Andy Murray, Wimbledon Semi-Finals and Reversal Theory

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Could "Murray Mania" have hindered Andy Murray's chances of making it to the Wimbledon Finals?

With the weight of the nation's hopes on his shoulders, it may possible that the media frenzy surrounding Andy Murray was a defining factor in his performance in his semi-final against Andy Roddick. 8 States of Reversal Theory

According to Reversal Theory, there are Eight Motivational States that we all spend time in. The trick to a healthy life and great performance is to be able to spend the right amount of time in each state and to be able to inhabit the correct state for each situation or interaction we have.

When a person is in the Serious State they are concerned with achievements, future goals, seeing the bigger picture and thinking strategy. The United Kingdom pinned all their hopes on Murray becoming the first British man to reach the Wimbledon finals since Henry "Bunny" Austin in 1938. Perhaps this expectation led Murray to become stuck in the Serious state during the Semi-Finals.

Even his opponent Andy Roddick later said, "to be fair he had all the pressure on him, and I could come out and kind of take a swing. And that probably helped me today."

Had Murray been able to reverse into the Playful state, while on court, he may would have been able to focus on the task itself, enjoying the game and feeling totally in the moment, rather than worrying about the hopes of the entire UK. Maybe then there would have been a very different outcome at the Wimbledon this year.

Tags: andy murray, andy roddick, elite performance, lose, performance, personality, profile, psychology, reversal theory, reverse, semi-final, tennis, wimbledon, win

Posted July 6, 2009 at 4:14 AM by Apter1 | Permalink | Comments(1)

Comments

Of course this raises the spectre of expectations too, which brings the conforming state into play. As some readers will know, the serious and conforming states (with high arousal) mean anxiety. However, I don't know if Murray actually played badly. He was maybe a little tentative and could have been more agressive (which fits with the serious state) but Roddick played a great game plan out almost to perfection and didn't let him in.

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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com