Hold the Press: Elite Sport is Tough!
Andy Murray's loss this week in the Australian Open served as a timely reminder of just how tough elite sport is.
I mean, that's obvious, right? Surely by definition, to be the best in the World is a fantastically difficult thing to achieve.
But that's on one level.
Getting into the detail, to win a Grand Slam, you have to put together 7 wins, against increasingly tough competition, over a two week period. You then have to deal with the media, recover, practise and get yourself up for your next match in 1-2 days time.
You simply can't afford to drop your level of performance or you will be beaten. Of course, it doesn't mean always being at 100%, but your lowest level of performance has got to be better than your opponent's level in each match. That might, to put an arbitrary number on it, be 95% of your potential.
That's the one thing that Andy Murray seems to be missing. He just can't quite seem to sustain a level of performance in the biggest tournaments - yet - to get through those 7 matches. For we know that he can, on his day, beat anyone on the tour. Compare that to Nadal or Federer, and you have the biggest difference between them.
A couple of seasons back, the difference was physical. The 2009 model Murray is altogether fitter and stronger, and he can compete physically. He also has a great deal of mental toughness, but this, I think, is an area for development that is mental. it is about sustaining the energy levels when you might feel a little flat. About putting a big win or some mistakes behind you, so that you are completely focused on the next performance.
I'm sure Andy will learn to do that.
Imagine, then, what it was like for Michael Phelps, as he went for his 8 golds at last summer's Olympics. A lot of sceptics pointed to the fact that his 8 golds were just different ways of doing the same thing - swimming. I heard people say that if there were more medals for running backwards, for example, then Usain Bolt would also have won more medals. But those arguments fail to understand the intensity of demands that are placed upon an athlete between events. Phelps, who has announced that he will not go for 8 golds in London, said:
"I'll never swim eight events at a major competition again. When you're swimming so many events, all you do is eat, sleep, swim; eat, sleep, swim."
Actually, he's forgotten about the media conferences, and probably other demands. But you get the point. Phelps' challenge was not being fastest in any 8 events, but sustaining the level of performance required to win 8 golds over a period of time, when none of his rivals were doing the same number of events.
It isn't just Phelps and his 8 golds, though his example is at the extreme end of the scale. It is true, to a varying degree, of the boxer who retains their title over a number of years, the golfer that wins a major, the football team that wins the NFL, the baseball team that wins the World Series, or the soccer team that wins the Premier League. All have to sustain a level of performance over a period of time, against opponents that can be better on their day.
Not relying on "on their day" is what being a truly elite athlete is all about.
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
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Keith
Keith Irving
iStadia