Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

The Olympics come around every 4 years. As a young boy, the Olympics always felt special to me. They allow everyone to watch the best in the world perform for two weeks under the spotlight. W e are seeing many of the competitors for the first time and for the athletes themselves, this could be the pinnacle of their careers, they may never get the opportunity to represent their country at the Olympics again. So why can't  I care less  about  watching the Olympics?   The only sports I will watch over the next two weeks in Tokyo will be the traditional Olympic sports such as track and field, swimming, weightlifting, and Judo, etc.  For me, it's a time for traditional Olympic  sports to shine on the world stage, particularly the Marathon and the 100-meters. The IOC has begun to get greedy. They know the popularity of the Olympics is dropping and are now including non-traditional Olympic sports, like tennis, to help boost their ratings. The Olympics are a Marketing Disaster However,

At the beginning of a match, both players think they can win. What changes? You see it more clearly when the players are young and new to competition, but it’s common to all levels of tennis.  Two players are locked in an on-court battle for some time, and then one of the players wins the mental battle of wills, and the match is essentially over. Don’t be fooled by appearances. The remainder of the match may seem competitive, and the points may be exciting, but the match was over once the mental battle of wills was decided. That early “arm wrestle” decided the outcome of the match. Think about that for a moment. Winning that mental arm wrestle can decide who wins the match. In most cases, both players start the match believing they can win. Both players can even start the match, convinced that they will win. However, in nearly every match, something changes that self-belief in one of those players. But is the importance of winning the game of wills really anything new?