Tics, Tacs and Tactics Making Top Players Tick

♦ June 26, 2013 ♦ Leave a comment

Reaching and competing at the top level of sport is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication, nurturing a blossoming talent into a full flower of sporting excellence. Keeping that flower in full bloom for an entire career is arguably even tougher. Continual dedication to the job, and an even greater accentuation to focus and concentration are the sunlight and nutrients a top sportsman requires for long and prosperous fruits.

This need to remain focused makes interesting viewing, aside from the main event itself. It brings out the methodical, the superstitious and the oftentimes obsessive compulsive mannerisms amongst the world’s superstars. Tennis great Maris Sharapova is an intriguing read. Describable in many ways (particularly throughout male tennis supporters!), perhaps obsessive and compulsive are not the first words that come to mind. But that is exactly what she displays on court. A carefully measured and pre-planned twelve steps past the baseline at the back of the court; a pause; a small shuffle of the feet and turn back to the open court, all the while plucking the strings of her racquet in inimitable fashion between each and every point. A clench of the fist, twice, and a slap of the left thigh, twice, as if to pain herself and make sure her mind doesn’t drift from the matter at hand. Methodical, meticulous, machine-like almost. But it works.

England batsman Jonathan Trott is another interesting study. Seemingly under constant criticism for his poor timeliness between deliveries, all Trott is doing, is going through his individual routine that ensures he is focused, ready to receive every ball bowled at him. A tightening of his pad straps, three scrapes of the bat intertwined with as many scrapes of the left foot, marking out the position of middle stump on the ground below him. He will be ready in his own time, not when the opposition say he should be ready. He creates his own bubble and doesn’t let sledging and chatter around the bat affect him. Scrupulous, systematic, specific to Trott. But it works.

Sport is played in the mind as much as it is played physically out in the open. The best players are those who can maintain concentration enough to not let outside influences affect their ability. Each player does it in his or her own way, not always as visible or as noticeable as Sharapova or Trott, but in a way that works for them. Like a plant adapts and changes cyclically with the seasons to grow to its strongest and healthiest, a sportsman too will go through cycles for each match, each point, each minute to ensure the mind is at its strongest and healthiest. And when a player is strong in mind, he is very difficult to break down, difficult to beat. If ability is the roots and dedication is the stem, focus is the nutrient that builds a strong and dependable elite sportsman. It might be ridiculed by some, but it works.

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