Hindrances for Novak

Hindrances for Novak

Novak is an excellent exemplar of the key character indicators of hard work, discipline, stick-to-it, and single-minded-focus that  define grit.   If you want the guy that glad-hands everyone and is always perfectly political, then he might not be the miss-congeniality winner.   The joke that became the best sportsman awards in tennis should tell us all how meaningless those items are when it comes to judging the best player.

I feel that much of this shade thrown over Novak is from the media narrative. He is the usurper on the Fedal dynasty.  Many strongly partisan Fed fans were unhappy when Nadal began to overtake him not just in numbers but in H2H results.   Their friendship was a good media device for tennis for sure.   

Thee are also cultural considerations.  Many Western sensibilities don't like the strong defiance and resolute determination that Novak displays against hostile crowds that often favored Fed or Nadal or other crowd favorites.   He doesn't taunt them like Mac used to do but he will not back down.   This is part of a national character that some perceive as arrogance while most in the English speaking countries go with the humble warrior model and most conform to that role.

Add in his personal choice to decline an experimental medical treatment and to accept the penalty of not playing as is his right.  Yet he was vilified by many of the tennis establishment for not taking the knee and the jab.  Arguments that this is arrogant are often put forth by compliant dupes that will line up for anything.  I don't hear from many of the former pushers of this bragging about their boosters any longer now that we know the risks involved.

Disqulification risk from ball kids and line judges

 So getting disqualified is subjective? That seems apparent over time. After the point is over, players should roll the ball. Or, not touch it. Solutions?

 Here is the story of the Miyu Kato disqualification.

 

 

It is getting ridiculous. They should institute physical and mental toughness training for the ball kids and line judges. If I were playing for money, I'd never hit the ball after the point ends due to this risk of disqualification.

Novak's Secret - Mental Resilience

 

 

Mental Resilience

Racket Smash Memorial - Nick Kyrgious

This may signal the end of any thoughts that Nick Kyrgious might win a slam or will ever be a #1 player.  I wanted him to get past his demons. It looks unlikely. It's a sad waste of talent. At least he can still earn a great living. I see now that his "I don't care" approach might be his best coping mechanism for making great money and still never reaching his potential due to this kind of outcome. It still seems good for tennis, either way.

 

Eurosport - Video

 SI.com

They need a racket smashing box where no penalties are assessed and it won't ding up the court surface. They could take bets on how many smashes it takes the player to wear themselves out. Post Match - it should be part of any interview where maybe the winner gets to make observations on the technique involved. They could also have a shredder there for those not inclined to damage their arm smashing a racket on the court.

Racket Throwing and Umpiring

 Irina Camelia - makes child cry in stands with a flying racket

Where are the Umpires?  Novak would have been tossed for this.

Tennis should be held to a higher standard than other sports. These out-of-control anger displays that we see daily in tennis have become acceptable, so younger players see this and do the same. It needs to stop even if it means hard enforcement via lost matches and big fines Lax umpiring must be punished as well.

 

Becker - new behavior rules will make players machines

Becker Prediction

High School Tennis Coach Problems

Sometimes a coach has a team member that won't show up regularly or has other commitments. It's not fair to other team members to let this slide, so how do you handle it?    Suppose a parent gets involved and demands that you allow their child to participate anyway?

Back almost 50 years ago, my high school coach had a similar situation. In that case, the team member got a job that interfered in the same way, and it was something that he wasn't willing to give up. The coach actually had a team vote while the player wasn't at the team practice. The team members voted the player off of the (Island) team. I now think it was not the best way to handle it as the coach was just trying to rubber-stamp his own opinion. He should have just used his authority. Whatever you decide, I'd now consult with the person in a position to overrule your decision if the parent goes around you or hires a lawyer.

Team or lesson Discipline - Safety is first

Players that cause safety problems are always my first focus on both team and lesson environments and that refers back to the idea of requiring compliance or leave. An example might include someone tossing a racket or hitting wild balls intentionally.  Those situations aren't acceptable.

Punishment vs Discipline

Injuries are a real risk. Some sort of reprimand or penalty makes sense to me for a team situation. If a team member is a slacker, I might tailor something to test their discipline such as boring and repetitive drills. I always stayed with tennis focused training and never want to be the cause of an injury.

Harming team members or students under your control is not acceptable. We know much more now than decades back. Heat exhaustion and cardiac risk is a major concern. Other injuries can be debilitating and ruin a sports career. All of these are counterproductive. Coaches should be aware of the risk and act accordingly.

Motivation to Keep Going or Start Again (Joe Rogan) - Watch and Understand

 

Dealing with Cheaters in Tennis - Hard to do

Coming up against blatant cheaters can take the fun out of tennis. It takes personal discipline to give your opponent the benefit of the doubt on line calls and I teach students to do so by telling them when in doubt call it in.

I think most know bad calls and cheating in tennis is a problem that is hard to solve. I've had adults and kids that I"m teaching make calls for their benefit that were obviously wrong. When I see it I talk to the whole group by having a quick line call clinic. The cheater knows I'm talking to them. In social tennis, you'll be ostracized eventually so it solves itself.

In competitive tennis, you need to take an active effort to stop it. If you have blatant cheaters probably the only way to fix them if you are the opponent is to point out your doubts on calls first, call an umpire, and if they persist, return the favor with obvious intent. A cheater can use such actions not only to take points but to break your focus so you need to find a way to fight them on it without putting yourself at a disadvantage.

The bottom line is that cheating does work for cheaters in competitive tennis so you can't just let it slide. You have to use every means available within reason to stop them.

1. question the calls first.

2. request a judge

3. quietly make it clear to your opponent that you won't be cheated out of a match and if that includes returning the favor then I'd liken it stopping a thief from stealing.

Maybe someday we'll have AI robots that can solve the problem by making calls for every court. Until then, letting a cheater win only makes you a loser.

You have to act or accept the loss.

Consistency in Effort Matters

 Become so good that they can't ignore you

 I like the concepts pointed out in the article linked above.   The idea is to keep working at it and eventually just through sheer volume of creation and outcome of effort that you will have to produce something exceptional.  Your skills will improve and your voice will be heard.

 If you apply this to being a tennis coach then study, train, and keep learning while sharing your ideas.

 If you apply this to becoming a better player the object is to make a systematic effort at improvement.  I usually find the best way to do this is to focus on one thing and perfect it or work towards improvement.

 

 

Focus: How to use it to improve your life and your tennis game

The ability to focus most of your efforts toward one goal usually predicts some level of success.  To become extremely good at something it usually means removing many other things from your daily activities.

So it is with tennis.  If you want to become a superior player you need to eat, read, sleep, exercise, and practice tennis.  It should all be focused on that objective and each item on that list and whatever others you can find must move you toward that goal.

Here is the Warren Buffet 20 slot rule for investments that you can find a way to repurpose as you invest your time and energy into tennis.