Lendl's Rehab Influence Pays the Biggest Dividends for Murray…

 

 

At first watch, Andy Murray’s superb dismantling of Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon final may have looked like a simple case of too much speed, too much craft, and too much defence for the big Canadian…Together, this combination certainly played a major role in Murray claiming his 2nd Wimbledon title…Slowly but surely building pressure that took its toll in the form of incredible Murray returning and passing + uncharacteristic Raonic errors (especially in the tie-breaks which he often dominates.)

But behind this storyline lay a subtle sub-plot directed by Ivan Lendl…

Throughout his career Murray’s biggest achilles heel, along with his second serve, has been an addiction to self/support team abuse.

While I explained my opinion of this process in great detail when describing Murray’s mental capitulation against Djokovic in last year’s Australian Open final, I will review briefly again here before discussing how Murray’s renewed improvement in this area was a vital element in his victory... 

Why Murray Traditionally Remains Intensely Upset at Himself and His Support Team When Not Performing His Best Under High Pressure…

When players become frustrated, they tend to play based on the frustration leading to poor performance…And as players perform poorly they quickly anticipate the possibility of losing, leading to anxiety.

Most people typically perceive angry actions to be a result of becoming caught up in the angry emotion (and this is certainly the case in part)....But acting angrily (yelling, blaming/abusing others/ throwing rackets) is often about more.

When players act angrily, it does a great job of reducing the emotions of both anger and anxiety.

So, at some point a player might act angrily by throwing his/her racket. In the moment of throwing the racket the player will reduce the internal experience of frustration.

But not only will this action reduce frustration in that moment, it will also reduce the player’s anxiety if he/she is experiencing it at the time (have you ever noticed that when you get angry you don’t feel anxiety)?

If this is the case, by throwing his/her racket the player has now learned this, “The more angry I act the less angry and nervous I feel”.

And since anger feels better than fear, when a situation triggers a player’s fear of losing, he/she may automatically come, over time, to use anger as a way of reducing the experience of fear.

This sequence effectively becomes an addictive trap.

When the level of difficult emotion reaches a point at which the player cannot cope, he/she may accidentally act angrily to reduce the emotional distress (but usually at the cost of competing effectively).

In Murray’s Case…

While it’s possible that his long-term history (except when he was originally getting coached by Lendl) of frequently acting angrily during the highest pressure circumstances could be as simple as him ‘being angry’, it’s not likely.

When we see players acting intensely angry towards themselves and/or others under high stress; especially if it seems irrational; it usually indicates that at some level those actions are serving the psychological function of reducing anxiety and avoiding the predicted possible pain of a bad outcome (Reading any of Allen Fox's books provide great explanations of this process).

So while Lendl’s steely stare suppressed Murray’s instinctive habit of becoming angry to reduce stress during their 1ststint as a coach-player team, old habits die hard, especially when they in part likely serve to reduce emotional difficulties…

And with the reinforcement of that relationship gone, Murray was unable to achieve the long-term solution to this dilemma and slowly slipped back into his old habits.

But With the Help of a Good Deed by Sam Querrey, and With Lendl Back on Board, This Issue Has Again Subsided...

I can’t recall Murray reacting so neutrally  and sometimes positively towards his support team in such a big match since Lendl 1stcoached him…And there were plenty of occasions that would have traditionally evoked Murray’s abusive outbursts:

Example 1.)

Score:At 3-3 15-40 Murray misses a relatively easy backhand passing shot…

Response:Not an ounce of negativity and he refocuses for next point…

Next point:Raonic approaches again and Murray rips a forehand pass that forces a Raonic volley error…

Example 2.)

Score:When serving to consolidate the break at 4-3 40-30 (high pressure moment) Murray misses a simple backhand on the 1stball of the rally…

Response:Slight anger towards self that ceases quickly and he refocuses…

Next 2 points:Great 1stserves that bring free points…

Example 3.)

Score:Murray misses break point opportunities at 3-3 and 4-4 in the second set by playing a couple of tight points and then goes down 0-15 on serve at 4-5…

Response:Once again he is able to cope with the stress of these moments by not getting swamped by ‘reduction’ anger…

Next few points:Murray plays a couple of solid points to hold serve…

These responses tell us all we need to know about Lendl’s crucial effect on Murray…

While given Djokovic’s early downfall, he may still have won the title…

In my opinion Murray would have been much more susceptible to slipping into his old detrimental habits under the huge stress of favoritism, and thus vulnerable to making it much tougher on himself or even being beaten.

But just like a rehab facility provides the boundaries that prevent an alcoholic from drinking to their detriment, it appears that Lendl's influence is powerful enough to prevent Murray from succumbing to his ‘anger addiction’ when under high stress…

I look forward to seeing whether he can also do it if Murray meets Djokovic at the US Open…

If you would like access to a choice of Booklets designed to understand and  improve common competitive issues like choking, anger, tanking, and poor concentration (specific to your role as a player, coach, or parent) You Can Get It Here...