One of my favorite lessons from tennis has nothing to do with tactics.
I was 19, playing the 2006 WTA Challenge Bell in Quebec, doubles with my partner and sister Shikha. We were getting crushed: down a set and 0–5.
She was tight. I had spent the whole match trying to help her relax and raise her level. At what I assumed was our final changeover, I tried something different; I shared a random, slightly salacious piece of gossip.
It worked.
She relaxed.
She started swinging freely.
Smiling, laughing and attacking volleys.
And there we were — in front of a stadium full of people — talking between points about our childhood friend secretly smoking cigarettes.
We clawed our way back and won.
That match taught me something I now use as a psychotherapist and mental performance coach:
Sometimes the most elite mental skill is not “more intensity.”
It’s levity.
A little humor.
A little looseness.
A tiny reminder that you’re human and truly isn’t life or death.
If you’re feeling stuck, anxious, or in your head, maybe try asking yourself:
Can I add some “unseriousness” to this moment?
What’s your version of “strategic gossip” — the thing that brings you back to baseline?
