Developing the Anti-Fragile Player

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Nearly everyone who competes in a tennis tournament loses with only the champion briefly escaping the sting of defeat. Despite this fact, many players, parents, and coaches ride a roller coaster of emotions on the junior circuit choosing a results-oriented outlook, and viewing each match only through the lens of victory. In their eyes, a win will equal ecstasy and success, while a loss means agony and failure. Looking only through the lens of victory is both dangerous and limiting since the player doesn’t control the result, and ultimately this can lead to the creation of an unrealistic, fragile player. So how can we leverage this knowledge to our advantage? The answer is to help our students become process-oriented players who can effectively cope with losing through the development of an anti-fragile personality.

What Does it Mean to be Anti-Fragile?

If a fragile player only views their game through the lens of a victory, an anti-fragile player will view their game through the lens of process. A player with this perspective will understand that they need to spend their time focused on as many elements under their control as possible. Therefore, this player will plan short-term, mid-term, and long-term process-oriented goals that will focus on specific technical, tactical, physical, and mental skills that will help to further their overall development as players and athletes.
Furthermore, to be anti-fragile is to be able to withstand the incredible adversity that is an inherent part of everyday tennis training and competition. On court, the anti-fragile player is resilient, able to withstand lapses in one’s own game or excellent play from one’s opponent. Additionally, this means withstanding perceived unfair play from your opponent (bad calls or poor behavior), and embracing difficult playing conditions (extreme temperatures or heavy winds). Off-court, the player must take a mature and objective look at one’s personal performance. This analysis will always relate to the player’s individual process-oriented goals. Essentially, the anti-fragile player is prepared, composed, resilient, tough, and can take a long-term view of their game.

Becoming Anti-Fragile: Taking the First Steps

Becoming anti-fragile takes as much discipline as developing any stroke or physical skill as it requires considerable maturity and philosophical growth on the part the athlete. Here are a few positive steps that will help your players begin their journeys down this road:

#1: Develop a plan

The first step in becoming anti-fragile is to understand what you are trying to accomplish, and that means developing an effective training plan. Help the player identify a few key areas for improvement, create process-oriented goals, define daily practices to reach these goals, and outline a specific time frame for these items to be achieved. Outlining a plan goes a long way to fostering a healthy sense of confidence and clarity in the athlete, both critical skills in building an anti-fragile persona.

#2: Train for Adversity

Learning to thrive in difficult situations is what being anti-fragile is all about, and we need to simulate these environments in our athletes’ training sessions. Fortunately, this can be accomplished in a number of fun, interesting, and challenging ways. One of my favorite ways to train for adversity is by playing sets with altered rules. Changing the game score by starting the serving player down (ex. 0-30, 15-40, 30-40) will teach the players to be resilient as they attempt to come back in a game while fighting off potential break points. Allowing both players only one serve per point or only slice backhands allows students to practice critical skills while learning to succeed in difficult defensive situations. The creative possibilities are endless and each slight alteration can help create a more adaptable player who is comfortable with challenge and adversity.

#3: Focus on what is in your control

Control over results is an illusion on the tennis court, but there are a number of things they have control over. Develop pre, during, and post match routines. Take care of your sleep and nutrition. Prepare your equipment before competition. Have a game plan and stick to it. Simply by teaching our students to take care of the details that are under their control will foster belief and confidence in our players, giving them a huge edge over their opponents.

Navigating the emotional chaos of competition is no easy task, but we can teach our students to combat the inevitable setbacks in tennis through the building of an anti-fragile persona. Developing a personalized plan, training for adversity, and focusing on the details within their control can start the journey down the path of becoming process-oriented players who learn from defeat, thrive in difficult situations, and take a big picture, long-term view of their tennis development.