How To: Use Pressure | Tim Henman

[Music] Tim let's talk a little bit more about pressure and how you comp part mentalize it and how you deal with it and how you turn it into a positive because you would have been there many an occasion where I mean I'm going to use Wimbledon as a as an example because it's it's it's moments away um and so what do you do to cope with um the pressure that you know is coming your way of being you know big name in the draw um having to perform crowd expects Nation expects how do you manage that internally and externally yeah yeah absolutely and and I think it's um it's such a good question and and so for me I I've always found that that psychology really really interesting and um you know I think to to break it down and and to really understand that that pressure is all self-inflicted so it's really about me managing my mind and certainly pre-performance so when you're getting you know ready you know you you're you're wanted to control and focus on the controllables and that is your preparation and you know making sure that you've you've practiced you've been in the gym you've done all the right things that you need to do to give yourself the best opportunity of of performing at at at an optimal level and once you get into performance mode so once you get on to the court you are really trying to focus on the process and not the outcome so you know in simplistic terms when you're playing a best of five set match and you're serving in the first game you serve the first point you're in the juice box and I say to myself well I'm going to serve and volley out wide to my opponents forehand I'm going to ser and volley where where he returns I'm probably going to volley into the Open Court you stand up and execute that point and you might win it you might lose it but there's there's that process so when you are at five all in the fifth set and it's 30 all what's different so it's still the same side of the Court you're still standing in the same position looking to execute the same plan but in the back of your mind obviously you're saying well it's five all in the fifth it's 30 all if I serve a double thought here the crowd are going to Gran I'm going to be breako down and then if I lose my serve I'm going to be having to break serve to stay end of the match and that is where your mind has done two things it's gone into the future so we've gone away from the present because the only thing we can really control is is that one moment but all of a sudden I'm thinking about the outcome I'm thinking about the consequences the what ifs if I miss my first serve here I've got to hit a second serve and you know the pressure the expectation of the crowd oh I don't want to double fault they're gonna laugh at me they're gonna shout at me and so that's where having the ability to really um the the clarity of thought to to be consumed by the process and that's where you know the best ones are able to do that in the biggest moments of of the match um have you been have you been able to sorry have you been able to apply that thinking in life so outside of being on the tennis court because it is a a par I way of thinking have you been able to sort of take that like in most people's work it would be transferring skills but I guess it's the same thing yeah I mean it is and and um I I think psychology is fascinating and you know there and so so you know nervous energy when you walk when I walk on when I walked on court uh at Cent Court Wimbledon you know was I nervous yes I was nervous but that's that's a good thing because first and foremost it shows that I care about what I'm about to do but secondly it's how I deal with that so to recognize God you know my legs feel like jelly you know my legs are shaking that's that's normal so now what am I going to do with it am I going to say to myself oh my goodness my legs are shaking I'm so nervous I'm not going to be able to play I can't run my legs are too heavy no this is normal now what do I do about it so I've got to start moving my feet I've got to think about short steps I've got to think about taking extra steps to get into possession position so again that's focusing on on the process and and you certainly you know can you you've got to I think go through these experiences you know to be out on on a big stage and and to feel that to be able to to recognize it and and I think again another you talk about uh pressure pressure is an interesting work in in um in not just in sport but but in in life I think also within sport confidence is a very interesting word and and if you were to say to young people you know in sport well I will hear about these top players men and women they talk about confidence well well what is it and you know I think they would sort of say oh well you know it's when I feel good and you know I I like this or that this surface or you know these conditions and you know in in more specific terms confidence is the sum of your thoughts it's your thoughts added together but what you've got to understand that can go both ways so if you're adding together a lot of negative thoughts oh I can't do this and I can't beat him and his back hand's better than mine you're adding together a lot of negative thoughts so that's no good and so for me when I reflect on my confidence going into Wimbledon I added together a lot of positive things it's my favorite tournament in the world I