Tennis Improvement Memo 507. The Sequel to the Possibility of Empty Stands at the Japan Open (Subtitle: Mental Toughness and Self-Esteem Have a Directly Proportional Correlation)

▶ The issue is whether it is "artificial or not"

The Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships 2025 (Japan/Tokyo, Hard, ATP 500) has the possibility of matches being held without spectators after 9:00 PM. This is a sequel to

this article.

If a match extends past 9:00 PM, (setting aside whether or not that aligns with ATP regulations), wouldn't it be understandable if, for example, it were suspended due to sunset?

After all, since the ball cannot be seen, it cannot be helped.

The players cannot play, and the spectators cannot watch.

Therefore, there is no dissatisfaction.

That is not the case; the plan for "empty stands" is the issue that is stirring up trouble, specifically "whether it is artificial or not".

▶ The opponent's tardiness. When you get angry, and when you don't

If the reason someone who is late for a meeting gives is "train delay," you don't get that angry.

However, even if it is the same 10-minute delay, if the reason is "the other person overslept," you get angry immediately.

No, even if you are made to wait 30 minutes due to a train delay, you don't get frustrated because it is force majeure.

But oversleeping feels like an insult, as if you are being taken lightly, so the prouder a person is, the less they can forgive even 5 minutes.

A sunset suspension is like a train delay, but the plan for an empty-stand match is a delay caused by oversleeping.

Because it is artificial, it makes you angry. *1

▶ Trains, traffic lights, elevators; which one feels the longest to be kept waiting for?

Chiko-chan asks.

"Why is it that elevators feel the longest to be kept waiting for, compared to trains or traffic lights?"

https://www.nhk.jp/p/chicochan/ts/R12Z9955V3/episode/te/NGMQV3P75N/

Starting with the conclusion the program conveys, the reason why the wait time feels long for elevators is: "1. Because it is unpredictable and expectations are betrayed. 2. Because there is little visual information.".

It is said that you get frustrated due to the adverse conditions of 1 and 2 above.

The reason for this, according to Professor Makoto Ichikawa of Chiba University, is that "the entrance to the warehouse (attention gate) becomes wide open, and the perceived time accumulates too much."

For an explanation, this website is detailed, but what I want to say is "that is not the essence."

To repeat, the point of contention is "whether it is artificial or not."

▶ The meaning of the "emergency stop button" that cannot be pressed

Certainly, when waiting for an elevator, it doesn't come down from the floor above for a long time, so (1) applies.

I am also convinced by (2) because it is boring to be in an enclosed space.

However, even with an elevator, if you are not hindered by "people" on the upper floors, it comes down smoothly, so you don't get frustrated even if there is little visual information.

On the other hand, even when waiting for a train or a traffic light, if a delay occurs due to "human mischief," you still get frustrated.

In this harsh world, when a high school student pressed the "SOS button (emergency call device)" on a train, they were met with unprovoked hostility from the adults around them.

That is because the reason the train stopped was "artificial."

▶ When desires move, people also move. The result is a "commotion."

If a tennis match is suspended due to sunset, that is still understandable.

However, having no spectators due to opposition from some residents makes me feel like selfishness is being forced upon us, and I become uncontrollably angry.

Because various intentions (desires) are wriggling, it becomes a big commotion (Related article: "Same as money. 'Rice stored in a chest' that doesn't circulate because it isn't used").

▶ Mental toughness that transcends criticism

The point of contention is "whether it is artificial or not."

Even so, blaming people is useless.

Because the blade of anger will return to you like a boomerang.

For example, tennis practice.

The blade directed at a teammate, 'You are no good for making a mistake,' strengthens the self-negation of 'That's why I am no good for making a mistake too.'

Conversely, if you can view others with the perspective that "it's tennis, so making mistakes is unavoidable," you can apply that same self-affirmation to your own mistakes, thinking, "it's tennis, so it's unavoidable."

This softens perfectionism, and because you don't have to get hung up on mistakes, you appear patient.

But since it's unavoidable, you aren't even enduring anything.

This is the "essence of mental toughness."

▶True toughness doesn't even require endurance

In other words, self-affirmation and mental toughness have a directly proportional correlation.

There is no one with low self-affirmation who is mentally strong, and no one with high self-affirmation who is mentally weak.

If someone seems that way, they are just enduring it while boiling inside, a glass heart that is actually on the verge of breaking.

Mental toughness with high self-affirmation doesn't involve endurance; it means it truly doesn't bother you (Related article: "The correctness of 'it's natural to have various opinions (on hitting methods and forms)'").

▶Not blaming others becomes 'your own strength'

You don't need to be strict or harsh with yourself or others to train your mentality.

In fact, it's the exact opposite; being kind and warm is the key.

Mistakes are not bad; in fact, if you don't make mistakes, the correct circuits aren't formed in the brain, which is the 'Amidakuji (Ghost Leg) Theory' of the cerebellar motor mechanism (Related article: "'This is a pen.' will never be used in a lifetime").

If you stop blaming others for their human errors, you gain the virtue of not blaming yourself for yours, which is why they say 'charity is not for others' sake'!

Not blaming others is not for anyone else's sake, but 'for your own sake' (Related article: "Boosting self-affirmation with 'charity is not for others' sake'").

※1
However, regarding whether the cause of anger is human error or not, this is a "general theory," and I will talk about how it changes when it becomes a 'theory of karma' in the next salon backstage talk. It is a destiny where you inevitably

want to do good things and don't want to do bad things (cannot do them) (Related article: "It is 'science' that 'good deeds' improve your luck"). Then your mentality

becomes even stronger.

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