Can you be confident and nervous at the same time?
Many tennis players misconstrue the meanings of confidence and nervousness. These players believe having confidence means you WILL win.
On the flip side, they see nervousness as a lack of confidence, which leads to losing. Let’s examine confidence and nervousness and their relationship.
Confidence and nervousness are not mutually exclusive. In other words, you can be confident and nervous simultaneously. Confidence is a strong belief that you CAN accomplish a task.
You gain confidence through preparation, skill development, training, and focus on strengths and past success. These contributing factors lead you to conclude you have what it takes to win a match, serve aces, or beat a particular opponent.
However, even with all these factors being in your favor, winning is not guaranteed. Even with all your preparation and deep desire to win, victory is somewhat uncertain.
The uncertainty leads to nerves. Nervousness is your body being physiologically activated. A small amount of nerves improves focus, prepares your body to compete, provides energy, and is needed to perform at your peak.
That edginess prepares your body to function optimally and engages your mind. However, if nervousness is not self-regulated and you fear negative results, you become over-activated and anxious, and confidence slowly dissipates.
Peak performance requires some degree of nerves to engage your mind, activate your body, and prepare you to compete.
At the 2024 WTA Finals Riyadh, Zheng Qinwen beat Jasmine Paolini. 6-1, 6-1, in 67 minutes. Even though Zheng, had a dominant performance, she admitted to feeling a bit at the start of the match. There were reasons Zheng was a bit nervous.
Zheng was the youngest player to make the semifinals at the WTA Finals in her first appearance since 2011. Also, there were reasons for Zheng to be confident.
Zheng was playing in her seventh semifinal of the year, and it was the first time she had ever beaten two Top-10 players in the same tournament. In addition, Zheng had won 30 matches since Wimbledon.
ZHENG: “Finally, I showed off some tennis I really want to play. Of course, when you enter the match, you are nervous, but at the same time, you feel confident because you know your level. And I know how capable I am.”
The combination of Zheng’s previous successes and preparation contributed to her high confidence. However, Zheng’s nerves and ability to regulate nerves provided an added benefit and helped her to perform optimally.
Not only can you perform at your peak with a bit of nervousness, but those nerves help you lock in and energize your play.
The first step for competing at your peak is to realize that “nerves” are an asset. If you label nervousness as negative, the moment you feel jitters, you will jump to the faulty conclusion that you will have a bad match.
When you are playing in a match, and you start to feel nervous, remind yourself that nerves help your body and mind to perform optimally.
Related Tennis Psychology Videos:
- Playing Confidently Against High-ranked Opponents
- How to Be Confident in Your Own Game
- Staying Confident Despite A “Bad” Prematch Warm-Up
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