HighFIVE: Meike Babel
H5 Episode 38 / Summer 2020 / by Katie Newell
Leaving school at age 16 to become one of the top tennis players in the world, German-born professional Meike Babel began a physical and mental journey few others have faced.
Now a teaching professional at Gates Tennis Center, a Team Colorado Coach and a member of USTA Colorado’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, it is her expertise and work in the mental skills arena that defines her.
Traveling on the WTA tour facing loneliness and extreme pressure, she developed the realization that improving one’s mental skills would ultimately change their experience both on and off the court.
“I began thinking about how there were so many good players in the world. Thousands of them, in fact. And physically they were all almost identical on the court. So why could someone handle the pressure of being down match point and still winning while others could not?” she said of the complex question that crosses into many arenas including family dynamics, personality traits, and mastering of physical stress management techniques, to name a few.
Meike spent ten years on the WTA tour achieving a career high of #27 in singles and #45 in doubles. She came to the United States because Germany does not have collegiate tennis, and she wanted to stay in the sport while gaining the education necessary to pursue her mission of helping athletes develop the mental skills to achieve not only their best performance, but to enjoy the challenge.
Having coached both at Tulane, where the athletes were from diverse backgrounds, and at Vanderbilt, where the young players came from primarily more privileged backgrounds, she said that the unique pressure on players from external sources are different can all be destructive. It’s also where she became passionate about the importance of diversity and the inclusion of all people on and off athletic fields.
Her ultimate goal now is to help athletes from all sports improve experience through mental skills. She said she had an ‘A-HA moment’ when working with athletes that there was a gap in helping talented people achieve success, and that missing piece was ‘the how to’ actually perform in a match the same way you can practice.
“Can you pull this off, even when everything is on the line? Can you feel the same confidence in yourself, in your strokes, as you do when you are just practicing?” she asked.
Meike received dual a degree in Human and Organizational Development and is a Duke University Integrative Health Coach, and is a certified Mental Toughness Specialist, in addition to her professional tennis teaching.
“Tennis is a lifelong sport that gives you instant connection. I know that no matter where I go in the world, I will have a job and I will meet people. It’s a great community.”
She also said that it’s not all about the winning. It’s about creating a positive experience.
“If you are enjoying playing, even if you are losing, success will come,” she said. “You may have a different outcome than you think you want but ultimately life is about enjoying the journey.”
Meike and her wife, Bonnie, love their life in Denver and enjoy all the beauty Colorado offers.
Learn more about working with Meike.
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