The false test paradox or how it succeeds in taming your inner monkey. This is the title of our current mental tip. If you think you don't have an inner monkey, you will learn it today thanks to our mental expert Dr. Know Sebastian Altfeld. He explains to you why this inner monkey is not bad at all and what it has to do with the mis-attempt paradox. And you will be amazed, because every tennis player already knows both the false test paradox and his inner monkeys. Only you may not have been able to classify both or not correctly. We wish you a lot of fun getting to know your inner monkey. And much more important: good luck with the "right" dealing with him. So that this succeeds better, Sebastian provides you with a worksheet with which you can carry out a so-called 3S reflection of your game and your competition. Does it sound exciting? Is it too and definitely helps to improve your game!
Players and coaches know the false test paradox. Only this is usually not aware of this, although this can have a great influence before, during and after the game. And since only a few know about it, I do a little educational work with this article. So let's start.
Knowing how our faster part of the brain controls our emotional states and behaviors and unfortunately we are usually only a guest. This part of the brain is named differently in the literature. Some call him the reptile brain, some the autopilot and some even "The Little Fucker in your head". Ready2Perform we call this part as monkeys. The monkey stands for our association memory and should start so that we can react intuitively in situations. This has the purpose of bringing us to safety in dangerous situations. So not to think about the fact that the saber -toothed tiger is dangerous and then run off, but to flee directly.
This example shows that the monkey is an old part of our brain and always gives its mustard. Because he wants to help us and the best for us. On and off the tennis court. This knowledge is also high for everyday life. The stupid: he is metaphorically only one monkey and does not think logically. And I would like to present this with a small experiment before I present the false test paradox.
Please read the following instruction first before jumping down to the words. This is important!
The task is to name the color loudly in which the following words are written. Every word one after the other, but as soon as possible. So again, name the color, do not read the word. Ready? Then it starts:
Blue → green → yellow → red → purple → white → black → blue → yellow → green → red
If you have read the word instead of the color, even though you have made up for something else, that's not bad. It shows the way our brain works. Our monkey automatically reacts to stimuli and sometimes draws conclusions, although they do not have to be the truth. This happens automatically and cannot be prevented. We can only learn to deal with it.
If you were able to name the colors well and did not have the described effect, then you may have noticed that this needed a lot of conscious effort to resist the impulse to call the word. As a result, it also proves that the monkey wants to take the tax. This awareness is a first important step.
To be mindful, which deals with my head, is fundamental. Because how do I want to deal with something that I don't notice? Because, as you certainly suspect, the monkey has a big impact on our life and on our performance on the pitch. Especially if we are not aware that he is at work. If you want to learn more about the monkey and how to deal with, I recommend our Ready2Perform program. Here you get to know your monkeys very well and get the important strategies that help you to help you deal with your monkey in printing situations.
I take a typical situation from a player perspective that regularly runs into my practical work. Let's take a youth player who plays his first season with an adult team. But we can take any other situation like the final game at the club championship, play against the special opponent on the weekend or watching my favorite person at my today's match. But we use the youth player as an example.
What expectations do this player have in itself and the number of failed attempts that he can afford in the first game of the season among adults compared to the youth? Think briefly about how many failed attempts are okay and note this number. Perhaps briefly the definition of failed attempts: failed attempts are recurring actions in a tennis game that can go wrong. This actually includes all behavior that leads to the point of the other person. Beat the ball online, a double error, the ball is too long, etc. What is a number in a 2-gain game that is "ok" for you?
I often get the following answer: "None, because I have to perform because the others are better and older on the one hand. I am not allowed to go wrong".
Does something notice? You have certainly realized that "no failure" is unrealistic in "error sports" like tennis. This would be the first mistake of perfectionists. Because how many players do you know who played a perfect tennis game without giving a rallies? The average number of unforced errors per game in a masters game in the senior citizens' area of men and women is around 26 pieces.
