04/23/24
September 27, 2007
Why Roger Federer Doesn't Care Who He's Playing: and why Rafael Nadal does well on clay. [via kottke]
That's a fantastic comment, Howard_T. Reminds me of reading "Zen in the Art of Archery," by Eugen Herrigel. In many of its most memorable passages, Herrigel describes a problem he has with a technical aspect of archery and his teacher's unexpected, non-technical answers. One memorable episode involves the release, which, with a high-powered recurve, can be quite difficult. His teacher's advice was to release the string "like a child holding a grownup's finger. You know how firmly a child grips; and yet when it lets go, there is not the slightest jerk, because the child does not think of itself, it is not self-conscious, it does not say, 'I will now let go and do something else,' it merely acts instinctively. That is what you must learn to do. Practice, practice, practice. The shot will come as effortlessly as snow slipping from a leaf." I believe that's what we've come to call "the zone," no? And for certain, highly-practiced athletes, the crafting of a shot, as it were, is not really a matter of choosing among alternatives. There is too little time for that.* Concentration means ignoring the decision tree, not processing it faster. That eliminates a great deal of self-consciousness and doubt. (A great flaw of hackers like me is changing the shot 3-4 times before actually striking the ball.) One of my frequent opponents as a teenager was incredibly frustrating to play, because he simply didn't care what the score was, how hot it was, what kind of wind was blowing, how I behaved, etc. He simply played the point in front of him. Never smiling or frowning, certainly never tossing racquets or kicking his water bottle, he acted like he was a ball machine playing a ball machine. In lots of ways, his game was technically weak, and over time I learned to beat him--mainly by acting more like him--but when I was a hot-headed 15-yo, he let me over-think everything and self-destruct. Apologies for the off-the-rails essay, but good links and comments will do that to a guy on a Friday morning. *One of the best points DF Wallace ever made in his many tennis essays was the role of time in tennis success--good players with enough time will hit devasting shots, but better players "simply deny [their opponent] that time." The difference is measured in microseconds.
posted by Uncle Toby at 09:21 AM on September 28, 2007
Don't apologize for that-- great stuff.
posted by yerfatma at 10:04 AM on September 28, 2007
I'm not a follower of tennis, but I usually make a bit of time to watch a little of the Grand Slam events. Federer's accomplishments over the past few years defy description. I don't believe anyone ever has dominated tennis as he has, and that includes the Lavers, Beckers, Sampras, and the rest. The post brings out a very interesting aspect of the competetive edge that some seem to enjoy, particularly in the individual sports. The ability to completely blot out distractions is an advantage. Not everyone has it. The closest I have seen to what Mr. Asad claims Federer has is, believe it or not, a Japanese Calligrapher. He will have arranged his materials, ink, brush, paper, and will have the picture of the character he wishes to draw clearly in his mind. The good ones will then stare at the paper for a long time, some of them for many minutes of contemplation, before taking the brush, and in the space of a few seconds, rendering his drawing. The presence of visitors, outside noises, and other disturbances can not break his concentration. The ability to thus concentrate is a gift, but one that must be strengthened constantly through practice.