The zen tradition has many paradoxes, one that is very relevant to tennis is ‘Effortless effort’ or what I like to call Relaxed Intensity.
What do you think that means? Have you ever experienced it?
Effort denotes some sort of trying, while the word effortless is the opposite. To use both words together is to explore the mid-point between the two.
What effort are you making on the court and is it too intense? Many club players feel so insecure of their athletic ability and tennis skills that they compensate with some ‘serious trying’. Does this help?
My contention is that, not only does it not help, but it makes things worse.
For example, many players are constantly reminding themselves to watch the ball, but if we try too hard to watch the ball, we will miss. Try and watch the ball less intensely and see what happens.
Are we trying to hit the ball over the net or in a particular place or in a specific manner? Are we reminding ourselves of some previously heard ‘tip’ from our favourite tennis coach and repeating it constantly while we are in the process of hitting a forehand or backhand? What happens when we drop all this and instead bring attention only to the body, for example, the preparation?
I would like to share something I have experienced on the tennis court. I have a single-handed backhand, so for some years now I have had one grip for my forehand and another for my backhand. On return of serve when time was short, I was focusing on making a ‘conscious’ effort to find one grip or the other while the ball came towards me. The result of this, for me, was that I constantly felt rushed on my returns and often found it difficult to ‘find’ my grip.
I experimented with ‘effortless effort’ and gave up the idea of changing my grip and discovered that my returns became much more effective.
I trusted my body to find the grip without telling it what to do. It was a great freedom. Now instead of wondering where the serve was going to come and being ready with the shifts, I was able to just focus on preparing for my swing (finding the ball) and just swinging. As I prepared, the shift took place and I felt I had so much time. I did not feel rushed at all.
This is just one example, but there are many more.
What are you trying to do on the court? Where is your effort and how intense is it?
All trying creates tension. Has to. Can you feel it? How is it possible to be relaxed, waiting and being open to whatever is about to unfold when we trying so hard to prepare for what ‘might’ happen.
Mind wants to control the approaching situation, by preparing in advance, which takes us out of the ‘flow’; while trusting the body allows us to wait with an inner stillness that will enable us to respond to whichever situation presents itself.
This response is not be infallible (I am not saying you will never make a mistake), but it will be as successful as our full tennis skills, athletic ability and focus (management of fear) allows.
Can you trust your body?