Rugged road to ‘Winning Tennis’
View(s):Winning Tennis has three guide rules. Rule one – Plan, Prepare and Perform to win. Rule two – Follow rule number one. Rule three – Remember rule number two.
These rules emphasize ‘individualism, motivation and responsibility’ to be the necessary lifestyle attributes to win.
The winning kick in Football, deciding 50 runs in cricket, a decisive pass in Rugby and Federer passing man at net will be the reward for adopting a culture to plan, prepare and perform. Development to perform is an education in life style.
Questionable broad-base argument
Our sports development structure has been built with schools doing the broad-based primary development, Clubs doing the secondary and the Associations doing the tertiary.
Laura Robson is a player youngsters schould watch
First item in the first rule is to have a ‘plan’. A plan that is productive. Broad-based development is very popular. It is also a system with a one is to one million success rate. This which is good for schools is now in the clubs and the Associations are also involved in it. If you are an individual and want to go high remember this and set yourself up for secondary and tertiary requirements to develop on your own.
For a broad-based system to have a higher ratio of success, it needs other factors. They are, a regular game making possibility, many practice matches, variety of opponents and step-up tournament systems. Without these, it will register mass drop out rates. What more, without them broad-based system is a mere ‘factory production-line’ for the simple technical stroke making, which is only a small part in development. It does not cater for the complex game making ability. When a player indulges in one part of development and expects the delivery of all parts; that is not being smart. Individualism gives a good elite base
Second item of the first rule is ‘Preparation’. In simple words it means doing the right thing. Nationally and also internationally, a hand full of players, in every decade prepares correctly and they are the winners. The argument is that, bigger the player base, better prospects for champions. Statistics show it to be otherwise.
Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Check Republic and Slovenia have small populations have put out outstanding players. India, with hundreds of academies and in excess of half a million players, is almost not heard of in the world rankings. One Indian played in the French open 2013 and he too lives in the USA.
Preparation gives sports intelligence and confidence to players. This is why and how countries with small player count come up with elite players. Individualism and good motivation has created some of the best players. Sport did and will test the strength of individuals to the extreme, so be ready for it.
Tight rope walk
The third aspect of the first rule to win is ‘Performance’. It denotes a culture. There are no quick fixes and short cuts in Tennis. When the umpire says ‘love all’, the match will begin. From that moment onward the player will have to face the challenge alone and live moment to moment. The ‘culture to perform’ does not appear when the match begins and disappear when the match finishes. As players, we have to live it day after day and make it a life style. That is the only way to foster performance culture. This testing life style makes middle development and high end performances a tight rope walk act. Living to win day after day for years requires the highest discipline.
Focus and stay
Rules two and three are to emphasize the single-minded approach needed for winning. So take rules two and three as seriously as one. These rules are to remind us of commitment and responsibility a player has to have. Choose the right system then stay with it to the end. Focus is the name of the game, but staying with it, is the challenge.
Wimbledon 2013
Wimbledon will begin on Monday the 24th of June. Try to figure out which system the players have used to come up. It may look difficult but watch their playing patterns and you will be able to say with good accuracy. To learn the game the best matches to watch are from 2nd round through to the quarters. It is where the drama is. Look for the new comers they can give you the clues as to how to get ahead from where you are. Work it out yourself if you cannot get it, go for advice to a good past player. Such things are not common street knowledge but of experience.
Look for emerging players like Sloane Stevens of US, Laura Robson of England, Alize Cornet of France in women and Milos Raonic of Canada, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Fabio Fognini of Italy in men. These second and third level players are doing something right to get there. Try to figure-out the secrets of their journey to Wimbledon, in the next two weeks.
-georgepaldano@yahoo.com-
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