Do you have a phobia about one stroke? Here’s how to get over it.
I saw many strange things in my 17 years as coach of the Pepperdine University men’s tennis team, but none stranger than the serving affliction that Robbie Weiss suffered in his first year at school. Robbie was a great recruit who had won 13 national junior titles. But as a freshman he developed a phobia about his serve. At times he became so paralyzed that he would double fault four times in a row, once even whiffing.
Robbie did have periods where his serve worked properly, but in the back of his mind he was always afraid that the trouble would return. A double fault or two would restart the whole horrible process. Luckily, his story has a happy ending. Robbie eventually got over his phobia, played No. 1 for us, won the NCAA singles title in 1988, and, as a professional, was ranked as high as No. 85 and had wins over Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, and Patrick Rafter.
Stroke phobia afflicts players of all levels. Elena Dementieva suffered from the yips on her serve for many years. Venus Williams sometimes loses confidence in her second serve. The motion itself is fine (as was Robbie’s), but she gets nervous about missing and stiffens up. Dinara Safina and Novak Djokovic have similar problems with their forehands, which can go astray at a moment’s notice.
These reactions can be triggered by a technically weak stroke, but they can also occur with a strong one like Robbie’s serve or Djokovic’s forehand. I was recently working with a talented junior who has a beautiful backhand. He hits a few good shots but then misses one and has what I call the “uh oh, here comes trouble” response. The fear that was lurking in the back of his mind quickly surfaces. His hands stiffen, his coordination falters, and he starts to poke the ball to keep it in the court. A bad cycle begins. The worse he hits his backhand, the more uncertain of it he becomes, and the further it deteriorates. Before long the infection spreads to the rest of his game. By contrast, when he misses a forehand, a stroke in which he has confidence, he shrugs it off. His problems are due to the “uh oh” response.
Ultimately, this fear is controllable, even fixable, with effort and discipline. As usual with psychological issues, understanding the problem is the first step to curing it. The second step is realizing that if you can’t solve a problem, the intelligent option is to make it better instead of worse. The third is to become realistic rather than emotional. If you have a phobia, realize that almost everybody has a weaker stroke. It may cost you a few points, but you can win anyway, as long as you don’t let it rattle you.
Accept the reality that you’re going to miss some shots more than others. Discipline yourself to have no emotional reaction when you miss your supposedly weaker stroke. Instead, focus on relaxing and hitting the ball the way that you’ve practiced. You can make small adjustments, of course, but don’t discard your normal motion. Most important, don’t be tentative. You’re more likely to miss a ball if you don’t take a full swing, so you might as well relax and use your normal stroke. And don’t by any means let errors with one stroke affect your other shots. Fear is the problem. Bravery is the solution.
Allen Fox, Ph.D., a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist, is an author and coach. Visit him at allenfoxtennis.net.
Originally published in the June 2010 issue of TENNIS.