How to Respond to Constructive Criticism

Why Tennis Players Hate Criticism

How do you respond to constructive criticism? Do you reject it outright or welcome it from coaches?

Why do some tennis players reject corrections or constructive feedback from their coach?

Tennis players fear receiving constructive criticism for several reasons:

• They feel they are negatively being judged.
• The criticism confirms some self-doubt they have about themselves.
• They have perfectionist standards.
• They fear they are letting down others.
• They are given feedback in an aggressive or disapproving tone.

Some tennis players see the criticism as a list of everything they do wrong. In these instances, the feedback is dismissed or ignored. Other tennis players view criticism as constructive or advice on how to improve their game.

Accepting and using feedback is a critical mental skill for tennis players. When you develop this mental skill, feedback will not feel like an attack on your ability but like a suggestion on how to improve your performance.

However, not every coach or parent is skilled in how to provide feedback effectively. So finding the message in the criticism is up to you.

Criticism can feel like an attack especially for perfectionists. But often there is a message that you can focus on and disregard the negative tone.

It’s normal for your defense mechanism to kick in, but criticism can be helpful or, at least, the message within the criticism. Rather than throwing out the message due to the negative delivery and the person delivering the message, grab hold of the parts of the feedback that can help your game.

How to Use Constructive Criticism:

When you receive criticism, ask yourself three questions:

1. What is the message?
2. Does this message apply to me?
3. If yes, how can I use this feedback to improve my game?

And do this:

1. Communicate with the person giving you feedback. Clarify the message.

2. Challenge your defensiveness. Find out why are you bothered by receiving feedback?

3. Focus on the message itself, not how the message is delivered. How the message was given is not as important as the information.

4. Ask yourself if the feedback can help you and, if so, how you can apply it to your game.

Related Tennis Psychology Articles

• When You Need a Time off to Refocus
• Growt Manage Emotions in Matches
• How to Assess Your Game After Losing Matches
• Download our a FREE Tennis Psychology Report

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