get built up in the minds of lesser opponents. They seem like giants.
Ferrero must use classic sports psychology techniques and shrink down his image of Federer. Make him tiny in his mind. Reduce his power. Give him a character defect. Make him vunerable. And expand his own image. Make himself a giant. Looming over Federer. Towering. Unbeatable. Beat little Federer? Absolutely! I'm a former World Number One.
It's all in the power of the mind. Hold the imagery. Hold your nerve. Make your own history.
