The psychological importance of routine.

Andre Aggassi's poignant recollection of his haunted childhood and straining career in his recent autobiography gives us an insight into the importance that professional sportsmen and women place on routine. A game of tennis can be won psychologically; before the first ball is hit.  It can be won in the changing room, in the media, even in the hotel room the night before. Routine and ritual are psychological factors that are often key to a player's success. Aggassi taught me that if a player's routine is not perfect, if it does not match what he or she sees as normal for them, then a poor performance on the court can follow, often catastrophically.

Rafa Nadal has spoken of his pre-match ritual, describing it as "like a matchstick stucture: if every piece is not symmetrically in place, it can all fall down." Much like Nadal, Aggassi stuck to a delicate yet intense routine prior to a big game. Three showers a day, freshly gripped and stenciled rackets, and different coloured drinks in different bottles are just a few of the career- long habits which these two professionals share.

While in the locker room prior to a match, Aggassi used to have his third shower of the day. This shower was different to his morning and afternoon showers, both of which were prolonged and of a regular temperature; used for self-talk and psychological visualistation. He didn't shower in order to get clean, but rather to find privacy in which time he would motivate himself. His pre-match shower was brief, cold, and used to find that last minute positive state of mind before he stepped out onto the court. This is coincidentally similar to Rafa's shower ritual: his pre-match cold shower helps him "enter a new space in which I feel my power and resilience grow". 

Describing himself as "a new man" when he steps out of this shower experience, Rafa recalls feeling "activated, a new man". This 'flow' that he speaks of is the psychological state of optimum alertness and concentration, "in which the body moves by pure instinct...nothing else exists but the battle ahead".

What is interesting is the way in which both Aggassi and Nadal recognise the practical element of what they do in their pre-match trance, but at the same time how it is just another moment in the ritual. Rafa has his white bandanna which, in a practical sense, keeps his hair away from his eyes and face, but is also part of the routine, described by himself as "another decisive moment of no return...soon I'll be entering battle". Aggassi recalls the moment when his trainer would tape up the calluses on his feet, while Nadal has his fingers bandaged. Both are practical and preventive moves, but both are routine. 

Nadal grips his own racket, he always has done. Aggassi tapes his own wrists, he always has done. Both players have custom grips fitted to their rackets just before match-time, and have the factory grips removed. Nadal speaks of how he wraps his white grip around the racket handle with no thought, "as if in a trance", while Aggassi had his grips fitted and racket stencils applied the day before the match. Wet stencils can rub off on the balls, and Aggassi was obsessed with "order and cleanliness", so no stencil-marked balls. "Disorder is a distraction, and every distraction on the court is a potential turning point."

From reading Aggassi's recollection of his final few matches, it is clear that he and Rafa have contradicting fitness levels. By the end of his career, Aggassi's back was in such a bad way that he "couldn't so much as courtesy", whereas an ever-youthful Rafa speaks of his "violent" exercise routine before a game. Andre's gentle "jog down the hall" is a stark contrast to "short bursts" of intense "mini-sprints", in which Nadal is "activating his explosiveness".  Despite being different levels of excercise, different intensities for different individuals, both players stress the importance of getting themselves physically moving before a match. "All systems go", says Aggassi.

More routines follow. Aggassi mixed his own vitamin and electrolyte-packed water, while Nadal will have two bottles of water, sipping from the first and then the second, repeating the sequence every time; before the match, at breaks between games, and at the end of the match. Without fail. He speaks of how he places the two bottles to the left of his chair, one neatly behind the other, diagonally facing the court. This importance of order is a mirror image of Aggassi's. Ordering the surroundings to match the order they seek in their heads. 


It is apparent that a tennis player's pre-match routine is not habit, not superstition, but part of the match itself. If it was superstition, players would not continue the same ritual once they had lost a match. From the importance of Aggassi placing his rackets in his bag himself, to the fine details of Nadal's socks being exactly the same height on his shins, it is evident that a professional player sees these steps as vital, the potential difference between winning or losing. Every player will have his different formalities, her own unique routines, but every player takes part in these rituals for the same reason: to be psychotically ready to take part in a tennis match. Matches can be won in the locker room, in the shower, in your head...and it is critical to have that mental advantage over your opponent before the first ball is hit. 

Will Murray ever beat the best?

Prior to Andy Murray's semi-final against defending Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, a number of the tennis world's experts gave their own tactical analysis on how the Scot could potentially beat Nadal and end Britain's 75-year wait for a Wimbledon champion. John McEnroe, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski were full of enthusiasm for the potential of a Brit in the final, but all realised that Murray would have to be at his best if he were to stand any chance.

Hindsight tells us that this enthusiasm was always going to be short-lived.

McEnroe's advice to Murray was to "get under Nadal's skin". He advised Murray to upset the Spaniards routine if possible. Proactivity was the approach suggested by Henman. Whilst being a valuable point, warnings against cautiousness from possibly the least aggressive player to ever play the game would have been taken with a pinch of salt by Murray. Rusedksi took the same approach as McEnroe in stating the importance of Murray giving Nadal as few chances as possible to take control, which could apparently be achieved by putting his second serves out wide in order to control the resulting rally.

We could go on forever about what might have been, how Murray could have won the Championship if he'd done things in certain ways. But the disappointing fact is that he didn't make the final, suffering a third successive Grandslam defeat to Nadal. At least he managed to win a set this time.

So what is Murray's game missing? What does he have to do in order to compete with the greats of Federer, Nadal, and the man of the moment Novak Djokovic? Britain wants answers because, quite frankly, 75 years without producing a Wimbledon champion is simply not good enough for a country who prides itself on its grassroots sport. I refuse to accept that Murray lacks the talent and ability to win a major grandslam, but questions must be asked of the mentality of the Scot, who is currently living up to the all too familiar stereotype of Britain bottling it when the heat is on.

I do not believe that there are any major technical issues in Murray's game at fault for his continuing disappointment against the big names in tennis. Some may say that Federer is simply of a different class. This may well be true, in which case Murray has little to complain about. However, I believe that a negative psychological state, or rather a lack of a positive one, is to blame for him failing to find his best tennis when it matters most.

When you look at the unrivaled consistency of Federer and Nadal over the last eight or so years, with the pair swapping the No.1 and 2 spot almost annually, it is fair to say that they have been in a different league to the rest of the tennis world. This consistency is emphasised by the 23 Grand Slam finals in which Roger has appeared, 10 of which were consecutive appearances. Nadal's 10 Grand Slam wins compared to Murray's unfortunate none is proof that he too is a different quality of player. I put this consistent success down to a winning mentality and a mature, professional attitude which Murray is yet to develop.

Sports Psychologists will say a skilled player will make a difficult skill look easy. This is certainly the case with  the 'big three'. Feds, Rafa and Novak indeed move around the court with such speed and grace, but then again so does Murray. His movement is one of his most highly praised attributes, reiterating the fact that he is undoubtedly a talented player. But this seems to be of little use against the more experienced big guns, who seem to be outplaying him psychologically.

Maybe Murray just needs time in order to develop the professional attitude and winning mentality clearly required to win Grand Slams. But he hasn't got long. Nadal's junior by just one year, I think time is running out for the Scot if he wants to go down in history as a multiple Grand Slam winner. Forgive me Murray Mount, but your beloved Andy's cross-court backhand will never be enough to match the likes of Federer, Nadal or Djokovic, unless he escapes the grasp of the weak British psych which has plagued our sportsmen for generations.