{"id":223,"date":"2022-06-26T19:53:48","date_gmt":"2022-06-26T19:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/?p=223"},"modified":"2026-05-25T12:09:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T16:09:42","slug":"stage-fright-on-the-outer-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/2022\/06\/stage-fright-on-the-outer-courts\/","title":{"rendered":"Stage Fright on the Outer Courts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tennis-Tournament.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"959\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tennis-Tournament.jpg?resize=1024%2C959\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tennis-Tournament.jpg?resize=1024%2C959&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tennis-Tournament.jpg?resize=300%2C281&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tennis-Tournament.jpg?resize=768%2C719&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tennis-Tournament.jpg?resize=1536%2C1438&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tennis-Tournament.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I was a teenager, I looked out the backseat car window and hoped we\u2019d get into a crash every time one of the moms was driving us to our tennis matches. Nothing serious. Just enough to dent the car and make us stop and wait for the police. It took only 30 minutes to default a person arriving late, so I wouldn\u2019t have to play. But that never happened, and I kept competing for a few years as a junior (under 18), and then stopped playing tennis completely for a long time. I didn\u2019t know how to do it for fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So why did I just register to enter a tournament? After all these years? Especially since playing games and keeping score still feels like I\u2019m holding my hand over a hot stove. It\u2019s just too hard. I want to go home, curl up in bed and never talk to anyone again. In a match, when the ball comes toward me, I freeze up, react late and play badly. I have to force myself to keep going. Or I just charge the net and throw points away. Which actually is fine. No one cares if I win or lose. I have a career. And it\u2019s not like I\u2019ll ever win prize money or get an endorsement from UNIQLO. So why bother if it\u2019s so upsetting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I guess it seems like real tennis players know how to compete, so I want to too. I love hitting a tennis ball and practicing shots over and over again with friends or against the backboard or with a ball machine. It\u2019s great exercise and really fun. Except for the mental toughness part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recently, I\u2019ve been watching tons of tennis videos for tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Focus on the present and not on the outcome.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Watch the seams of the ball and hit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Take some slow, deep breaths between points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Practice positive self-talk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Give yourself permission to miss.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Feel your feet on the ground.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Pressure is in your brain (the fight, flight or freeze reaction) but it also enhances focus.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Follow a routine after each point to center yourself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">After a point is over, forget about it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Focus on your strengths.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Visualize your game plan.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Your opponent is probably as nervous as you are.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">The ball doesn\u2019t know what the score is.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Have fun.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Each match is an opportunity to learn and get better.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Trust your training and build confidence over time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Think about progress not perfection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so on. All good life lessons, for any setting. But easier said than done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And wouldn&#8217;t it be great to become fearless and have the courage to break through and do as well as possible? In the words of the immortal, beloved Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, missed now more than ever after the current extremist members of the court overruled Roe v. Wade:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So I\u2019ll <em>try<\/em> to try my hardest. Who knows how it will come out? If it\u2019s too painful, there\u2019s no need to do it again. We\u2019ll see what happens. It\u2019s only a game. And still a dream to become a really good tennis player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I was a teenager, I looked out the backseat car window and hoped we\u2019d get into a crash every time one of the moms was driving us to our tennis matches. Nothing serious. Just enough to dent the car and make us stop and wait for the police. It took only 30 minutes to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","event_title":"","event_details":"","event_timezone":"","event_gmap":"","event_image":"","event_image_url":"","event_calendar_link":"","event_location":"","event_location_name":"","event_location_address":"","event_location_unit":"","event_location_city":"","event_location_state":"","event_location_country":"","event_location_zip":"","event_datetime_with_summary":"","event_datetime":"","event_date":"","event_time":"","event_date_type":"","event_rulesummary":"","event_ticket_rsvp":"","event_capacity":"","event_capacity_remaining":"","event_capacity_sold":"","event_sold_out":"","event_low_stock":"","event_ticket_count":"","event_ticket_summary":"","event_sales_start":"","event_sales_end":"","event_ticket_price_from":"","event_ticket_price_to":"","event_ticket_price_range":"","event_date_year":"","event_date_month":"","event_date_month_short":"","event_date_day":"","event_date_day_name":"","event_date_iso":"","event_rsvp_capacity":"","event_rsvp_remaining":"","event_rsvp_going":"","event_rsvp_full":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,8],"class_list":["post-223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mental-toughness","tag-tennis"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tennis-Tournament.jpg?fit=1600%2C1498&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions\/304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarahignatius.com\/staging\/4657\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}