How using values can benefit your game
Ahead of Wimbledon fortnight, we look at what we can learn from Venus Williams and Andy Murray’s continued desire to compete. And how you can use your own values to gain more enjoyment AND performance from your game.
Last week in Birmingham, former world number 1 and multiple Slam winner Venus Williams took to the court at 43 years old. Having not beaten a top 50 player since 2019, and with a current world ranking of 697, few would have given her a chance in her opening match against top 50 ranked Camila Giorgi. However, not only did Venus win, she outlasted her opponent in a 3-hour marathon, despite nursing a leg injury. A few days later she was back to do it all again, but this time was edged out in another 3-set epic to the week’s eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Many have posed the question as to why a player who has already achieved everything there is to achieve in the game would carry on playing when their ‘best days’ are evidently behind them. Others go further. Replacing the question with a strident view that past champions should step away before they veer too far from their peak. For example, a bleacher report article from 10 years ago (yes, 10!) implores Venus to retire or risk ‘marring her legacy’. Likewise, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone in Scotland, tennis fan or otherwise, who’s not been involved in a similar discussion about ‘oor Andy’ in recent years.
In some respects, we can only speculate as to why Venus and Andy continue to put in the hard graft, all the while being compensated with fewer obvious rewards. They’d probably have hung up their racket by now if winning was their sole motivation. A safer bet is that they simply love to compete. The intrinsic reward, that inner contentment, of being in the heat of battle. We can perhaps assume that competing is fundamentally important to them. A value that they are prepared to fully commit to, irrespective of whether that results in victory or defeat.
A better question might be then, ‘Whilst they still enjoy competing… why would, or even should, they choose not to?’
Those who counter by talking about ‘tainted legacies’, make this case through the lens of their own perspective. Taking the position that our sporting heroes should not only consider, but prioritise what others think about their past achievements when deciding what to do next. Equally, it assumes that only an athlete’s results, the stats, are remembered and deemed worthy of admiration. Rather than taking into the account their personal qualities and character. Surely those who witnessed Venus’ exploits in Birmingham would say that her incredible will to win only adds to her legacy rather than diminishes it. Similarly, whilst Andy’s rise to world number 1 was remarkable, perhaps his greatest cause for inspiration has been to show that even with a metal hip you can still compete when you have courage, resilience, and heart in abundance.
How to start using values in your game
Whatever sport you play, making decisions based on other people’s perceptions or desires is unlikely to leave you feeling fulfilled. Neither will it give you the opportunity to reach your potential, whatever that may presently be. Instead, a happier and more productive path is likely to be found when you discover what values are important to you and commiting to these when you perform. These values will be unique to you, but one might be ‘to compete’ on every single point or in every single challenge. Or perhaps you might value ‘being bold’, by always seeking to play on the front foot.
Whatever your values are, committing to them is also more likely to support the opportunity for positive outcomes to occur. Additionally, your commitment, or otherwise, to these values is wholly within your control. Therefore, evaluating your performance, in-part, against how well you committed to each of these values can and should be part of your post-performance analysis.
Lessons to takeaway
To help maximise enjoyment of your sport, try focusing and acting on your own values, whatever they may be, rather than solely focusing on win or loss outcomes which may not be fully in your control.
Unlike the quality of your opponent, the external conditions, and luck, the values you have remain the same. Acting on these values can therefore help give you mental clarity and provide a more consistent approach to your game.
Don’t let a fear of failure and other people’s perceptions of your results hold you back. Only by putting yourself on the line will you give yourself the opportunity to reach your current performance potential.
And if you’re still concerned about what others may think of you, remember that how we go about playing the game, rather than our win/loss numbers, are what people typically admire most about us.
