3 WAYS THE PROS ARE DIFFERENT





WHAT MAKES THE GREAT PLAYERS DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF US? 


HERE ARE 3 REASONS THE PROS ARE DIFFERENT!



#1 STRUCTURE 

They live highly structured lives both on and off the court. Many of the very best players I have traveled with have lived extremely structured lives that started from when they were quite young. Often, this structure was engrained in them by parents.

Martina's mother, Melanie, had only one goal throughout Martina's 
Career, to make her the best.

The many stories of overbearing tennis parents abound, and for every successful parent-child tennis relationship there are many more horror stories that have ended very badly. However, over the years I have seen several highly successful players come out of unhealthy parent-child relationships.

In some cases, the discipline ingrained in the child stayed with them throughout their life and lead to successful lives, both within the tennis world and beyond. Discipline and a strong work ethic can take you a long way in life.

Martina Hingis was a good example. Martina and her mother Melanie were very close, but Matina's mother was a very strict disciplnarian and quite demanding, even unpleasant.

However, when Martina decided to come back to tennis after her pre-mature retirement two years earlier, she was in great shape, and her fitness levels had been maintained. That made her come back so much easier.

Martina Hingis remained in great shape even during her retirement

The great players have schedules and rituals built around their tennis and that structure is fiercely protected and consumes their day. What's your excuse?

 

#2 FOCUS

The great players are totally focused on tennis and it shows in everything they do. For the best players, tennis comes before everything else. 

That means that their tennis is the dominant item in their daily calendar and everything else must fit around tennis. Often, I see players allow "other" activities to chip away at their tennis training times. This doesn't happen with the top players, and believe me, players at the top of our game have many things that could chip into their tennis time. 

The 7 time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, when asked about his commitment to cycling, and how much his training consumed his life said "Tell me what you were doing on your birthday, and on Christmas Day, and I'll tell you whether or not you can be a champion".

"Show me what they're doing on their birthday and on Christmas Day"

Very often when a top player develops interests outside of tennis their results suffer immediately. Enough said!



#3 DISCIPLINE

The glue that drives the structure and focus of a great players' tennis career over years of training and competing is their discipline. Without discipline players seldom stay at the top for long.

Australian tennis has produced several male players in recent years who could have reached the top, but they haven't.  The common factor I see is a lack of discipline and arrogance. 

Few of the recent Australian male players have had the necessary discipline 
to reach the top like Lleyton Hewitt

The successful Aussie players, like Lleyton Hewitt, have been highly disciplined.


SUMMARY

The top players in tennis don't always reach the top because they have been able to regulate their lives around the three pillars of Structure, Focus, and Discipline. It's not always easy to mimic them ot other successful people in other endeavors, but that's probably why only a few reach the top in the first place.


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