Badri Narayanan Talks out about Sports Psychology

Sports psychology letter – unsolicited – from a Salt Lake City tennis pro to Dr. John F Murray, sports psychologist and author of the book “Smart Tennis: How to Play and Win the Mental Game.”

Dear John:

It was wonderful talking with you yesterday on sports psychology. As promised, here is my article.

“I am Badri Narayanan, a Tennis coach/PM in Daybreak, Utah. During coaching, while my prime focus was on stroke analysis, technique and footwork/fitness etc, I was very much intrigued by the importance of mental toughness/sports pyschology etc. Quite often when students ask me “players in the tour say you either have confidence or you don’t, attitude is intrinsic etc.” and sometimes they got depressed because they thought that mental toughness was something intrinsic and not built through constant mental work.

I was looking for something concrete that would help my students treat mental toughness/skills as something as vital as technique and I ran into smart tennis by john murray. I was fascinated by how well written and clean it was in explaining the mental aspects of the game. I read through it cover to cover did the check lists for each mental skill. applied it in my club games, leagues etc and once I realized how much it had helped me on and off the tennis court, I decided that this is what I was looking for for my students.

If I could somehow translate the importance of working on mental skills to these students, not only it will help them become better tennis players but also champions in life. I made a conscious decision to incorporate it into my tennis sessions with the students. After my typical tennis sessions with the students, I gave them a check list of each mental skill like energy, attention control,confidence, concentration etc., and had them fill out where they were and honestly. This gave them a platform as to where their mental skills where and where they could be kinda like a goal for them to attain.

Every day we worked on each skill and at the end of the week we would revisit the mental checklist and see where they were. I would accompany these with videos of great tennis players to add to their enthusiasm. I have seen these students grow mentally in front of my own eyes and sometimes make me teary eyed with plenty of aha experiences.

This book is an absolute must for any student who wants to take his/her game to the highest level and reach their fullest potential in sports and life.

Thanks John for coming up with such an amazing book and it is bound to help millions to want to take their tennis to the highest level.

Badri Narayanan is a certified tennis coach in Salt Lake City , Utah. For private lessons and tennis sessions, zennis workshops and inner game tennis contact him at badri007@gmail .com or you can reach him at 435-764-0969.

Hope you enjoyed this little exploration into the world of sports psychology!