Taming a Passionate Spirit: Bjorn Borg

[johnyandell]

Share your thought's on Matt Cronin's article "Taming a Passionate Spirit: Bjorn Borg"

[worldsbestcoach]

my thoughts?

Well-written piece. Impressive. I enjoyed it.

Somewhere in my clutter I will find my old, partially-read copy of Borg's autobiography. I want to finish it. As Cronin mentions, Borg does not think highly of conventional tennis coaching, as I remember.

Also Cronin mentions Borg's excellent court coverage. I remember Borg's matches, including those on clay. Borg is a good lesson for today's players on how to move forwards for a short ball.

Perhaps Borg played some table tennis with his father. The table tennis probably helped Borg's tennis game. I know that table tennis has helped my tennis game. I know many good tennis players who also are avid table tennis players. There is something special about the relationship between tennis and table tennis. The two sports have some important similarities.

Roger Federer has decided to drop golf, and focus more on table tennis. When Roger takes the tennis ball early, on the rise, at least a bit of the credit belongs to his experience at table tennis. The world champion tennis player Fred Perry also won the world championship in table tennis.

I was lucky to see Borg play in person (but only 2 times). I think his passing shots were the absolute best, on a consistent basis. Players today do not get as much experience at passing as Borg had. He also could take the ball very early, getting the ball back at his opponent quickly, when he so desired. His net play was not pretty, but he had the good sense to somehow get the ball back across the net, no matter what it took. He had the smart sense of keeping the ball in play one shot longer than his opponent could. For my money, the Connors-Borg matches were the most exciting ever.

[don_budge]

The Swedish Bear...Björn Borg

Scandinavia has it's own set of unspoken rules regarding behavior and etiquette that everyone within the culture inherently understands, knows and perhaps at least subconsciously adheres to. It’s called “Jante Law”. There is a Swedish word that sort of encompasses the concept and the word is “lågom” which essentially means mediocre...or enough is enough. Shoot for the middle and don’t try to stand out. That's the Swedish ticket. Tennis used to have it's own unique "tennis etiquette" that has virtually gone to the wayside. Tennis etiquette had some of the same essence of lågom in some respects.

"O tempora, O mores”...as bottle says.

The ten rules of Jante Law state:

Don't think you're anything special.
Don't think you're as good as us.
Don't think you're smarter than us.
Don't convince yourself that you're better than us.
Don't think you know more than us.
Don't think you are more important than us.
Don't think you are good at anything.
Don't laugh at us.
Don't think anyone cares about you.
Don't think you can teach us anything

Jante Law is a pattern of group behaviour towards individuals within Scandinavian communities, which negatively portrays and criticizes individual success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate. The term may often be used negatively by individuals who more or less rightfully feel they are not allowed to take credit for their achievements, or to point out their belief that another person is being overly critical.

The other day I gave a lesson to this man who is a Colonel in the Swedish Army. I really like this guy. We always have the most fascinating discussions...we talk about Swedish life, American foreign policy, the Art of War, tennis tactics and technique...you name it. Nice guy Thomas is...a big handsome fellow with a beautiful wife, they have three kids with the addition of their two month old daughter. The two boys are in the tennis program. One of them asked Thomas if I was better than Roger Federer. I said to Thomas, I hoped that he told him that I was...maybe I am. At golf perhaps.

Out of our latest discussion, Thomas introduced me to the concept of Jante Law...which is a concept that originated out of some culturally accepted behavior that exists in Scandinavia. As you can surmise from the ten rules that some author wrote about in the 1930’s, the culture does not traditionally celebrate the accomplishments of the individual. As a result much of the behavior is a bit strange or odd to the outsider looking in. But in the end it only peculiar in the sense that it is Swedish. As a consequence tennis is not such a big sport in Sweden, possibly due to it's individual nature. Soccer is a big sport, however. You can hide on a team.

Some examples in everyday life include that everyone at the monthly board meeting sits in the same seat everytime they have a meeting. There is never a word that has to be said...all understand that they will sit in the same seat. Should someone sit in a different seat it would shake everyone to the core of their Swedish sensibility. Homes tend to be on the modest side...nothing is built that is the least bit outstanding to the landscape around it. The people do not seem to be overly preoccupied with getting rich...enough is enough in most cases. On trains, Swedish people are rather careful to avoid eye contact with each other and you don’t often see strangers idly talking much to one another. If one person is leaving their apartment and they hear that their neighbor is leaving they will wait until the other is gone and then slip out on their own. Ironically, the Swedish people are extremely helpful if you are, for instance, an English speaking stranger who does not speak the language. Countless times I have been courteously been helped when I am lost and in need of directions. Every young Swede speaks amazingly good English and most of the older Swedes do too. Swedish people tend to amazingly polite and respectful too. Ironically, without the outward appearances of overly ambitiousness...the Swedes are enjoying a relatively healthy economy by world standards. The "enough is enough" philosophy appears to be sustainable...at least so far.

