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Amateurs lose points. Professionals win points.

5/27/2018

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Picture
It's funny how things come together sometimes to bring home a lesson. Recently, my "coincidence karma" has functioned well, and information I needed has come via unusual sources.

I subscribe to a blog by a man who espouses mindfulness, among other things. His most recent post described information he'd gleaned from a book about tennis written in the 1970s. The blogger wasn't interested in tennis, but he was fascinated by Dr. Simon Ramo's premise that most of us play the "loser's game," where a win is the result of the loser's actions rather than any talented play by the winners. 

Contrast that with the "winner's game" played by professionals. Their game features excellent serves, intense focus and preparation for each shot, long, spectacular rallies, and brilliant recoveries. In time, someone takes a risk and attempts a put-away shot or precisely targets a shot that's unrecoverable. At this level, winning points—rather than making mistakes—determines the outcome of the game.

Amateurs lose points. Professionals win points. ​
For the bulk of us who are not (yet) pros, Ramo insists that the key to winning is allowing our opponents to defeat themselves by making mistakes. He compiled an extensive database of points scored in actual tournaments by both professional and amateur players. Ramo found a consistent pattern: in the winner's game of professional tennis, superb offensive execution accounts for approximately 80% of the points won. Conversely, about 80% of the points in amateur loser's games are lost due to unforced errors.
​

Bringing this wisdom to the game of pickleball is a short hop. All of us have watched games between our amateur peers and wondered at their unnecessary mistakes. (Of course, it's always easy to be a great player while on the sideline.) Pros don't make those mistakes anymore. They've perfected their play and progressed to the point where each player is only slightly more skillful than another. 

I'm assuming you're an amateur pickleball player, if you've read this far. What advice can you take away from Dr. Ramo's words?

​Whether you want to win more amateur games or become a pro, your strategy should be to recognize and then eliminate the costly errors that defeat you. In the long run, doing this will benefit you far more than learning how to make that super shot down the sideline.

​To learn more, pick up a copy of Dr. Simon Ramo's book, Extraordinary Tennis for the Ordinary Player. (Many libraries shelve it.) His  wisdom can benefit nearly any endeavor, not just pickleball. For a shorter read, check out an article from the New York Times that gives some insight into Ramo, the man, and excerpts some the concepts from his book.
​
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Going for the Gold: Do you have a winning personality?

5/1/2018

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If you've been struggling to take your game to the next level, but you're stuck on a plateau, you might be able to blame your disposition. Research shows that your personality type may have something to do with whether or not you'll take home a medal at the next tournament. 

Physical abilities, such as strength, endurance, and speed, are usually foremost in people's minds when they discuss athleticism, but they alone are not what determine greatness. Things like the ability to remain calm under pressure or to spot an opponent's weakness, or the stamina to stick with a training regimen are traits that come from within and are often defined by our personality. 

Psychologists use two main models to categorize personality. For many years, trait-based assessments were the norm. These assessments categorized individuals based on where they fell along a bipolar scale ("Are you outgoing or shy?"). Recently, the 'five factor model' has gained more favor, and it's been used in studies linking personality with medal-winning performance. The five factors are:
  • Openness
  • Conscientiousness
  • Extraversion
  • Agreeableness
  • Neuroticism
With regard to each factor, individuals may score high, low, or anywhere in between.  I won't go into great detail about the factors in this post, but you may read more here. If you want to learn where you fall on the scale, click this link to take the five factor test.

In general, medal-winning athletes score higher on the factors of openness (specifically optimism), conscientiousness (self-determination), extraversion (being extroverted), and agreeableness than do non-medal winners. In contrast, medal winners score lower on neuroticism (impulsivity and anxiety). Also, extraverted athletes outperform introverted athletes when an audience is present. Studies also found that anger can have a positive effect on sport performance, but only for athletes with high levels of extraversion. 

Sports competitions that involve communication and social interaction (like pickleball doubles) are well suited to extraverted individuals. Athletes are found to be more committed to their athletic partnership when they or their partners rate themselves as highly agreeable, conscientious, or open to new experiences. It's worth noting that participation in sports (specifically, having to communicate and cooperate with others) also develops personality characteristics that are desirable for sports excellence, such as extraversion. Interesting also is that athletes in team sports show higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of conscientiousness than do individual sport athletes. 

So, as a pickleball player who wants to improve your game—what can you do with this information? You can try to change your personality. Take the five-factor personality profile test and discover which elements of your personality might be adversely affecting your game. Then you might follow in the footsteps of those in one study, where the participants successfully achieved change and improved their sporting abilities. 

After taking the test, the participants decided how many traits they wanted to change. This included finding ways of achieving this change. Progress was measured weekly, at which time the participants also completed a writing task that asked, "what would it look like if you attained your desired changes?" 
The purpose of this step was to envision the specific changes they would like to make. These participants achieved notable success.

I found it interesting to learn that people's personalities do change in relatively predictable patterns over time. As people mature, they become generally more agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable. This is good news for those of you (and me) who are seniors. Of course, no amount of personality alteration can bridge the gap between the body of a 65-year-old and a 25-year-old playing against each other on the court, but every little bit helps.

I'm not suggesting you stop practicing and concentrate only on becoming more amiable. But if  you work on being less anxious (more relaxed) and less impulsive (a better planner), and if you focus on success, think positively, and determine to achieve the gold, you've got a better chance of doing it. Any athlete, of any age, who wants to achieve in life and sport can benefit from this advice.

References:
Allen, M. S., Greenlees, I., & Jones, M. V. (2013). Personality in sport: A comprehensive review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6, 184-208.

PsychologistWorld.com. Five-Factor Model of Personality: How the 'super traits' of the Five Factor Model explain differences in personality and the way people behave.
​https://www.psychologistworld.com/personality/five-factor-model-big-five-personality


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    Gale Leach lives in Arizona with her husband, two dogs, and a cat. When she's not writing pickleball tips, she's working on the second in a new series of novels for young adults and updating The Art of Pickleball.

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