Confidence Game

Match point, third set, everything on the line. This is where I used to choke, especially when it was my match point. Doubts would enter my mind, the improbability of my winning anything crept into my psyche. But not today. I hit my serve and take two steps into the court. The return comes to my forehand. I step away from the ball and hit a hard slice down the line.

The ball skims the net and continues to gain altitude. When it settles deep in the backhand corner it skids out low. My opponent gets to the ball, but has trouble getting his racket under it. He can only send up a short lob. As soon as I hit the ball I started moving in, anticipating a week return. As the ball floats toward me, the doubts briefly return, but I take a breath and calmly volley the ball into the empty court. The point and the match are mine. All those hours of practicing just this situation
have paid off.

After going to a tennis clinic for many Saturday afternoons, I realized that I could not reproduce what I learned in the clinic in a real match situation. I discussed this with Paul, my tennis instructor.

"This is a very common complaint," Paul said. "The difference is the pressure you experience when a point is at stake."

"What can I do to overcome this?" I asked.

"If you are willing to take some individual lessons, we can simulate pressure point situations so that you can used to using what you learn when it counts."

"That sounds perfect," I replied. "Let's set up some lessons."

After a few lessons, I started to develop some techniques to relax when I had the opportunity to close out points. Taking that breath and reminding myself not to over-hit was a big part of doing that.

I drove home after the match, re-playing the points in my mind, trying to think of what I could have done differently. There were, as usual, a lot of things. I filed them away to work during my next practice session with Paul.

I showered and got ready for the math classes I was scheduled to teach that afternoon. I enjoy teaching math almost as much as playing tennis. It wasn't always that way. When I first switched from teaching computer courses to math, I was really nervous. It had been a long time since I had earned my degrees in math and I was rusty. The rustiness showed during the lecture periods. I made mistakes on the board and had to waste a lot of time correcting them.

I could tell the students were annoyed and that I was losing credibility with them. I made it a point to go over my lecture materials several times before each class and to even rehearse the class in front of a mirror. Like most things, practice helped and after a while I was able to relax and enjoy the interaction with the students, putting the focus on them instead of me. I took to heart the advice that my daughter, Jeannie, gave me: "Be the guide from the side instead of the sage on the stage."

At the end of one of today's classes, a student named Brian stopped by my desk.

"I'm worried about the mid-term exam that we will be taking next week," he said.

I was a little surprised. Brian had been doing well on his homework assignments and spoke up during class, usually with the right answers to the questions that I toss as I lecture.

"What's the problem, Brian?" I asked. "You seem to have a handle on this stuff."

"It's the old math anxiety thing," he said. "I lock up when I take exams."

Thinking back to my earlier experience with tennis, it occurred to me that what Brian described was very similar, so I gave him the same type of suggestion that Paul had given me.

"You need to take some practice exams and pretend that they are the real thing." I said. "Time yourself as if it is the real thing. If you finish before the time is up, go back and check your answers. Do a couple of these and I think you will be able to relax and do well on the real thing."

"OK," he said. "I'll try it this weekend."

On Monday as the students filed into the classroom, everyone looked tense as usual on the day of an exam. Brian showed up just as the class period began. He looked flushed and a bit excited. He smiled as he sat down to take the exam.

Later that day I was grading the exam papers and came to Brian's. I noticed at the top of the paper, under his name, he had written, "I think it worked!" I went on to grade the paper and noticed that in the space on the margins were his working notes that included checks of his answers. He got 23 of the 25 questions correct for 92%.

Along with his score I wrote, "Congratulations. I think you have mastered the confidence game."