by Tami Matheny
In one of the biggest upsets in women’s grand slam history, Angelique Kerber defeated Serena Williams 6-4 3-6 6-4 in the 2016 Australian Open. The one thing that stood out to me was Kerber’s present moment focus. In her first round match, she faced a match point. Almost 2 weeks later she is raising the trophy above her head instead of exiting for home early. When she was up or down, she maintained a focus that she hasn’t always displayed. And as she said in in the post match remarks she thoughts were “Just play point by point”.
What simple but significant words those are. If we all could allow ourselves regardless of sport to play point by point, play by play. Where we shoot ourselves in the foot is that when we don’t stay in the present. We either haven’t moved on from the previous play and hanging on to those emotions or we have looked ahead and thinking about a play or point or even end of game/match that hasn’t even happened yet. The key is to stay in the moment. The present is all that matters. This point right now. When you can train your brain to do this you will start to see more consistency. Develop your own personal routine to stay in the moment. When you start to think about the past or future say “stop” and redirect thoughts to the present. This will require breaking some habits and will require a conscious effort but it will be worth it in the long run. Just ask Kerber.