The Reset Happens Between the Points
What Tennis Taught Me About Recovering Under Pressure
One of the most valuable lessons I've learned on the tennis court isn't about hitting a better forehand or serving harder. It's what happens between the points.
Years ago, performance psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr introduced what became known as the 16-Second Cure, the idea that elite players intentionally use the brief time between points to recover mentally, emotionally, and physically before the next one. The point isn't the exact number of seconds. It's the reset. Watching high-level players, it becomes obvious that they aren't just preparing for the next point. They're letting go of the last one.
The Moment Between Matters Most
Before I started playing tennis, I assumed performance was determined during the point.
Now I realize it's often determined between them.
A missed shot.
An unforced error.
A questionable call.
Those moments create a choice.
Carry them into the next point...
Or leave them behind
The better I become at resetting between points, the better I play.
And I've realized the same is true outside of tennis.
Pressure Doesn't Just Happen on the Court
It happens after a difficult meeting.
After receiving unexpected feedback.
After making a mistake.
After a conversation that doesn't go the way we hoped.
Most of us don't move on nearly as quickly as we think we do.
Instead, we replay.
We analyze.
We imagine what we should have said.
Meanwhile, the next conversation, decision, or opportunity has already arrived.
Our body is in the present.
Our attention is somewhere else.
This Is the Capacity Gap
This is what I call the Capacity Gap.
The gap between what is happening in front of us and where our mind has gone.
When that gap grows, so does stress.
Focus narrows.
Clarity fades.
Performance suffers - not because we've lost our ability, but because we've lost our presence.
The Reset Is a Skill
The athletes who perform consistently aren't the ones who never make mistakes.
They're the ones who recover faster.
The same is true in leadership.
In parenting.
In relationships.
In everyday life.
A reset doesn't erase what happened.
It simply keeps the past from stealing the next moment.
Sometimes a reset is one deep breath.
Sometimes it's a single phrase:
"Next point."
Sometimes it's reminding yourself that you cannot change what already happened, but you can decide how you meet what comes next.
One Point at a Time Begins Between the Points
My article One Point at a Time was about staying present.
This is the next step.
Staying present requires learning how to return.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Because life doesn't ask us to be perfect.
It asks us to recover.
Closing Thought
Pressure isn't what defines us.
Recovery is.
The moments between the points may seem insignificant.
But they're where focus returns.
Confidence rebuilds.
And performance begins again.
Because every next point deserves a mind that isn't still playing the last one.