Endorphins in Tennis: the ticket to The Zone
by Eitan Abraham
(Edinburgh, UK)
Eitan Abraham
The Zone is that magnificent state of mind in tennis when your subconscious takes over and everything works. Being in it is considered fortuitous, but my story will show you that you can tilt the balance in your favour.
Adverse results
Four weeks ago I participated in a weekend tournament. My first match was against a very good player and I got knocked out in the first round. All this in spite of having psyched myself up with relaxation and reading the Inner Game (2nd book). Nerves betrayed me and I was hitting badly and lost confidence which I never recovered. Needless to say, The Zone seemed like a distant country I could never visit.
Two weeks ago I had my first internal league match. In the warm-up I noticed that this guy full of energy and hitting well was going to be very difficult to beat. I got intimidated and even when I noticed his weaknesses, I could not consistently exploit them because I had lost the match before I started it. Again, The Zone was totally out of reach. When I played my second match the following day, I only won because the other guy was more nervous than me. Not satisfactory at all.
Reversal of Fortunes
My opponent in the third league match, Alan, was a consistent player with a powerful serve. Yet I had the coolness to do all the preliminary tests as suggested by Brad Gilbert in his book Winning Ugly and work out a game plan. I got very quickly in The Zone and I played like a dream—by my standards. I won every single service game, my service was winning points and my strongest shot, i.e. the cross-court forehand, produced results that I could not believe it was me...
The difference
So what was the big difference that kept me so much in command against Alan?
I discovered some two weeks ago that after playing singles for 90 minutes, I refreshed myself for a couple of minutes and then played doubles with two coaches and somebody of my standard. I felt very quickly in The Zone, my reflexes totally surprised me and my volleys and groundstroke shots were
working superbly. So before the match against Alan, I went to a post-beginner tennis class just to warm up for 90 minutes. After that I refreshed myself with cold water, put on a fresh top, and when I went to court I felt on top of the world. The negative thoughts would not have a resonance because they were dampened by the way I felt physically.
Conclusion
A thorough warm-up before a match leading to the release of endorphins predisposes the body to welcome the dictates of the subconscious: the ticket to The Zone. Sweating is essential. In fact now I understand why I tended to lose first sets: my warm-ups were good enough to prevent injuries but insufficient to flood my body with endorphins.
In conclusion, if you want to get your mind and body in a state of synergy before a tennis match, have a thorough warm-up of about an hour. Use the first 10-15 minutes for a basic routine consisting of 10 minutes of aerobic exercise e.g. on a gym bike and 5 minutes of stretching. Then get a friend to practice all the basic shots keeping the ball in play and get really sweaty. When you finish, remove your top, wash your face and neck with cold water, dry thoroughly your face and upper body, and put on a new top. Then take a towel and bottle of water to court to dry your face and keep yourself hydrated during intervals. It works--try it!
