Friday 6 September 2013

Guardian News: Novak Djokovic mindful of US Open threat posed by Stanislas Wawrinka

The Guardian online published an article in it's Sport>US Open tennis 2013 section on 6th September 2013 titled: Novak Djokovic mindful of US Open threat posed by Stanislas Wawrinka.

It outlined how tennis player Novak Djokovic uses mindfulness practice to improve his athletic performance. Here are some quotes from the article:
"Novak Djokovic calls the secret to his tennis – and his life away from the court – "mindfulness", a form of meditation in which he confronts negative thoughts in his psyche then banishes them.
[...]
Djokovic has had, in his own words, a near "flawless" tournament. The majority view is that the only player left here who can stop him is Rafael Nadal, who has been similarly dominant...
[...]
...it may be worth dwelling on Djokovic's philosophy again, elegantly expressed in his latest book, Serve To Win: "I used to freeze up whenever I made a mistake; I was sure that I wasn't in the same league as the Federers and the Andy Murrays. Now, when I blow a serve or shank a backhand, I still get those flashes of self-doubt but I know how to handle them: I acknowledge the negative thoughts and let them slide by, focusing on the moment. That mindfulness helps me process pain and emotions. It lets me focus on what's really important. It helps me turn down the volume in my brain. Imagine how handy that is for me in the middle of a grand slam championship match." "

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