Björn (Bear) Borg has always been a bit of an enigma to those not familiar with Scandinavian culture and much about his nature is more readily apparent if you have some knowledge of Swedish ways and customs. To say that “becoming the Iceman took Borg many years” may not be so much that, as it is he just had to grow up a bit...into a good Swede. That being said...Borg has a rather complex nature in himself as there are definitely some conflicts in his personality and his public personna that go somewhat against the grain of his being Swedish.

Björn sort of defied conventional wisdom at the time when he was developing his game when he started to play with his strong grips and excessive topspin. He exhibited a rather strong individualistic streak for a Swedish youth. For him to go against the grain was a remarkable trait in itself and perhaps it was more due to the rebelliousness of his youth. The older you get here in Sweden the easier it is to slip into the familiar patterns that surround you. His Romanian wife, Marion Simionescu described his hometown as “a row of little cubes”. She goes on to mention how there “is a sameness there, a consistency, that informs the character of the man she married”. Such is Swedishness. The tendency is to remain in the Swedish box...where it is comfortable and familiar.

As far as his accomplishments in the tennis world...this is truly a mark of his greatness. It also is another example how the next great tennis champion may come from a rather unlikely origin. Knowing the tennis landscape here in Sweden it is easier to understand just how great his accomplishments stand in the history of the game. First of all, when reading the Jante Law’s it becomes obvious that individual achievements are not regarded nearly as highly as they are in America, for instance. For a young person to embark on a journey of individual accomplishment would of appeared to be somewhat unseemly by peers and even society. Ingemar Stenmark is another great Swedish champion who is virtually the same age as Björn and together they were ruling their respective sports in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Stenmark was regarded as the quintessential Swede because of his ultra soft spoken demeanor...if you can imagine anyone being softer spoken than Borg. Stenmark is from northern Sweden where Jante Law may be even more adhered to. They were both icons and adulated by the entire country. Perhaps they were at the same time beginning the gentle and still gradual thaw on the unspoken “Jante Law” of the land. Their individual accomplishments were celebrated with a cult like enthusiasm.

The tennis landscape in Swedish tennis appears to be rather limited to a foreigner like myself, hailing from the United States. There is a noticeable lack of public tennis facilities in the country and there are virtually zero public tennis parks to my knowledge. I have not seen a single one. There are no sports on a "varsity" level in the high schools or colleges. All of the tennis activities are organized through private clubs and from an American point of view even the private club scene is minimal if one considers that breeding champions or even tennis programs is a numbers game. The bigger the population, the bigger the chance to find that diamond in the rough...the potential champion. The cities in Sweden are rather spread out and connected by railroads. Cities tend to be on the small side, on the modest side, and populations of more than fifty thousand are considered a “stor städ”, or a big city. In order to play a tournament schedule one would have to do considerable traveling. If there is a promising player, such as Borg was, they are often relegated to the tennis development center of the region of the country and it may take a considerable train ride or bus ride to get there everyday to train. The author’s noting of Borg's 90 minute train ride is probably no exaggeration. Lucky for Björn and the tennis world he was relatively close to Stockholm where the facilities existed to groom this potential world champion. These logistical problems are big problems to overcome for any promising young player and are the reason why many quit the game at such a young age here.

Borg’s explosive impact on the tennis world also had a underlying negative impact on the Swedish tennis program as well. There is sort of a lack of creativity built into the society...the tendency to do things in the same way and his success more or less ushered in an era of sameness in tennis instruction. Two hand backhands, strong gripped forehands and homemade service motions. Lucky for me that the tennis training here is rather mediocre...at least I have a job.

It is interesting from a cultural point of view to begin to understand the phenomena that was Björn Borg. To understand the tricky in’s and out’s of culture is to begin to understand what makes a society tick...or not. Here in Sweden, a high regard is placed on sameness and it works in a large degree for the society as a whole. Everyone is regarded to be equal and there is a zealousness in which this equality for all is pursued and it is visible in the sameness of the men and women. There is an incredible amount of energy that is devoted to this and it is visibly apparent how well this is working as the boys and girls actually tend to look alike as their roles in the society are going to be entirely interchangeable...at least that appears to be the goal for the future.

[don_budge]

The Swedish Bear...Björn Borg (cont.)

The phenomenon of Björn Borg is both a cultural and individual phenomenon. In some ways it is remarkable that he ever came to be the champion that he was because of the cultural parameters but on the other hand he is a product of that culture which helps to explain his enigmatic nature. His quietness and his shyness were not so much a personal attribute as it is a product of his being Swedish. While John McEnroe was at the time of their historic rivalry considered to be rude and misbehaved, it was a requirement and a prerequisite of Swedish culture that Borg behave as the “Ice Prince”. And that he was. It was virtually impossible to ruffle the Swede and it was left to the likes of a Nastase or a McEnroe to try. Even Borg’s fastidious care of his beloved Donnay’s is a bit of Swedish “sensibility”. His penchant for tracing his own footstep’s throughout the championships of the French and at Wimbledon were a curious mix of a tennis champion’s superstitions and Swedish culture...and probably instrumental in his achievements.

