Overcoming a Melt Down
A MELT DOWN occurs when faced with a difficult situation in competition when everything goes wrong. What really goes wrong is the attitude. From the player's perspective there are demons everywhere, physical, mental, emotional and in most cases cosmic that have conspired to cause your failure to play well. It sounds easy to say “forget about it and move on,” but once you are in the personal inferno and experiencing such a psychotic disaster it is close to impossible to guide your way out of it.
The most important issue is to avoid throwing away the match and creating a habitual pattern of negativity under similar circumstances.
No coach, psychologist, friend or angelic presence can pull a frustrated angry player out of a self-imposed black hole of negative thinking. The player must find his own way to mend his shredded aura or confidence and head for the light at the end of the tunnel. Others may help the player see his foolishness, bad attitude, insanity, yet to release the problem is sticky business because the victim consciousness grabs hold of the player's mind and starts to kick him around violently from frustration to depression to rage and to apathy.
A Melt Down shows a major flaw, a huge black hole which eliminates confidence and kills positive thoughts with major destructive consequences.
What the player needs to do, as soon as possible is avoid dwelling on the problem which will increase the level of discomfort and support the victimhood. There are always be ups and downs yet a future or present champion cannot get caught in the downs. It is all about being wise and treating it as something you can learn from and which is not a definition of character. All players are faced with situations which will leave them wondering about their motivation, talent or heart. Yet good players don't let these momentary emotional and mental interferences damage long term development or their underlying character.
If it becomes a block then all future efforts will be meaningless as the player will not be able to rise above similar scenarios in the future.
To move past them quickly a method to use is called re-framing. This re-shapes the point, the disturbance, the line call, the circumstance surrounding the ego in a positive light no matter how hard that might seem to be to do. From the perspective years of playing or a career in the sport that will be many events which disturb players on both sides of the competition yet it is nothing to take personal nor to establish a deeper seated problem.
If the player cannot keep his head on straight it is better to default or not play rather than get involved in a situation that will create a conflict. If the emotions going into the event are frustration, irritation and anger then it will surely turn into a negative situation. It has nothing to do with the circumstances and everything to do with a negativity that is within the overly emotional player.
Getting out of a negative emotional spiral is one of the most difficult things to deal with. Getting out of anger and depression and at least up to apathy is the first step. This will bring alignment with somewhat higher emotions. In making the decision to get back into the match mentally the player must face the fact that they are not enjoying the match you have lost confidence and feel like they will lose no matter how they play. This negative feeling will cause them to go numb and lose sight of any goal they may have had.
The goal is to bounce back with spirit and enthusiasm. First the player must gather his composure and slowly allow the good thoughts to re-enter his consciousness.
The big problem is distraction. The player who is suffering a melt down has lost his focus on what is happening on his side of the net and inside his head. Losing confidence and composure is not because of a physical problem, the climate, lightening, court conditions, the racket, shoes, spectators, other players, your coach, the world at large, your friends, family, what you ate last etc, ... they may contribute but it really is because of the thoughts that are being selected. Choosing thoughts that make you feel bad, terrible and worse... angry, disappointed, depressed and in a state of despair where losing seems to be destiny. In fact if you utilize the word destiny in this negative arrangement then you are truly seeking that destination as quickly as the points can be played. In this frame of mind a player will exhibit a desire to end points too fast because they are bored, unhappy, angry, frustrated and willing to lose.
From the standpoint of a spectator this player looks like a bad sport, a jerk, an idiot someone who is really a weak player and has no idea how to compete.
Well its time to wake up and enjoy the game little by little. Finding little thing to enjoy in the game... Enjoy how your body feels, feel your feet on the court, think about your movement, your balance, your head, breathe in some nice fresh air. Find something good to feel. Touch the ball, feel the texture, get grounded. Its good to do this in the context of the game so as to not try to escape from the situation as ugly as it may have seemed a few minutes earlier. It is necessary to find a way to get back grounded and avoid the negative mental thoughts that are causing bad feelings.
There are some things that matter and some things that don't. The other player doesn't matter in this situation. It is all about your side of the court and it does not good to try anything which would smack of gamesmanship. This will only continue and make the problem worse as you are attempting actions which are out of character. In the same way attempting to change your game into something it is not and never has been is a sure sign of raising the white flag.
The only way to overcome these types of negative melt downs is to find some good feelings to get grounded and prepare for every moment in a positive and more focused manner. Its all about finding your happy place.
