By Val Febbo
Mindfulness is becoming a more prevalent notion everyday, with more people adopting meditation as a pass time throughout what has been a dismal year on a global scale.
Tennis coach and co-founder of The Tennis Menu Marc Sophoulis says that he instructs his pupils to implement mindfulness and meditation into their daily routines as it allows you to be present with your thoughts not just on court, but in life.
“We all need to stay present in everything that we do. There’s so many times where you as an individual will be doing something and you’ll be thinking about the next thing that you are doing.” Sophoulis told Break Point Podcast.
“You won’t be able to give one hundred per cent to your current task because your mind is focussed on the next job.
“The ability to stay present is mindfulness and if we can teach people to mindful of the current and present situations more often, then in life they will be able to handle tough situations.”
Sophoulis added that when mindfulness is translated onto the tennis court, it can be pivotal in adding an extra dimension to a player’s game.
The ability of the top competitors to put mistakes behind them and focus on the current task at hand is a skill admired by athletes around the globe.
“We are always going to have distractions in life, and in tennis it might be losing the previous point or a big pressure point at deuce or break point down, or even a Grand Slam final, but the ability to come back to your breathing is the critical component on the way we play.” He said.
“The ability to come back before the point and calm yourself down to then be able to get back into the process mindset is the most important part of playing at a critical moment.”
“When you play a match, 75% of the time, you’re not hitting the ball, you’re immersed in your own thoughts. That’s why mindfulness is such a critical component of being a tennis player, that ability to stay present.”
The high profile coached is adamant that meditation is pivotal in developing calmness, being at the present and with one’s self in the moment.
“Meditation is a huge part of it, it’s about being one with yourself, it’s about being calm and controlled in your breathing and your thought processes.” Sophoulis said.
“One thing you can do is go outside in the morning and with your meditation actually focus on all the little sounds that you hear to bring your attention to that present sound.
“It trains your brain to stay in that moment and to appreciate all the sounds like birds, a car driving past, the wind or even some rain.
“If you’re a tennis player and you aren’t in control of your thoughts you are not in control of your own actions.”
In 2020 Sophoulis believes that mindfulness has assisted so many people deal with negativity in terms of job loss, illness, lack of purpose or just the dour nature of the current news amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.
“The hardest thing about being alone inside our houses right now is that you’re just immersed in your own thoughts. Negativity creeps in, but it’s how you deal with that negativity.” He said.
Val Febbo is a tennis writer for the first serve and host of Break Point Podcast