A 1979 photo of John McEnroe (left) arguing with the umpire during the Stella Artois Tennis Championships, Queens Club, London; Serena W

here are people who don’t smile when they win, and there are people who smile for weeks afterwards. I’m the kind of guy who lets the tears flow,” were the words Roger Federer spoke after winning his first Wimbledon title.

Yes, victory is always sweet, especially when you have really worked hard for it.

But underneath that calm posture that we see in Federer on court is probably a storm.

The world No 2 and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship semi-finalist (till the time we went to print — he was to play semi-finals on Friday) has admitted he wasn’t always able to keep calm on court. “I used to throw my racket around like you can’t imagine,” he had admitted earlier. “I was getting kicked out of practice sessions non-stop when I was 16.”

“[Getting angry on court] is the worse that can happen [to a player] if the player argues with other players or the referees, or the player is upset by his performance and puts himself off the optimal zone,” says Dubai-based psychologist Martin Kramar, who also specialises in sports psychology. “Thoughts have huge power for cells and immunity and negative thoughts or fears do eliminate the performance.

“They must be trained to overcome these outbursts by establishing tailored coping mechanisms which also he/ she can appropriately apply in critical situations.”

But his ambition to be No 1 (a spot he has held for 302 weeks, including 237 consecutive weeks) had a stronger hold on Federer than his temper, for which he decided to consult a sports psychologist at 17. The results of which have become history.

Over the years, we’ve seen several tennis players lose it on court. John McEnroe was legendary not just for his games but his on-court arguments with everyone from umpire to the cleaner, metaphorically speaking. Among others, women’s world No 1 Serena Williams too is known for her feistiness.

“[A sports psychologist’s] job is to be a supporting element in the player’s career and life itself, which involves preparation for the training as well as games and mainly for the various difficult life situations on the field as well as off it in their the personal lives,” explains Kramar.

“Modern sport psychology requires to [be in tandem] with modern science. Many professional teams have the most modern equipment to measure and monitor various psycho-physiological changes in data as for optimal training to eliminate over tra to set the best men physical preparation before the games.

The Heart Rate V Biofeedback monito player’s sympatheti parasympathetic ac optimal mental bala increase the stress and the overall ener the athletes,” he say

Kramar believes t stress and pressure sperson goes throug with the sport, but cases the stress cul before the game or of the sport related the best way to dea would be to activat sensomotoric balan

“My diagnoses an tive assessments fo letes are based on t of the HRV measure which serve as a wi athlete’s soul.