Information Overload — SS #54

You most likely have a problem.

The problem is that you read my newsletter and maybe follow my Instagram.

Before you unsubscribe from this newsletter—which I hope you never do!—let me explain myself.

Tennis players are drowning in information.

The process usually works like this:

Have issues with mental performance → look up sport psychology and mental performance information online → find someone who shares interesting information → read their information but never spend the time or do the work advocated for to build mental skills → have issues with mental performance → look up sport psychology and mental performance information online….

And so the cycle continues. Do you see what I mean?

When athletes feel they need help, they either turn to Instagram or YouTube to solve their issues. My Instagram DMs overflow with players panicking about performance anxiety, parents desperate to cure their child’s yips, and seasoned veterans stuck in loops of negative self‑talk.

When people contact me, I share information for free and point people to the appropriate sources!

But, in my experience, rarely do they do the actual work required to create change.

Now you might say, “Well, then, why are you just sharing information online? Aren’t you complicit in drowning tennis players in information?”

And you’re partly correct. But you have to appreciate the position I come from: the way I build credibility and trust is to share free sport psychology information and advice with you.

Otherwise, what’s the incentive for you to follow me?

That’s just how the modern social media market works these days—you have to give away information for free to get people to like you and interact with you.

But don’t confuse this for the actual work that you might do with a sports psychology professional. Because it’s not. Yes, psychoeducation (education on concepts around psychology) is a big part of any therapeutic relationship… but it’s only a small part.

Why is that? Because, as we have discussed numerous times, information does not equal transformation. Simply reading my work is no substitute for doing the work.

Let’s take mindfulness for example: many tennis players and athletes are enamored by the concept. They probably even understand the mechanism behind it—that it’s attentional control training, and that you can teach yourself to come back to the present moment or task-relevant stimuli again and again.

Oh, how cool, by learning how to improve my attentional control I can improve my concentration and even start moving closer towards experiencing that illusory sense of flow. Amazing!

Perhaps you even started following my Instagram and joined my newsletter from the following post, which talks about Kaufman et al.’s Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement.

But, do you know what the problem is? Dosage.

Do you know how often a person has to practice mindfulness to actually start reaping its benefits? Three times a week for five minutes? Maybe even less? Two times for 10 minutes?

Wrong.

According to Amishi Jha’s research, the minimum daily dosage is 12 minutes… and you have to practice at least 5 times a week. This is why Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of the progenitors of the mindfulness movement in the West, opined on his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that committing to the program is actually more stressful than the stress individuals might experience in their daily life. Yes, it was tongue-in-cheek, and MBSR asks participants to do activities like body scans daily for 30 to 45 minutes… but you get the idea.

Also, think about the fact that Mindful Sport Enhancement is a 6-week program with recommended daily practice.

Simply having the information about mindfulness really… means jack shit.

With all of this being said, I want inspire you towards action.

You have enough information.

Time to take concrete steps to apply it.

I hope you take the steps you need to get started on your meditation practice or use the CBT-inspired worksheets that I’ve linked many times in my previous writing. I hope you create process goals, practice those cognitive defusion techniques, or create values that you can stick to which will inspire your behaviors on the tennis court.

Whichever style, modality, theoretical, or therapeutic approach you connect to—instead of merely reading about it, I hope you truly engage with it.

And, as always, I’m here if you need help with the application.

Best,
Malhar

Disclaimer: I am not an Association of Applied Sports Psychology CMPC, certified sports psychology practitioner, nor am I a licensed mental health counselor, PsyD, or clinical PhD. I am pursuing a master’s in sports, exercise, and performance psychology, and I am a sports psychology practitioner-in-training. I have over 20 years of experience in tennis, including playing, coaching collegiately and with professional players, along with club management experience as a director of programs. I am certified by the Professional Tennis Registry and am a member of Tennis Australia. My aim is to bring the best information to tennis players around the world so that you can apply it for long-term improvement—but sometimes I will make mistakes. If this is your area of research or expertise, and you feel I’ve misunderstood something, please get in touch with me and if required I will happily issue a correction.