You might have heard that tennis can extend your life by nearly 10 years compared to doing no sport (we wrote about it here). A factor is that tennis engages your mind and body dynamically. Another reason you live longer through tennis is the social connections you make—tennis players bond well. This sport is a society of its own, open to everyone. A few weeks ago, I went into an elevator and a stranger said I must be a tennis player. I carried myself like a tennis player and they noticed – we became friends. But what is not talked about is how tennis teaches you mindfulness and makes you stay focused on the present moment. That leads to many health benefits as well.
Tennis is a mindfulness sport. Every ball you get will be different. The court is large so there are a nearly infinite number of possibilities with variations in spin, speed, height, and placement. To handle the different shots consistently means you need to stay tuned in to how the ball and your body are behaving. If you’re thinking about other things, you will not be aware of the ball’s behavior and will miss a lot because you’ll be out of position. If you’re not tuned in, you will likely be stiff and off balance for many of your shots. This means you won’t feel much of a connection with the game. To stay consistent and connect, you need to be in the zone. That means no thoughts about the future or past.
Thinking about the future constantly or ruminating over the past can lead to stress. These are points in time that don’t exist and you thus have no control over. Yet we tend to worry about what happened or what might happen. We do this because as children we have been taught to worry and no one taught us to stay in the flow. Let mistakes and good things happen.
Thoughts cause reactions to our physiology. Negative thoughts cause chronic stress. Stress hormones get released from overanxious thinking. If you’re chronically anxious, you will end up with physical ailments. On a basic level, you’ll have more knots in your shoulder and back muscles. Mindfulness on the other hand is shown to reduce anxiety, and depression, and help alleviate pain (read this post from the National Institute of Health).
People who commit to tennis learn from their coaches that they should be in a state of Zen. They get rewarded with measurable physical, emotional, and mental benefits. This knowledge is not new. Timothy Gallwey published one of the best sellers for mental tennis in 1997: The Inner Game of Tennis. He shares insight on reaching a state of flow and getting rid of our mental inhibitions:
“The first skill to learn is the art of letting go the human inclination to judge ourselves and our performance as either good or bad.”