Just

“I just want to get back into it”

“I just want to hit some balls”

Just is a four letter word.

I have to try hard not to roll my eyes when it comes from the lips of a player I coach. “Just” is a cop-out. It usually means we are in for an undirected session where boredom or frustration or both set in quickly for the player. I’ve seen it dozens - maybe hundreds - of times.

The frame of mind a “just” player brings to a session locks you in. You can’t explore and adapt if you “just hit balls”.

(Well you can, but first you need to drop the “just”.)

You can’t test yourself under pressure if a player just has a net. Unless nets are designed to test you, they won’t.

So I urge all players to change their attitude to practice and I urge all coaches to challenge the word “just”. It’s unhelpful and can be replaced by a more competitive mindset.