Mood Effects on Singles Tennis

Stress, mood state, and competitive anxiety have a correlation with athletic injury. Athletes under high levels of stress and anxiety, negative mood states will most likely experience a greater incidence of injury and greater injury severity. Mind and body are linked, and when the mind is stressed there are ramifications on the physiology of the body as well. Psychology is the study of the function of the mind and increasing emphasis is being placed on the relationship between physical activity and our thoughts. One of the areas sports psychologists focus on is sports training and preparation. The goal is to assist individual athletes and sports teams in their ability to maintain Descartes' dualism of the mind-body balance. The physical and technical aspects of sports activities relate to the functions of mood and emotions. Superior physical athletic talent alone is not enough to reach peak excellence. Many athletes who possess these talents will never excel without help building the connection between peak mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing. The mind and body are linked, and when the mind is stressed there are ramifications on the physiology of the body as well. We can examine the role of stress and mood state on the performance of athletes and the relationship between mind and body becomes clear.

There are many approaches to sports psychology. Individual competitors may have a completely different need than an approach used affecting team sports and the dynamics of a group activity. The type of sport will also play a large role in how an athlete can benefit from sports psychology. Sports differ greatly in the type of personality they attract; from an independent individual to someone who thrives only in a team environment. The science of sports psychology does have certain constant areas. Sports psychologists usually focus on assisting athletes in improving their powers of concentration and goal setting. Imagery and simulation are two factors that sports psychologists focus on. One of the first things that need to be addressed is the outside and internal stressor that is affecting an individual athlete’s life: their general mental health and coping abilities. Stress, mood, and anxiety all play a role in the life of an athlete. Evaluating the general mood of the individual and the entire team when applicable is of utmost importance, no good plan of attack can be implemented without first knowing what is influencing the state of mind of the athlete, and what that emotional health is: how can it be improved?

Mood is an emotional tone, feeling, and general attitude. This is a temporary emotional state and subject to fluctuations depending on circumstances. A new relationship, financial upset, and an athletic defeat or win will all alter mood rapidly. Mood is sensitive to the environment and inner feelings, as well as person’s perceptions of an event. Mood states are different from specific emotions and have a wider range, but may have more enduring effects on performance. Due to the number of feelings and the range of moods, sports psychologists have had to come up with a profile approach to mood disorders (McNair 1971). Whether our experience is positive or negative, some individuals have the ability to remain stable, while others’ moods are much less predictable. Extreme mood disorders can be classified as psychological disorders such as bipolar disorders and depression. These disorders require the intervention of a mental health professional, for our purposes, we will focus on the mood patterns of every day mentally healthy athletes.

In order to track an athlete’s mood and help qualify what you are looking at, it is important to have some sort of mechanism to record fluctuations in mood and performance. McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman developed the Profile of mood States (POMS) in 1971 (Hagger, Chatzisarantis 2005). Six mood dimensions including depression-dejection, tension-anxiety, vigor-activity, fatigue-inertia, anger-hostility, and confusion-bewilderment are recorded, in what is essentially a diary for the athlete (Mackenzie 2001). Focusing on one athlete rather than an entire team will be simpler for our purposes here, so we will focus on tennis, where mood-sports psychology has had a lot of impact.

Research from POMS shows that elite athletes score above the average on the vigor-activity scale and on other scales it shows below normal, demonstrating one of the reasons sports psychology has become such a necessary part of the training routine for elite athletes. An interpretation of these particular scores looks like an iceberg, with the vigor scale showing as up and all other mood dimensions pointed down, giving the graph an “iceberg profile” (Bill Morgan 2006). This pattern shows up enough to notice immediately.

In a study conducted by Wughalter and Gondola at the New York University, 16 professional female tennis players from five countries were given the Profile of Mood States. Older female tennis players exhibited the “iceberg profile”, scoring higher in the vigor mood state and lower in all other moods, exactly supporting the graphs and work of Morgan, O’Connor, Sparling, and Pate (Wughalter 1991). Looking at these studies and particularly the effects of mood on women tennis players, it brings to mind the tennis match between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka on September 8, 2013 at the U.S. Open Tennis Championship in San Diego CA.

Tennis is well known as a mentally tough challenging sport. Serena Williams had beaten Azarenka in last year’s finals but had recently lost to Victoria Azarenka in a tournament in Cincinnati (Falkenthal 2013). The wind was tormenting Williams at the beginning of the U.S. American Championship game in San Diego tournament and you could see the frustration on her face as she kept pulling at her skirt. The two players were tied 4-4 after the first set, then Azarenka surged ahead with excellent serves and a difficult drop-shot that Williams could not reach.

Serena Williams is well known for her mental toughness when she gets angry, and you could see this happen in the match at this point. Williams seemed to decide it was time to get down to business and she became visibly more focused, her attitude looked much more serious and she wasn’t getting distracted. She won the next three games over Azarenka including breaking her opponents serve and winning the first set 7-5. Williams kept up the attack and looked like she was playing out of sheer power, not a lot of finesse. Williams broke Azarenka’s serve in the first game of the second set, it looked like Azarenka was shutting down and playing defensively. Azarenka seemed to rally shortly after this and fought back with some unforced errors on the part of Williams. Maybe after Williams had pounded away, she began to become complacent, and she began to make some errors that gave Azarenka a toehold back in the game. From a 4-1 deficit, Azarenka brought the set to 6-6, and then won during a close tiebreak to take the second set.

