Game, set and match – You lost!

Game, set and match! These four special tennis words are what we all want to hear every time at the end of a gruelling battle on court against a formidable opponent, with the one exception! You lost!

Game, Set and Match

Every one of you tennis players out there has experienced that moment when it seems like the end of the world has come! Blood, sweat and tears have taken you all the way then comes the crushing blow of defeat when expectation was running high. GOOD!
What?! Yes, you heard correctly! GOOD!
Why?
Because with every loss, every failure we experience in life, this is when we grow. It’s GOOD to lose, because it shows there is room for improvement, to better ourselves, to reach inside and find the goodness in loss. We learn more from losses than we do from wins. We always hear the lovely stories of victories but rarely do we learn how players deal with their defeats, how quickly they can pick themselves up, dust off and get back to the business of winning again.

The Psychology of Losing

It’s tough, but the quicker you can come to terms with the reality of not winning, the sooner you can mentally and physically prepare for your next battle. Go back over the match, look at the pre-cursors, where did it start to go wrong? Analyse your errors, forced and unforced, was the break of serve down to you giving points or your opponent being better on the day? Did a tie-break tip the advantage in your opponent’s direction? You know how you were feeling, you know what you did in training to prepare for the match. Own the moment, accept it gracefully, knowing that there aren’t excuses, but there are valid reasons for your loss. You know that the next time you meet your opponent you need to be better prepared, stronger, fitter, more determined, play fewer unforced errors, score more winners and on that day those 4 special words will be in your favour.

Learn from the Champions!

Here are a couple of champions who have dealt with loss and know how to get back on their feet after a disappointing result.
Learn from Emma Raducanu and her experience in the Women’s Singles at the Australian Open 2022, listen to her pragmatic interview after her loss 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 to Danka Kovinic early in Round 2. Here is her Post Match Interview.

Here is Rafa Nadal’s Post Match Interview from the Quarter Finals Australian Open 2021

Contrast that with his stunning win only a year later at the Australian 2022 Final, an amazing comeback!

Jocko Willink Motivation

So each champion assesses their loss as a moment in time. They have learnt to move on following the disappointment, take note of what the factors were and how to build an even stronger comeback.
OK, so let’s get back on our feet with the formidable, awesome, motivational Jocko Willink!
HOW ARE YOU FEELING? GOOD?!
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