The Cross Over Movement Blog

I saw this article linked at TrueHoop about Roger Federer. I apologize for two consecutive non-basketball blogs, as well as the non-stop Federer admiration, for those who read my newsletter.

However, as I argued in my newsletter recently, Federer is the best athlete in the world right now. The article focuses on Federer’s ability to concentrate, or not concentrate as the case might be:

Concentration takes mental energy, as anyone who has fought off five break points before shanking a ball on the sixth knows. And whenever I saw Federer on the grounds, he seemed to be using as little of it as possible. Practicing with Nicolas Kiefer on Ashe a few days before the tournament, he mostly just messed around. He would hit a few familiar Federer shots, the heavy forehand, the penetrating slice, then shank a ball and grin, or yell. Either way, he wasn’t really concentrating all that hard.

Athletes need rest physically, but also mentally. Many athletes overtrain because they try to go hard every day and the high level of concentration it takes to perform at the highest level and to improve burns out the player. Commentators always mention the looseness of a USC football practice with Pete Carroll, especially the day before the game; he is likely conserving their mental energy for game day, while other coaches stress out a team before the game even starts.

Of course, the natural inclination is to say that Federer and USC are so dominant that they can afford the laissez-faire attitude. However, what if it is this conservationist approach which contributes to their greatness, and not vice versa?

The writer also mentions what basketball coaches may term a lack of preparation:

Also, his mentioning how fast it all goes resonated with some comments he made earlier in the tournament, on the subject of how he prepares for opponents - it turns out he doesn’t, much. After Isner: “You can’t prepare for these guys… every player in the top 100 is unique.” And after Davydenko: “I don’t need to sit down and talk about an opponent for an hour. Takes me basically 15 seconds.”

Federer like John Wooden concerns himself with his performance and personal preparation and not that of an opponent. I think this differentiates the good from the best. The best in any endeavor are not concerned with their opposition because they know they are really playing against themselves. They are trying to ellicit their best performance and take their game to the next level. Winning and losing are by-products of the effort to perform one’s best. The competitive element helps elevate a player or team’s performance, but the best know they are performing against their own standards, not playing for a win. As the article concludes:

At this stage of his career, Federer more and more resembles Pete Sampras in his approach to winning. It’s not about the other guy, it’s about what you know you will summon from yourself at times of need. I suppose winning as much as those two guys have builds something more than confidence, something like faith.

Federer has that faith (and so did Rod Laver, judging by some fascinating comments Rosangel put up on the “Simply the Best?” post). And he’s less strategic than many analysts would have you believe. He’s not out there thinking all that consciously about slicing followed by the deep topspin forehand followed by the dropshot. His is an athletic genius, after all, and as he says, “it goes too fast.” Instead, he uses his mind to make sure he’s ready to concentrate at those crucial moments he is so good at identifying, and once there, doing what comes to him. That’s what I think he meant when he said, after Isner, “it’s all in the mind and it’s all in the moment.”