A pep talk in athletics works psychologically by leveraging positive self-talk to boost an athlete's confidence, motivation, and arousal level. It essentially influences their belief in their ability to manage emotionally by encouraging and reminding them of their strength.
A pep talk can elevate an athlete's emotional state by using passionate language and imagery, creating a heightened sense of excitement and readiness. But here’s the problem with Pep Talks: There may not always be someone there to deliver one, let alone someone who knows precisely what to say and how to say it. And we often need a lot more than encouragement to manage the tennis life.
My aim with the Peptalks series is to give you the tools to manage all the situations competitors can and will face over their careers. Situations can trigger various emotions that, if not appropriately managed, can adversely affect your short—and long-term performance, and tennis has no shortage of them.
I've been in the game for a long time and have pretty much seen it all. My PepTalk series will guide you toward the solution for every imaginable predicament a tennis competitor could face.
Situations like playing a friend, playing a rival, suffering a heartbreaking loss, playing a bully, playing a cheater, playing the top seed, choking away a match, and on and on…
Our level of success is often determined by our ability to manage and let go/move on from these unsettling situations.
Most importantly, this is how we need to learn to speak to ourselves, which I will explore in greater depth during our Inner Voice work.
The goal is to emerge from unsettling situations and return to equilibrium as seamlessly as possible.
And what better way to do that than to have professional players past and present share their experiences, strengths, and hopes with you about how they managed the same situations you will confront?
Our first contributor today is former tour player Tennys Sandgren, who had 7 match points against Roger Federer in the 2021 quarterfinals of the Australian Open..
