The Power of Acceptance - THEORY

Key Points

• “Acceptance” is the willingness to experience all possible outcomes and feelings
• Acceptance statements: "I want to win"; "I believe it’s possible to win"; "I’ll be disappointed if I lose but I can tolerate this unwanted outcome"; "I will not let the fear of losing stop me from playing freely"; "Playing freely, without a guarantee, helps me feel and play better"
• Mental imagery and imagining yourself playing perfectly can backfire when you step on court and play badly
• Imagining yourself responding well to challenges and continuing to compete well has been found to be a lot more effective than imagining you are going to play perfect tennis
• “I should win this match” is a lower level of acceptance statement than “I can win this match”
• “I won’t be able to handle losing to this player” versus “I’ll be disappointed if I lose but I can handle it and I’ll be ok”
• “I hate playing people with lower rankings” versus “I’m looking forward to the opportunity of playing players ranked slightly lower and improving my ability to still play freely”
• Practice swinging freely with a low level of tension in the arms, trying to get as much power as possible with a slow swing
• Once you recognise the feeling of swinging freely, you can gradually increase racket head speed, while you continue to work on accepting mistakes