Tennis Tip #1 : Think deeply about the end result you want out of life.
You should think deeply about the end result you want out of life. Because if you got through life blindly, don't be surprised if, sooner or later, you smash into a wall.
Ask yourself, "If I keep consistently doing the things I have consistently done, where will I end up?". Then ask yourself, "Where do I want to end up?".
It's also essential, I might add, that you do everything you can to not get the answer to those questions wrong.
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There is a great book called "Wanting- The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life." The book was written by Luke Burgis, the Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship. His book draws upon the work of French polymath Rene Girard. The book claims that we have superficial desires that take over our lives, influenced purely by our interpretation of what others want. After accomplishing the associated goals to our superficial desires, we often find ourselves left unfulfilled. We realize that the desires we assumed were ours were not actually ours but of those to which we paid most attention. This scenario becomes a recipe for disaster and teaches us the importance of sitting with ourselves and thinking deeply without influence, of what matters most to us concerning our own personalities and values.
This lesson is not just a lesson for life, but it also holds true for the arena of our crafts. As competitive environments such as tennis are my specialty, becoming successful at my job means observing the behaviors of those within it, especially of the tennis players themselves.
One observation I will continue to point out repeatedly until it is fixed is the blind behavior I see towards the development of our competitors within the tennis industry. Yes, my first priority is to those associated with Mission Elite; but I also care deeply about the progression of our sport as a whole.
How often do you see players just show up to practice every day, have no plan, no idea what they're doing, just following along? They rarely think critically about the fundamental and most effective ways to understand how to win and train the skills that actually lead to winning. This holds true at the amateur levels and the pro levels. Obviously, the higher you move up the rankings, the more aware and educated tennis players they become. However, it is still, in my opinion, nowhere to where it should be.
Look at the NFL, NHL, and NBA. How much time studying film do they spend? It's actually a cemented part of their daily schedules. It's common to study the game in these sports if you want to be elite. By doing this, they make their practices more effective, and as a result, their competitive levels are enhanced. Unfortunately for them, all of the best are studying the game intensely in these three leagues, so if you aren't, you're actually behind. In tennis, however, very rarely are players actually spending diligent, detailed, and structured time studying the game before their practices and matches, meaning if you are one of the few who take this approach, you will have a major edge over your competition.
It sometimes blows my mind how brain dead we are as a tennis community in our competitive outlook. I'm not going to say all of us fall into this category. However, I will say that if you are someone who claims elite aspirations, you better be working your butt off to be at the highest of levels in building your Tennis IQ, competitive mentality, and holistic approach. That work needs to be done inside the court, but especially outside of the court, because outside is where the edge is. The outside is where you can have extra clarity levels, outproduce your opponents and see things differently. If you aren't already doing this, you should seriously reconsider how bad you want to be elite.
We’ve seen this opportunity for a while now, and we’ve made it a priority that all members in association with Mission Elite see it as well. This exact opportunity staring us in the face for those who choose not to be blind was the precise reason for creating the Mission Elite Tennis University. The Tennis University is an educational, off-court platform literally dedicated to building the tennis IQ, competitive mentality, and holistic approach at the most elite levels for the most elite aspiring. The reason why the Tennis University has retained so many of our students is because the competitive edge that comes out of doing this type of training is undeniable.
Here is another example of how brain dead of a competitive community we can be.
Statistically speaking, the average hour-long practice in tennis is the following.
- 5 minutes down the middle
- 10 minutes crosscourt
- 10 minutes volleys
- 6 minutes overheads
- 10 minutes for water
- 10 minutes serves
- 9 minutes points
- Go home
Yet the most common denominator recently recorded of top ten ATP players is 2nd serve percentage points won, with 7 of the top 10 being ranked in the top 10 of that category.
If we weren't brain dead as a competitive community, you'd think our average practice would look a little bit different than the above, wouldn’t you?
Well, we as a team at Mission Elite think so and that is why we continue to spend so much time questioning the norms of tennis and competitive society. We emphasize this practice, knowing that there are so many more blatant opportunities to be found.
So here's what we did next once we got all the research and data we are lucky to have access to through our resources. We formulated our own average practice of a Mission Elite and made it as geared and precisely detailed towards producing the statistically proven, winningest plays of tennis matches as possible. This means looking at our average practice from a tactical, competitive, psychological, physical, emotional, and holistic standpoint.
Our average practice at Mission Elite has to look drastically different from the current tennis world's average practice. Because if we didn't, we'd have to call ourselves "Mission Average". Mission Average is where most of you are headed if you keep going about your tennis careers, either being blind or following the blind. Realize something, if you are doing the same as everybody else, you'll probably end up with everyone else.
If you wanted to be the best tennis player and you could either have the best drop shot or the best serve in the world, which would you choose? If you wanted to be the wealthiest person in the world and could either have a career in technology or a career as a painter, which would you choose? If you want to spend as much time with your little kids as possible, you could have a game day with the family or 18 holes of golf with your buddies; which would you choose?
Don't complain about not achieving your goals especially if you were never willing to sort out the priorities that mattered for reaching your goals.
Spend more time on the things that matter more, not just in tennis or your craft but in your life as well.
Remember…
Winners in life and their fields get great at skillsets and areas that will actually matter and lead to the achievements of their goals.
Losers in aspects of life and in their fields get great at the things that don't matter and will not lead to the successes of their dreams.
Winners take the time to think deeply and sincerely about what their goals indeed should be.
Losers go through life blindly and have plans and actions thrust upon them based on impulse or influence.
Be a winner.
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