In the example above would be the expectation, 100 percent of my strokes are hits. So realistic? Of course not. In fact, I don't want to go out on this mistake in the monkey. Another mistake has crept in: the mis-attempt paradox. What does the youth player expect from a more complex situation? And yes, in most cases adult games are more complex or physical compared to youth games. Let's take a look at the red line in Figure 1.
It can be seen that the person assumes that with increasing complexity, less failure should make them. This view is understandable because it goes hand in hand with the wish to perform well and become better. Unfortunately, wishes do not help to show what we can (comparison my article "Is it a wish or goal?" In this blog . What is the consequence if the player goes into the game with the unreflected expectations? The person will be upset after misconceptions, who are as normal in the situation, and probably think: "That was bad. That must not happen to me." Economic tension, thinking processes and associated hectic decisions, lead to a further drop in performance.
Let us assume that the player has a normal number of failed attempts in the youth game. And no, it is not 0. For this reason, the green line does not start in the 0 point. Because no matter how easy a situation is, failed attempts can always happen. It's just likely and normal. As a result, the number of mistakes in a 2-set game may be 25 (depending on, of course, many factors such as strength from me, from the opponent, space, etc.). Another number than 0, right? You can just count on how many blows you have in one game and your failed attempts count next time. As soon as you cross this guideline, it is actually justified that you are annoyed. And yes, the same principle applies to an Alexander Zverev or an Eva Lys. Of course, I can wish to play flawlessly. Only the desire should not be the yardstick on which I judge my performance.
But back to the youth player. Let us assume that this makes about 25 failed attempts in the youth game. As a result, an increase in this number is simply realistic and assumed in a more complex situation. According to this, a youth player should make it clear before a game in a higher division that with a high probability not everything will work as in a lighter environment.
The same phenomenon occurs in various situations: selection training, games against better opponents or final games. In these situations, the monkey often says: "Today I have to do everything right." Many factors come together here (e.g. playing strength opponents, the level of the table, number of spectators) and make the situation more complex. Studies show that in top games, teams and players statistically poorer performing than on average. And this has to do with the complexity of the situation.
By becoming aware that my monkey is always active and I check before training or game whether I have a realistic expectation to me or my (co-) player. I may transfer this phenomenon to my teammates and put an unrealistic scale on them.
I should also reflect on my own performance. Because maybe you will only put an unrealistic yardstick on yourself afterwards. In order to support you, I would be happy to provide the worksheet "The 3-S reflection" and hope that from today you will no longer be so easy to fall for the mis-test paradox.
As a sports psychologist and psychotherapist, Sebsatian supports various competitive and professional athletes from different sports in dealing with performance pressure, stress and high demands. “Perform when the conditions are not optimal” and “be comfortable to feel uncomfortable” are his mottos. In addition to these activities, he is co-developer of the online program Ready2Perform ( www.ready2perform.de ) to impart skills in dealing with pressure to many people.
If you want to learn more about the monkey and dealing, visit our online course at www.ready2perform.de . Here you will learn even more about the monkey how he acts in pressure situations and how you can learn to deal with it.
"There is no passion to be found in making yourself small and settling for a life that is less than what you are capable of living." -Nelson Mandela
The online course "Ready2Perform" ( www.ready2perform.de ) aims to give people the skills they need to master pressure or performance situations. It is aimed at people who need or want to demonstrate their skills in exams, performance tests, presentations or critical moments such as emergency situations or professional challenges. In moments like this, when what has been learned and trained has to be recalled, people often fail not because of a lack of knowledge or skills, but because of the effects of the pressure and the lack of skills in dealing with it. An increased heart rate, racing thoughts or strong feelings of insecurity can affect performance.
The "Ready2Perform" program, the costs of which can be fully covered by health insurance companies, focuses on preventing these detrimental consequences and enabling people to perform at their best even under pressure. However, “Ready2Perform” doesn’t just offer approaches for specific situations. What is learned serves to use these skills in everyday life and strengthens a person's resilience and psychological flexibility.
The online program “Ready2Perform” offers a mix of interactive teaching videos, practical experiments and understandable explanations to learn the necessary skills for dealing with pressure. The course consists of
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