The I Just Give Up Response

These people deal with pressure by withdrawing energy and effort (Loehr, 1991). The name for this style is called tanking, or the tank response.  I used to think that tanking was when you gave so much effort, but you lost because you had nothing left or your "tank was dry."  I later learned that this is the quitter response when things are not going your way.

Players who respond to pressure this way may look casual, lifeless, or unmotivated during difficult times. This can be outside of a game too. Remember, games are great indicators of a person's behavior. The problem is that this low intensity style uses the coping mechanism of, "I just wasn't into the match. If I really wanted to do well I could have."

Often times people who respond to pressure in this way can have a lot of excuses as to why they did not perform their best.  They can have a poor on-court image and can be forgetful and unfocused. They often make decisions that leaves people wondering what were they doing? They are inconsistent , ranging from brilliant to disastrous. There is no middle ground of playing the best they can. It is great or horrible. This response can continue on because it effectively controls nervousness (Loehr, 1991). By not putting forth effort to reach the zone or total engagement, these players never reach their full potential. They learn to control their nerves, but at the cost of the very thing they want to achieve (Loehr, 1991).
Players who are talented or gifted are especially prone to fall into this response.

Court Side Stories

In the 1970's tennis was a huge recreational activity. This is when the tennis boom hit. The tennis boom is when a mass of the population started to play tennis, resorts, hotels, city parks, apartment complexes, and individual homes were building tennis courts at a rapid rate. Much the way pickle ball is rising in popularity. Everyone wanted to play. There were reasons for this, but that story for another time.

Since so many people started to play, you saw a rise in the amount of teachers as well. The problem was people did not really know that much about the game and so they were teaching based on their interpretation of the pros styles or how they played the game. Classic lines that we always used to hear were, "Bend your knees. Watch the ball. Hit through the ball. Racket back. Bounce. Step. Hit."  Nothing really concrete. As a matter of fact many people earned a nice living by doing that and there was an old joke that tennis professionals used to use to describe this way of teaching,"Watch the ball, bend your knees, that will be $20 please."  We have come along way since those days.

Which style are you?

Everyone has a specific way to react to stress. The two ways people react to stress are fight or flight. A person will either deal with the stressor or avoid the stressor. In games and sport our stress responses show up even more. They are great ways of telling what kind of personality we are. According to Jim Loehr (1991) there are four types of responses to the fight or flight reaction to stress or pressure. The four strategies are; the TANK RESPONSE, the CHOKE RESPONSE, the ANGER RESPONSE, and the CHALLENGE RESPONSE.

Over the next few days I will go into these reactions to stress and pressure. As you read them, see if you can see which ones are fight and which are flight. Also see if you are able to identify with any of them in particular. Keep in mind, none of these reactions to stress are wrong or bad. There are times when we need to respond in a particular way. Finding the most proactive way to respond at the time is what is key. Stay tuned.