Courtney Nguyen, Senior Writer, WTA Insider interviews Daria Abramowicz, a mental performance coach who works with newly minted 2020 French Open Women’s Winner, 19 year old, Iga Swiatek. Swiateck is a very talented player who has worked with Abramowicz for the past two years. Interview bullet points:
1) The younger generation is more comfortable with talking about mental health and the challenges that arise when you are a top athlete.
2) There are many outside challenges that arise besides performance that can add pressure. A few of these are, being a a high profile public figure and added demands on your time, business obligations, relationships with coaching team, media obligations. There are multiple complex and potentially stressful areas outside of practice and playing.
3) A key phrase that has helped Swiatek be fully present on court is, “Have low expectations and high standards.” This implies she has done the work she needs to do to be fully prepared to play to the best of her abilities, mentally, physically technically, and leaves the expectations, “should, have to, must, ought to’s” outside of the court. As more and more athlete’s learn these tools their ability to play at the highest levels during the most challenging moments will be available to them.
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