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From: Kenneth Kitzke Value Creation Systems
<KJKitzke@AOL.COM>
Date: Friday, December 10, 2004 10:16 am
Subject: Re: Tennis Players, Ball Players and Decisions
Very nice post, Kenney. I think I can make good use
of it.
Best,
Dick R
In a message dated 12/8/2004 2:48:37 PM Eastern
Standard Time,
marken@MINDREADINGS.COM writes:
[From Rick Marken (2004.12.08.1140)]
> Kenny Kitzke (2004.12.08)
> I am certain that understanding PCT has made me
a better tennis
competitor.
Could you explain how it did that?
Yes, I could. I could probably write a book about
it. Not
wanting to spend
that much time, I'll just mention a few examples
of what I meant.
First, my comment was a reaction to the idea about
making
decisions that
would allow you to hit a tennis ball better. At
my age of 60, and
a deteriorated
health and physical condition, one might expect me
to lose most
tennis matches
to players in my division who are 10, 20 or 30
years younger than
I. Guys
who are physically fit: strong and quick with the
stamina of
marathon runners.
[I doubt if I could run a quarter of a mile.]
Guys who hit the
ball harder,
much harder than I do.
You can hardly imagine the amazement, and often
the anger, when
younger and
more physically fit players lose a match to me.
Some throw their
racquet down
in disgust. One who needed to beat me to move up
a division (and
fullyexpected he would), was so distraught he left
the court
without shaking hands or
saying good bye. Others go on and on about how I
gave them the
toughest match so
far this year (even if they won). Shaking their
head, they are
baffled about
"how they just couldn't get in their groove."
So, what do I know about playing a tennis match
that they don't?
They think
they can control their play; their actions. They
think they can
control me
and my actions/play by their superior physical
actions.
I know I control my perceptions (not my actions)
via an internal
feedbackloop. And, I know that they do too!
So, I come to the match with some different ways
to compete. In
my tennis
bag are an understanding of controlled perceptual
input variables,
of a test for
what is being controlled, that all behavior is
purposeful but
often for
hidden intents, of a structural hierarchy of
control loops setting
referencesignals for lower loops for continually
varying external
conditions, of a need to go
up a level when sustained perceptual error is
being experienced
and of how
counter control can work.
I have an advantage because of my understanding
behavior as the
control of
perception; of being able to look beyond (actually
above in the
hierarchy)observed actions; both mine and my
opponent's. So I
come to play by controlling my
perceptions of my body, my mind and my spirit.
I'm not the first tennis player to realize how
competitive tennis
is as much
a mental game as a physical one. About the time
Bill Powers was
writing B:CP,
W. Timothy Gallwey was writing The Inner Game of
Tennis. You can
tell how
old it is because the tennis ball on the cover is
white! But, in
it are some
powerful concepts of self, involving self-control,
confidence,
concentration,etc., concepts similar to a PCT
understanding of the
loop(s) inside us (some
unconscious) as opposed to the outside environment
of the game we
sense as a ball
coming over the net.
So, because of PCT, I am very observant of my
opponent, starting
with how
they did last year, what their record is this
year, who they beat
and who they
lost to and by how much, of what s/he does real
time, everything
from the car
they drive, the clothes they wear, what they say
when we meet,
and, of course,
how they play in practice and then once the match
starts. Why?
Because I am
guessing at, and testing for, what they control
for in their body,
mind and
spirit.
Concerning their body, I am looking for whether
they favor their
forehand,come to the net, play long rallies, how
they serve or
return serve, hit top spin
or slices--all kinds of body control.
Concerning their mind, I am observing whether they
have a plan or
style of
play, whether they get angry easily or are easily
distracted.
Concerning their spirit, I am observing whether
they are highly
competitive,have a strong desire to win at any
cost, whether they
are there more for the
exercise or social purpose than for winning.