love playing on Center Court I love the crowd support grass is a good surface for me I've worked hard I've prepared well I training my injury prevention my recovery it's all the pie of the puzzle I've I've ticked all the boxes and now I'm excited to get out there and and and so you know that piece around um you know pressure and confidence I think is is so important again another I actually went to a little primary school here this morning for um a friend of ours because pre Olympics and and um was was talking a little bit and we we got on to one of the parents actually said you know what advice would you give for any aspiring young player and I said you know look we've all heard the cliche practice makes perfect and I said you know that's not quite true and I said practice makes permanent and I think that is a very good phrase because if you ingrain bad habits they'll become permanent practice bad habits they'll be permanent but if you practice good habits you practice the right way technically physically mentally they will become permanent and that's a really good thing and that's where you know you can take that into any area of life you know in great good habits um you know when you were young it just makes life a lot easier I played golf when I was young you know from the age of five or six and and there are some you know some good habits there I wasn't allowed to ski until I was 35 I've ingrained a lot of bad habits I'm not very good at skiing and so yeah I think that those are some interesting ele elements around pressure around confidence um yeah the psychology I think is fascinating and also I'd say that the best tennis players when you're watching them are able to let a point go so if if it doesn't go your way they don't hold it they just move on and let it go and I think that's a good lesson as well for all of us in life if it isn't quite going according to plan it may well be the universe's way of telling you time to move on exactly and again you know in simplistic terms psychology is so straightforward you've got to stay in the present you know just play that next point because as you rightly said that last point it's gone down in history you cannot change it so why are you going to worry about it and and again as you say the the players that have the the mental strength and the ability just to forget about it and and that's where again one of the funny things that I've always said um well a lot of people have said if you could have a selective memory that would be amazing so any bad shots bad experiences you just press delete and you've got no recollection and all you score up is best shots best wins best matches you know that would be I think that would be so powerful I mean if someone comes up with that i' I'd pay good money for that yeah well I suspect if Elon Musk is listening or watching that's probably already in progress I hope so but in sport that would be so powerful don't you have but now though don't you in a in a broadcasting role now don't you have selective hearing because I've had that ever since the beginning of time for for broadcasting for years and years and years always having somebody in your earpiece with live television allows you the incredible incredible skill of selectively being able to Zone it out and Zone it in depending on what you want to do don't you find that I think it I think it might be hereditary I definitely have selective hearing within my family but I think I think they have selective hearing when it comes to what I say but uh no you're right you know with you worked in the media and you're um you know got a a director or someone in your ear and and yeah you've got to be able to listen to bits of it but still get on with what you're doing so um yeah there's definitely uh some transferable skills there do you enjoy that aspect what's the what's your favorite game that you've actually had to watch and commentate on um well my first rimbledon final I started working for the BBC in 2008 um and that was federa Nadal um Nadal's first victory at Wimbledon um 97 in the 5ifth it was virtually dark um that was that was the best best b l I've ever seen and um yeah I was nervous for that because um you know I was new to commentating and and I really sensed that this is such an amazing match I didn't want to say something completely stupid that it was going to detract from the viewers pleasure so I did I don't think in the in the four and 3/4 hours so however long that match was I don't think I said that much but that was probably a wise decision oh well look have a brilliant Wimbledon have a brilliant championship this time round and I hope to catch you which I'm sure I will no doubt on Church Road or otherwise definitely Georgie thanks so much all the best to to Ben and and look forward to catching up all right take care join us for the performance people podcast every week for the highs lows lessons and stories from people like this lot Michael Johnson suay what I would see as a person who was a shell of what I used to be Eddie Hearn we don't operate in a business that's dangerous but we just operate in one where you got to sleep with one eye open mo Farah it couldn't get any harder in why I've gone through and at that point I just kind of just went for it paa Radcliffe you can only control yourself Susie wolf and to did once Len me to a donkey every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts