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The Beautiful Trap

The Beautiful Trap

Mental Game

Quick Thoughts

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Vienna has long been a city of ideas. More than a century ago, Sigmund Freud developed his theories of the mind here, including his view of obsession: not just focus, but a pattern of thoughts and impulses that loop endlessly, pressing into the mind with an intensity that’s hard to escape. For Freud, obsession carried both danger and meaning. It revealed what the unconscious couldn’t let go of, what mattered so deeply it demanded to surface again and again.

Temper is also based in Vienna, and while our lens is tennis rather than psychoanalysis, the theme of obsession still resonates. Freud saw it as a sign of conflict — the push and pull between desire and restraint, between what we chase and what we try to hold back. It wasn’t just fixation for its own sake, but a mirror of the hidden forces that shape how we live, love, and struggle.

That same tension shows up whenever we pursue something with everything we have. Obsession repeats, insists, refuses to fade. Whether in thought, ritual, or action. It shapes habits, builds patterns, and takes hold of us until we can’t imagine letting go.

On a tennis court, it becomes visible. The endless hours of practice. The replaying of missed points long after the match has ended. The rituals repeated until they blur into superstition. Obsession fuels the drive to refine every stroke, to master every detail, to prove — again and again—that progress is possible.

But obsession is a double edge. The same repetition that builds mastery can become a prison. The same hunger that drives improvement can erode joy. Every athlete knows this tension—the fine line between dedication and being devoured by the game you love.

Freud saw obsession as something to be understood, not ignored. In tennis, the same holds true. Obsession is the shadow side of passion, a reminder that love for the game is rarely clean or simple. To step onto the court is to wrestle with fixation, to risk tipping into excess.

And yet, this is what makes tennis so consuming. The rituals, the repetitions, the nights spent replaying points in your head—they’re not just signs of obsession. They’re signs of care. To be obsessed with tennis is, in its rawest form, to be bound to it.

Temper is a studio for tennis objects & experiences. Combining technology, design & art with an intense attention to detail and a love for materials, temper starts a discussion on the current state of the sport.

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Current Collection:

Rookie Season

Next drop:

November 1, 2025

Temper is a studio for tennis objects & experiences. Combining technology, design & art with an intense attention to detail and a love for materials, temper starts a discussion on the current state of the sport.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Current Collection:

Rookie Season

Next drop:

November 1, 2025

Temper is a studio for tennis objects & experiences. Combining technology, design & art with an intense attention to detail and a love for materials, temper starts a discussion on the current state of the sport.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Current Collection:

Rookie Season

Next drop:

November 1, 2025

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