2 Corinthians 10:5
Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.
As believers, we are admonished by the Word to first, be aware of every thought. Second, to take the thought captive. Third, to assess the thought using the Bible as the standard. Finally, to change the thought if it is off course.
Many believers and many tennis players are not aware of their own thoughts. That is step one. Many believers and many tennis players do not take the next step, holding the thought captive before moving on. Each thought must be arrested and challenged. Many believers and many tennis players do not have a standard by which they assess their thoughts. For believers it is the Bible. For tennis players it should be their game plan. World-class athletes are world-class thinkers.
I invented a drill recently called "Train the brain." In the drill I play against the student after having taught them a pattern or tactic that they can use in matches. The object of the game is do something positive with every ball (angle, corner, to the opponent's weak side, to setup the next shot, to use pace, etc.). I recently used the drill with one of the nation's top junior girls. At the end of each point I asked her to talk me through her thoughts during the previous point. In every point she won, she could talk me clearly through the thought process on every ball. Not coincidentally, on the points I won, she had left the ball in the middle of the court short. On each of those points when I asked her to share her thoughts she said that she was really just hitting the ball.
In tennis and in life, if we are not proactive with our thought process, and if we don't have the right standard to assess our thoughts with, we are going to lose.
Prayer
Abba Father, please make me more aware of my thoughts and please help me to make them obedient to Your Word. In my tennis, please help me to have the right game plan and please help me to stick to it. Amen in the Name of Jesus.