Now the wind seemed to get into Williams's mind again, she seemed distracted and you could see her frustration during the third set. Azarenka let Williams get a service break in the 4th game and Williams began to rebound, delivering an un-returnable smash serve in the 4th game of the 3rd set. Azarenka now double-faulted in game 6, putting Williams up 5-1. Williams won the game, set, match and the American Championship 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-1 in two hours, forty-six minutes. This was the longest championship match since they started tracking the time in 1980.

Tennis requires different psychological skills than a lot of other sports. Motivation as a skill is one of the most important traits of a skilled tennis player. There are no substitutes, no in-game coaching and no time-outs in tennis. There are no second chances, and in a long tournament situation, the players are on their own. Players must play in changing environmental conditions, with many different opponents (Crespo, Reid 2007). Motivation is key, with persistence, competitiveness and a strong desire to win playing extremely important roles in the athlete's mind. A person’s moods have a direct correlation with the ability to remain motivated and tough in this singular sport that requires so much unassisted focus over such a long period of time.

Tracy Covassin and Suzanne Peros conducted several studies utilizing the “iceberg method” of Profile of Mood States (POS) and their results were consistent with several other studies over the years. In this study, they concluded, “winning tennis players in this study exhibited higher vigor scores than the losing tennis player. Not only did the winning tennis player exhibit the iceberg profile, but they also had lower mood disturbance scores than the losing player” (Cashmore 2008, 344). In an adverse situation such as several of the moments in the play between Azarenka and Williams (breakpoints), Williams shook off her defeat and was able to remain undisturbed. Azarenka, in contrast, had more difficulty fighting back when Williams continually pounded her with hard play. Williams’s game would slide a bit when she was ahead and she became complacent, and Azarenka would creep forward through forced errors. However when the chips were down and Azarenka made a strong play, Williams would rally hard every time and fight back. Azarenka seemed to be more susceptible to mood changes and would look defeated. Williams, on the other hand, seemed less affected by adverse conditions and took her lumps, coming back forcefully whenever Azarenka made a strong play in the game.

This fits in well with the study of moods and sports psychology and the effect on an athletes performance, as well as the “iceberg method” idea of vigor scores being extremely important in predicting the outcome of a singles tennis game, especially in a tournament setting where hours of play are required and little or no assistance is offered by coaches or teammates. Sports differ greatly in the type of personality they attract; from an independent individual to someone who thrives only in a team environment. Singles tennis is one of the most demanding of an athlete’s endurance and focus, and mental toughness. Several times during the women's match between Azarenka and Williams, both women were able to change their game at a crucial moment, and find reserves of mental strength to come back from positions of weakness. When the two players were tied 4-4 after the first set, Azarenka surged ahead with excellent serves and a difficult drop-shot that Williams could not reach. Williams attitude shifted at this moment, she seemed to decide it was time to get down to business and she became visibly more focused, her attitude changed and she became more serious, she wasn’t getting distracted by the wind, or anything else. She won the next three games over Azarenka including breaking her opponents serve and winning the first set 7-5.

Mood, particularly an athlete’s innate ability to cope with negative factors they encounter inside and outside their game, will have a profound effect on the outcome of their tennis match. Morgan’s work has provided a better understanding of the role of mental health and personality on the performance of athletes, particularly the psychological factors encountered in extended exertion. Mood is sensitive to the environment and inner feelings, as well as person’s perceptions of an event. Mood states are different from specific emotions and have a wider range, but may have more enduring effects on performance. An athlete’s ability to shrug off a mood that is affecting their performance is one of the best ways to overcome an opponent or find the inner strength to push through mental obstacles. For example, treating depression with exercise from a sports routine is beneficial to the mood state. This is one of the fundamental truths of competitive sports, in team sports and it is especially important in individual sports and a game like singles tennis, where the athlete can’t rely on teammates or a coach to pick them up and pump them upright when they need it.

Sports psychologists have a strong role to play in assisting elite athletes in the ability to set goals, use positive imagery and develop better powers of concentration necessary to perform at their best. Superior physical athletic talent alone is not enough to reach peak excellence. Many athletes who possess these talents will never excel without help building the connection between peak mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing. The mind and body are linked, and when the mind is stressed there are ramifications on the physiology of the body as well. To reach peak excellence, an athlete will benefit from a good relationship with a sports psychologist, assisting to overcome shortcomings in the areas of personality where they may be affected by negative mood or their inability to remain undisturbed when adverse situations come to play.

References

Bill Morgan's career contributions honored. (2006, September 20). UW-Madison School of Education. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from http://www.education.wisc.edu/soe/news-events/news/2006/09/20/bill-morgan-s-career-contributions-honored

Cashmore, E. (2008). Profiling. Sport and exercise psychology: the key concepts (2nd ed., p. 344). London: Routledge.

Cox, R. (201). Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Crespo, M., & Reid, M. (n.d.). Motivation in Tennis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Retrieved October 5, 2013, from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2465304/

Falkenthal, G. (2013, September 6). U.S. Open tennis 2013: Serena & Victoria meet in women’s final Sunday | Washington Times Communities. Washington Times Communities | Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Family News. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/sports-around/2013/sep/6/us-open-tennis-2013-serena-and-victoria-final-sund/

Hagger, M., & Chatzisarantis, N. (2005). Athletes Are Emotional, Too. The Social Psychology of Excercise and Sports (pp. 153-154). Berkshire: McGraw Hill.

Mackenzie, B. (n.d.). Profile of Mood States (POMS). Profile of Mood States (POMS). Retrieved October 8, 2013, from www.brianmac.co.uk/poms.htm

McNair, D. M., & Lorr, M. (1971). Profile of mood states. San Diego, Calif.: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.

Wughalter, E. H. (1991). Mood States Of Professional Female Tennis Players. Perceptual And Motor Skills, 73(4), 187.