Mental blocks - why Andy Murray lost
I knew Andy Murray would lose the US Open Final. I’m not a prophet or psychic or anything. I just knew. How? Because he had already won his final. Beating Rafa Nadal was a huge mental breakthrough having lost each of their previous contests.
This is the classic sporting situation. It happens in most sports. Teams beat opposition that they should never have beaten only to surrender meekly in the following round.
For whatever reason, many sportsmen and teams suffer from this mental block. They have a major - and perhaps unlikely victory - only to then struggle in the next round.
Here’s why I think this is. It’s because they don’t have high enough expectations. Their goal is not winning the competition (no matter what they say otherwise); it is winning the immediate contest.
It is not the goals that you say out loud that count; it is the goals we truly believe deep down that define us. Andy Murray will have looked at the draw, seen he had to face Rafa Nadal in the semi-final, and known immediately and that was THE match of the competition.
Sure he will have dreamt of winning the whole thing. And, of course, he said he believed he could win it. But as soon as beating Nadal became THE match, the competition was lost.
Of course, next time round, facing Nadal is a totally different proposition. This makes his future chances of success in a major tennis tournament far more likely.
This all leads to some interesting questions for the rest of us. Whilst it’s unlikely we’ll face circumstances quite like Andy Murray, we do all have goals and ambitions which each have coinciding obstacles. What are the mental blocks we may have holding us back from getting to where we want to get?
What do you think?
Tags: Andy Murray, Life, Sport, Tennis