Why Is Cam Norrie Beating “Better” Players
October 22, 2021
Up a break at 3-1, Cam Norrie looked to be in control of the first set. Four points later, this wasn’t the case. In less than two minutes, the calm, confident and collected look on Cam’s face changed. He looked edgy, unsettled and a bit confused as he walked to his seat for the changeover. Over the next 10 minutes and a series of rifling forehands hitting lines by his opponent, not only did Cam’s eyes look tense, his jaw was clenched, his body was stiff, and he was a step late moving to every ball. He was physically incapable of overcoming the challenge he was up against. After five straight games to his opponent, the set was over. He swung his racquet toward the ground, yanked his towel from the wall, and kicked the soles of his shoes several times into the court. When he sat down for the changeover between sets, he struggled to sit still, his eyes darting around the stadium, his head shaking left and right, as he moved rapidly back and forth between drinking water, wiping his face with his towel, and eating a banana. He couldn’t sit still or get comfortable, as his body surged with anger, frustration and a bit of anxiety. Physiologically, he was highly mobilized in defense, a mixture of sympathetic fight and flight, as he wanted to fight his opponent, scream at himself, and run away from the situation, all at the same time.
Then it happened. The turning point. The shift that changed the entire outcome of the match. He looked at his coach, made a fist, flexed his bicep, and pumped his fist up and down in sync with the nod of his head. He did this while looking directly into the eyes of his coach, who did the same movements of his head and fist in synchrony with him. No longer alone in this fight, Cam was once again aligned with his coach to overcome the challenge he was facing on the court. He had his most trusted friend, his greatest ally, his teammate who had been with him many times before, along his side. He knew Facu had his back and was right there with him, no matter what unfolded. In that decisive moment, instead of feeling discouraged, helpless, deflated or giving up, Cam began to feel the energy, motivation and confidence he needed to dig in, to fight, to grind, and to do whatever it would take to simply win the next point, one point at a time.
Indian Wells, BNP Paribas 2021
Over the last 12 months, I have watched nearly every match Cam’s played. What caught my attention early on was how much Cam looked to his coach Facu for encouragement and support on the court. I’ve also got to spend some time with them off the court as well. What they share is a camaraderie, a trusting friendship that far exceeds the typical coach and player relationship. It is my opinion, based on the neurophysiological framework provided by Polyvagal Theory, that their trusting relationship and level of care for one another, on and off the court, are helping to lift Cam’s game to new heights in performance and expand his ability to adapt to adversity. Without a weapon, a killer serve or ripping forehand, he weathers his opponent’s storms better than anyone else in the game right now. He manages to beat players who are “better” than him on paper, and he is doing this over and over and over again.
This isn’t mental toughness the way we’ve been taught to think about it. Rather this is a body that feels safe and in control and most importantly not alone on the stage when the pressure builds and everything feels like it’s on the line. Although this might sound soft, it’s actually grounded in hard science, specifically the Polyvagal Theory (PVT) by Stephen W. Porges Ph.D. In a nutshell, the cues we receive from a trusted other through the tone of their voice, facial expressions, postures, gestures, and bodily movements recruit our social engagement system (i.e. cranial nerves 5,7,9,10 & 11). This results in an autonomic shift of our bodies out of defense through the activation of the ventral vagal circuit which down regulates the sympathetic nervous system, reduces the stress response of the HPA axis, slows heart rate and raises the respiratory component of heart rate variability defined as Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA). RSA is a reliable metric of resilience, our capacity to adapt to a wider variety of challenges, and the neurophysiological foundation for optimal performance.
When Cam looks at his coach Facu, he doesn’t feel criticized, evaluated or dismissed. Instead he feels seen, understood and supported. Facu is not only his coach, trusted friend and ally, he is also a former teammate (played together at Texas Christian University) and professional player himself. Facu has an embodied understanding of what’s happening on the court, how the big points feel in the body, and exactly what it takes to compete at the professional level. He can match Cam where he is, provide exactly what Cam needs from him at the moment, and help Cam find more safety, comfort, and control when the stakes are highest. This is a very powerful force not all players have access to on their side of the court.
As a coach, you play an extremely important, influential and impactful role on the success, resilience and performance of your player, for better or for worse, far beyond the techniques, strategies and game plans you implement. This is especially true if you are sitting on the sidelines during their performance. If your player feels judged, criticized or attacked by you, they’ll get defensive. If they see you panicked, afraid, discouraged, distracted or checked out, they’ll feel threatened, maybe even overwhelmed. These aren’t conscious decisions, but rather reflexive, adaptive bodily responses.
Like it or not, you are always sending cues of safety, danger or threat to your player no matter what’s going on, or what you think they are paying attention to. They see, hear and feel far more than you might think. Therefore, it's up to you to accept this responsibility; to help yourself feel safe, comfortable, engaged, and in control no matter the situation; and to intentionally send the specific cues your player needs for the current situation. This isn’t violating the rules of coaching - this is projecting cues through the intonation of your voice, facial expressions, gestures, postures and bodily movements.
Whether that’s helping them attack when they need to fight, dig-in when they need to defend, or mobilize when you see them shutting down. Whether that’s helping them settle down when they are flooded with emotion, release some tension when they are wound too tight, or focus more when they are scattered or confused. We either help them feel more safe, comfortable and in control, or make them feel more defensive, threatened or overwhelmed. And we do this all of the time, whether we realize it or not, or whether we want the responsibility or not. At every moment, we are sending cues of safety, danger or threat through our facial expressions, our tone of voice, our posture, our movements, and our gestures.
As humans ourselves, our bodies also respond reflexively to the environment (internal, external & relational) in the same predictable sequence of bodily states (SEE IMAGE ABOVE) that our players’ follow. When we understand this, we accept that although we won’t be perfect, we realize it’s up to us, as coaches, to recognize and respect our own reflexive bodily responses, and to regain control of what’s happening inside of us, such that we can find “safety” first and then help our players find safety, comfort and control when they need it the most.
This might be the most impactful role we play for our players when they are actually performing on the court, because the strategies, techniques and game plans we’ve implemented cannot be accessed by our players when their bodies are in defense or overwhelmed by threat. If we help our players feel safe, comfortable and in control, then, and only then, can they integrate our strategies and gameplans, figure out a solution to the problem, and ultimately perform to their potential. This is our key role when following the rules of “coaching” from the sidelines.
But there is more to this story of resilience and performance when we aren’t coaching from the sidelines, and this has to do with what I call a Container of Safety. Read More…
Let’s Play,
Michael Allison
Enter Your Play Zone
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