Why all these mental gymnastics? To be able to
find and disturb the
variables they try to control. The more
disturbance I can
introduce, the more error I
can generate, the more the opponent seems to lose
their
need/desire to win.
And, the easier it becomes for me to win.
So, one aspect of my PCT game is to vary my play
to keep producing
disturbance to variables they seem to be
controlling. If someone
seems to control for
hitting hard shots from the base line, I hit them
weak, short
shots that force
them to the net. Then, I pass them or lob them to
win a point.
If they
control for hitting forehands, I disturb them with
some nice wide
backhands. Or, I
will counter control them by purposely hitting
slow shots to their
backhandsthat they can easily run around and hit
their forehand.
Just when they get
comfortable controlling for forehand returns, I
will hit a hard
cross court
forehand that they do not have time to get to or
make a forehand
return error that
even disturbs their confidence.
In PCT tennis, I learned to not pay much attention
to what I am
doing with my
body. When the coaches say, your grip is wrong,
your stance is
wrong, your
toss is too high, your footwork stinks, your
racquet face is too
open, your arm
is too straight, you dropped your wrist, you need
to react
quicker, you need
to keep your eye on the ball, you need to hit it
more in front of
you, finish
your stroke, and a million other maladies, I think
it just makes
you conscious
of the wrong things.
Instead, I allow my body to do what it can basically
automatically. It is
difficult to improve your game while you are
playing a match. I
do that too,
but when I practice.
So, I guess from my PCT view, I pay little
attention to what my
body does. I
pay attention to controlling my mind, whether I am
observing the
opponent'sstrengths, weaknesses, controlled
variables, mental
actions and displayed
attitude or spirit.
And, I think most importantly, I use my human
spirit to control my
own mind.
I resist getting angry about losing a point
because I am too slow
or tired.
I resist getting distracted by balls rolling on
the court, kids
making noise,
the high school band practicing, the noisy tractor
mowing the
grass, bad
calls, etc. I enjoy a tough physical and mental
match, win or
lose. I want to be
known for giving the benefit of the doubt on close
line calls. I
play tennis
because I enjoy competing with my body, mind and
spirit.
I can say I generally get more competitive as the
match goes on.
And, I can
assure you this happens despite getting weaker
physically. It is
because of
what I observed about my opponent and how I have
learned to
disturb his/her
variables enough to reduce their physical advantage.
Well, I hope that gives you some concept of why I
think I am more
competitiveat tennis because of my understanding
of PCT to explain
behavior, both my
opponent's and mine during a match.
And, of course, there are opponents whose physical
play is just
too superior
for any PCT advantage I have to produce a win.
There are also
opponents who,
without knowing PCT, are more aware of "The Inner
Game" and are
doing to me
something akin to what I am trying to do to them.
They just
overall control
their body, mind and spirit that results in "game,
set and match"
in their favor.
When I lose for that reason, I am satisfied with
my self and am most
gracious to my conqueror.
I usually do get disturbed when I lose because I
did not do a good job
controlling my own body, mind and spirit and yet
desired a win.
When I lose to
someone I know from past, or current match,
experience I was
capable of beating
but was not up to sufficient control that day.
Usually that starts with a poor spirit/attitude
and will that I
bring to the
match. Perhaps a goal of getting a match played
and over with (as
somethingelse is more heavy on my mind) instead of
a victory. Or,
because the match
does not have a higher level purpose for me like
winning a prize,
or a division
move up or down. It may even be just knowing that
my USTA Super
Seniors Team
Player and friend opponent, Bill, needs a win to
keep from being
moved down a
division for next year---I purposely throw the
match to give him a
little help.
Do you think it can improve my bridge game?
RSM
I would think so, but that would be a very
different game. I
would not know
from my own experience (haven't played bridge
since I learned
PCT). What do
you, or any other bridge players think? I see
differences
especially in
contract bridge. I would think that duplicate
might be a better
way to experiment
with whether PCT helps make you a better bridge
player.
Best wishes,
Kenny
The LawstSheep