The Somatic Dialogue: Finding Balance Between Tension and Relaxation 🎯 

Every player carries two forces inside the body:
tension and relaxation.
Two opposite poles that, when misunderstood, create fear, inconsistency, and doubt…
but when understood, become the foundation of mastery.

Most athletes try to eliminate tension and increase relaxation.

But high performance doesn’t work that way.

The goal is not to escape one side or live only in the other.
The goal is to learn the dialogue between them —
to find the point where they meet, the place where the body becomes awake, grounded, and ready.

This point is what I call Somatic Balance.

The Body Speaks Before the Mind

Before a player has a thought, the body has already reacted.
The breath changes, the shoulders rise, the legs tighten, the belly contracts.

This is why Somatic Dialogue begins with listening.

• What is the breath doing?

• Where is the tension sitting?

• How fast is your internal tempo?

• What sensation is the body trying to tell you?

You cannot guide what you cannot feel.
You cannot balance what you do not notice.

Awareness is the beginning of choice.

The Polarity: Tension and Relaxation

Tension is not the enemy.
Relaxation is not the goal.

Tension gives power.
Relaxation gives flow.

A good athlete needs both.

Too much tension → you freeze, rush, force.
Too much relaxation → you collapse, disconnect, lose intensity.

The art is to find the middle —
the golden zone where intensity and softness meet.

This is where clarity appears.
This is where courage lives.
This is where your best tennis emerges.

Breath: The Regulator of the System

Breath is the bridge.

When the breath slows, the nervous system calms.
When the nervous system calms, the body opens.
When the body opens, awareness increases.

One slow exhale can shift your state instantly.

Breath is not just air.
Breath is information.
Breath is access.

Feel: The Truth of the Moment

When players scan their body from feet to head, without judgment, something changes inside them.

They stop fighting tension.
They start understanding it.

Tension is the body saying:
“I’m preparing.”
“I’m protecting.”
“I’m alert.”

Relaxation is the body saying:
“I’m ready.”
“I’m open.”
“I’m connected.”

The intelligence is not in choosing one over the other.
The intelligence is in learning to dance between them.

See: Directing the Mind Through the Body

Once the breath is calm and the body is understood, the player can see clearly again.

The shot.
The pattern.
The intention.
The next action.

Inner vision is the result of inner balance.

When the internal world is steady, the external world becomes simple.

Grounded Presence: Playing From the Center

A player who listens to the body and regulates tension finds a very special state:

• grounded yet fluid

• intense yet relaxed

• focused yet spacious

• powerful without forcing

• calm without softness

• active without rushing

This is the energetic point you want your players to compete from —
the point of Somatic Balance, where performance becomes natural.

Not forced.
Not controlled.
Not emotional.

Simply present.

The Purpose of Somatic Dialogue

Somatic Dialogue is not a technique.
It is not a breathing trick.
It is not a relaxation method.

It is a relationship with your own body —
one that frees you from guilt, from panic, from the pressure of perfection.

When players learn to breathe, feel, and see, they no longer try to fix themselves.
They simply return to balance.

And from balance, their game transforms.

Closing Reflection

Ask yourself:

Where in my body do I carry unnecessary tension?
What would happen if I simply listened to it… instead of fighting it?

Inside that question lives the beginning of your own Somatic Dialogue.