Negative self-talk can be motivating

At 35 years old Tommy Haas is the oldest tennis player at the U.S. Open. How did a player of this age do to maintain a mental approach so effective that it is still 13 in the world? A video of 2007 during the quarterfinals of the Australian Open opens a window on his thoughts in a very stressful moment. In fact, the video shows the Tommy Haas self talk during a break. Dialogue mainly negative and offensive to himself but with some positive statements almost exclusively centered on the result to get (do not go to the net, you can win, you will win the match, you cannot lose it, fight). In this case, the system that Haas has used with himself was useful as he won that match. Sport psychologists emphasize the importance of having a positive dialogue with yourself, centered not on the result to be achieved but on the actions to be performed. Although it is important to teach this positive approach to young people, in my work I have lived many situations where the negative dialogue has served as a motivational drive to provide the best performance. I met athletes in the break between two trials or before a final passing long minutes to insult themselves as Haas and then at some point ask: “Tell me something positive” and some times I talked about the sacrifices that had done to get to that point and other times of the obstacles and races who had won for being there, at that point they changed attitude and said: “Now go and do it” rather than “Ok! I will give my best.” They are almost always kept their word.