Body, mind and spirit working together

Body, mind and spirit working together

A young and relatively inexperienced tennis player faces a match against one of the top seeds who is expected to win the championship. At first our young player (let’s call him Tom) gives it his all: he has nothing to lose, since no one expects him to win, and a lot to gain in terms of experience and the possibility of winning a few games. Quite unexpectedly and early in the match Tom finds himself at set point against his opponent, and suddenly his mind leaps ahead: ‘What if I actually win this point, this set, this match . . . it would be sensational . . . and the next match.’ Before his opponent serves, Tom sees himself in his mind’s eye receiving the champion’s cup. Distracted and in overdrive, his mind loses its focus and concentration; on playing this point, his return shot is wild and it’s ‘deuce’ again...