Improving Your Posture to Improve Your Confidence
Novak Djokovic won his 10th Australian Open this morning with a relatively easy 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory over No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the championship match in Melbourne.
This was Djokovic’s record-tying 22nd Grand Slam win. This sets up an eventful French Open, the next Grand Slam tournament at the end of May, when Djokovic and long-time rival Rafael Nadal race to become the first player to reach 23 Grand Slam titles.
I grew up playing tennis. But I never really took advantage of my potential at the game that everyone else thought I had. I saw tennis as simply a means of padding the resume to make my college application look better.
Sure, I practiced, played, and competed a lot. But I never had a formal coach, and most of what I learned about the game was the product of watching some of the greatest players at the time on television—Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, and Andre Agassi. Most of the outside advice and tips I received came from onlookers who would stop watching their own children at the nearby baseball fields next to the public courts in Dallas and take interest in my practice sessions or games.
I remember what one father told me during a break in one of my practice sessions that I will never forget: “Control and restraint, hit the ball where the other guy ain’t.”
“Control and restraint, hit the ball where the other guy ain’t.”
He gave me that piece of advice because he saw that, while my physical game was solid, I had a poor attitude on the court. I would talk to myself when I missed a shot (sometimes even yelling), verbalizing my negative thoughts (and letting my opponent hear my negativity). I would waste energy by slamming my racket against the ground or net and even blasting balls against the surrounding fence when something didn’t go my way. And when I was down in a game, I would slump my shoulders as I walked back the baseline and hold my tennis racket downward, almost dragging and scraping it on the ground.
This father had seen me practice and play several times earlier when he finally approached, he later told me, and had been watching my performance with interest. He said he finally gave me that unforgettable advice because he saw that I was losing points and games even though I was the much better player.
He said I was missing shots I should have made because of my poor attitude, which had two consequences. First, my poor attitude and posture caused me to tighten up as I was making the swings that I would normally make in practice. Second, my poor attitude and posture gave my opponents more confidence that they could beat me.
And he was absolutely right. That father—who I later learned was a former professional tennis player who had won doubles tournaments on the senior tour—and I ended up working together, and I’m grateful he decided to volunteer his time to help me.
One of the first things we worked on wasn’t my groundstrokes or my serve. It was working on my walking. He made me practice walking upright, with my head high and shoulders straight, while holding the tennis rack lightly by its throat and pointed upwards (not down). All of this was to make me portray an image of strength and confidence. Plus, if I had to think about doing all these things, then I didn’t have time to throw temper tantrums and ponder on the negative thoughts—and, bonus, I didn’t waste any energy doing that.
This small change—just my posture in between points—had a significant impact on my game.
As you’re completing more full-length practice exams and preparing for the bar exam, think about your posture as well.
Take this example from the journal NeuroRegulation, which looked at how posture influenced students’ feelings about their mental math performance. The study, led by Erik Peper, an education professor at San Francisco State University, tested the effects of students’ posture during simple math exercises. The result? Students who were anxious about math reported that slouching made them feel less capable of calculation. Hunching down seemed to inhibit their thinking. Sitting up straight, on the other hand, gave them more confidence.
Another study in the European Journal of Social Psychology reveals the same benefits of good posture on confidence and performance.
According to ScienceDaily in describing this study:
Researchers found that people who were told to sit up straight were more likely to believe thoughts they wrote down while in that posture concerning whether they were qualified for a job.
On the other hand, those who were slumped over their desks were less likely to accept these written-down feelings about their own qualifications.
The results show how our body posture can affect not only what others think about us, but also how we think about ourselves, said Richard Petty, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
“Most of us were taught that sitting up straight gives a good impression to other people,” Petty said. “But it turns out that our posture can also affect how we think about ourselves. If you sit up straight, you end up convincing yourself by the posture you’re in.”
What these studies show is that posture can improve your confidence, and we all know how much of the bar exam is a test of your mental strength.
What these studies show is that posture can improve your confidence, and we all know how much of the bar exam is a test of your mental strength.
How can you incorporate the findings in these studies to help you on the bar exam?
Are you hunched while reading your outline books or completing practice questions? Sit up straight. Keep your back upright while studying. Don’t prop your head up with you hand. Practice breathing exercises.
The ScienceDaily continues:
"Sitting up straight is something you can train yourself to do, and it has psychological benefits – as long as you generally have positive thoughts," [Petty] said.
For example, students are often told when taking a multiple-choice test that if they're not absolutely sure of the answer, their first best guess is more often correct.
"If a student is sitting up straight, he may be more likely to believe his first answer. But if he is slumped down, he may change it and end up not performing as well on the test," he said.
