What My Tennis Match Taught Me About the Power of Commitment

The sun was beating down on the tennis court as I stepped up to serve the first game of the second set. I had just lost the first set 4-6. During the set changeover, I took a minute to reflect on my strategy and why I had lost the opening set. The biggest factor that stood out was my second serve.  When I did not execute on my first serve, my opponent would pounce on my second, and punish me with a strong shot down the line or a sharp angle off of the court. Needless to say, I lost a majority of those points.  I knew I had to do something different with my serve, but what? Do I take some pace off of my first serve? Do I try to hit a harder second serve or put more spin on it? This lack of a definitive plan cost me dearly and I very quickly found myself down 0-3 in the second set as a result of a series of double faults. I’ll share more about this in a moment.

I’m not sure what sparked this, but during the changeover after the third game, I thought of the golfers that I work with and one of the principal strategies that we consistently work to develop is fully committing to each shot before they take it. To clearly see the shot as they wish to execute it in their mind’s eye. The club they will hit. The trajectory. The precise landing point. The roll. And so on. This level of planning and visualization is not possible once the point begins in tennis, but it is possible on the serve.

As a mental performance consultant and coach, I know the importance of having a plan and committing fully to the action. I am not sure why, but in those moments standing on the baseline, preparing myself to serve, I hesitated.  It was this hesitation, this lack of commitment to my action (i.e. My serve), that caused a domino of cognitive and physical disruptions that negatively impacted my ability to then execute successfully resulting in an abnormally high percentage of double faults.

There is an abundance of research in the fields of sport psychology, motor learning and neuroscience that have provided explanations as to why this occurs. One phenomenon, known as "paralysis by analysis" (Beilock & Gray, 2007), occurs when an individual overthinks their actions, leading to a breakdown in the automatic processes that typically run well-learned motor skills. At a neurological level, this overthinking activates the prefrontal cortex, which can interfere with the execution of the motor programs that are largely run by implicit processes.  (Shadmehr & Krakauer, 2008). You can think of implicit processes as the unconscious and automatic execution of actions without the need for conscious awareness or intentional control. For example, once you’ve learned to ride a bike, you can do it without thinking about each pedal stroke or balance adjustment.

Within sports like tennis or golf, this hesitation can manifest as a slight pause in the swing or serve motion and disrupt the fluid biomechanics necessary to properly execute the skill. Schmidt and Lee (2018) explain that well-practiced motor skills rely on smooth and continuous movements, and when athletes hesitate and intentionally exert conscious control of their movements, it can lead to jerky and uncoordinated actions that decrease precision.

The psychological impact of indecision also extends beyond the physical effects just mentioned. Lack of commitment often originates from and will further contribute to self-doubt and performance anxiety. From a neurophysiological perspective, this anxiety can trigger the brain's behavioral inhibition system, which is associated with increased activity in the amygdala and decreased activity in motor preparation areas (McNaughton & Corr, 2004). This creates a negative feedback loop: hesitation leads to poor performance, which in turn increases anxiety and further hesitation in future actions.

Now that you know some of what the research has shown on “why” having commitment to an action is important, let’s get back to the tennis court. At this point in the match, I was down a set and had lost the first three games of the second set. When I stepped up to serve in the fourth game, I realized I had a choice to make: continue wavering and likely lose or commit fully. I committed. Before each serve, I took a moment to go through my pre-serve routine which included bouncing the ball three times, taking 2 diaphragmatic centering breaths, bringing my attention to the fuzzy texture of the tennis ball as I held it in my hand, identifying the precise point in the service box that I wanted the ball to land in, and then taking a short moment to visualize the ball landing in that exact spot. If I missed my first serve, I chose to focus on a consistent and confident second serve, prioritizing spin over power to increase reliability. With this clear plan in mind, I committed fully to each serve, reducing doubts and hesitations.

This shift in mindset marked a turning point in the match. Committing to my serve not only improved my accuracy but also increased my confidence. Each successful serve reinforced my belief in the new strategy, creating a positive feedback loop that helped me climb back into the match. My opponent, who had thrived on my indecision, now faced a more composed and strategic player. The scores began to even out, and the momentum shifted in my favor.

The lesson from that hot day on the tennis court is clear: commitment is a powerful tool for achieving high levels of consistent performance. When we hesitate, we undermine our own abilities.  But when we commit fully—whether it's to a tennis serve, a business decision, or a personal goal—we align our mental and physical resources, setting ourselves up for success.

In your own pursuits, whether on the court or in any area of life, remember the importance of full commitment. The next time you face a moment of hesitation, identify your ideal outcome, develop a clear plan, and commit to your course of action.

References:

Beilock, S. L., & Gray, R. (2007). Why do athletes choke under pressure? In G. Tenenbaum & R. C. Eklund (Eds.), Handbook of sport psychology (pp. 425-444). Wiley.

McNaughton, N., & Corr, P. J. (2004). A two-dimensional neuropsychology of defense: fear/anxiety and defensive distance. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 28(3), 285-305.

Schmidt, R. A., & Lee, T. D. (2018). Motor control and learning: A behavioral emphasis (6th ed.). Human Kinetics.

Shadmehr, R., & Krakauer, J. W. (2008). A computational neuroanatomy for motor control. Experimental Brain Research, 185(3), 359-381.