Borg's success at Wimbledon is another example of his incredible enigmatic nature. His game was certainly a product of honing his topspin groundstrokes and infinite patience during the incredibly long days, in the land of the midnight sun, on the red clay courts of Sweden. Certainly some of his success on the slick grass courts of Wimbledon is explainable from his long winters in Stockholm, probably training on fast carpet indoor courts. But for him to reach a level that is necessary to capture five grass court championships in a row is downright unbelievable considering that the predominant style of the game at the time was that of all court tennis and his game definitely looked classical clay court. It's simply amazing that he could adapt his backcourt game to the serve and volley mode of grass court tennis. This is another tribute to the greatness of Borg...and his enigmatic nature. This level of performance on the grass courts of Wimbledon while simultaneously ruling Roland Garros has to be one of the great accomplishments of tennis history. Forget about his shortcomings at the US Open...in all probability the crazy atmosphere in New York was a little too much for his Swedish sense of order and quietness to overcome. He came close a number of times, though.

For Borg personally, the fame and fortune that his accomplishments brought him sometimes also brought difficult times on himself. It was very difficult for him to feel comfortable in the limelight of fame. His Swedish nature obliged him to shun the lights but on the other hand, having been raised in the Swedish box he was naturally curious and vulnerable to the trappings of fortune and celebrity on the world stage. His love of the party life and his role on the world stage brought their own difficulties and complexities to his more simple frame of reference. Probably at this stage of his life he is still sorting it all out and still in the process of learning how to enjoy it without the Swedish guilt of success riding on him.

I would dearly love to interview this guy. He was there at the apex of the game. He and McEnroe had a rivalry that will never again be duplicated. The difference in their complex natures made the tennis court a virtual classic stage for the two, a natural antagonist and a natural protagonist. Classic good guy, bad guy. The two masks of drama. The Swedish Ice Berg vs. the American Volcano. The differences in their games were reflections of their polar opposites. The McEnroe aggression and volatile nature vs. the Borg defense, impeccable sportsmanship and consistency. Nothing could be more compelling on a tennis court than when these two were having at it. Never again. Period.

The rumor or the story that was conventional wisdom when Borg quit the game, was that he was defeated by the McEnroe charge up the ladder but I for one do not entirely buy it. At the time Borg disappeared from the scene the game was undergoing a rather remarkable and complex change. It's very difficult to appreciate if you were not there...much like trying to understand a foreign culture. It was the introduction and takeover by the new equipment. The game for a hundred years had used basically the same equipment and right about the time that Borg was ascending his way to the top of the pack the new equipment was making a huge impact on the game. The Prince racquet was being introduced in the mid 1970’s about the same time that Borg was taking the throne and the players at the lower end of the spectrum were the first to capitulate and use the new monstrosity. This capitulation gradually made it's way up the ladder until it clearly took over...coincidentally it was at the very same time that Borg made his exit. I would imagine that player’s of Borg’s stature, to say nothing of his Swedish sensibility, would have a real conflict over using the new equipment. Tennis still at that period in time had a lot of unwritten rules that were mostly governed under the term “tennis etiquette” and one of the overriding principles of this unwritten law was that you should never seek an unfair advantage over your opponent. Traditionalist tennis players had their hands tied...to use the new stuff would be cheating in the culture of tennis that they were brought up in and therefore this potentially created a huge conflict in the tennis players at the time. It was either switch or accept beatings from players less talented than you...or quit. Like Borg did. The last holdouts to the new equipment were the players at the top of the game in that era...players like Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Connors and the like. The last of the Mohicans.

Borg’s comeback some years later was a curious one. He made his “comeback” using the wood racquets of a bygone era. I, for one, would really like to know the reason why he would do such a thing. I suspect the answer might have something to do with his Swedish nature and Swedish sensibility in the end. His ascending to the top was a product of his hard work and supreme devotion... certainly it galled him that lesser players could skip some of that hard work that only devotion can sustain...to reach the level necessary to challenge the King.

I also saw Borg play twice in person. Once at the US Open where he played the clay court specialist Harold Solomen. I remember sitting rather high up in the stadium, marveling how Borg was standing so far behind the baseline crushing the ball as if he was a baseball player batting a baseball. He also crushed Harold on that particular day. I also saw him play Aaron Krickstein in an exhibition when Aaron turned professional when he was just sixteen. Mark McCormack and his IMG group hosted a exhibition at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan to commemorate Aaron’s professional debut. It was a beautiful thing to watch...and Björn Borg is a very nice young man. He’s younger than me that is.

[don_budge]

The Comeback...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWbrm9M0Fgw&feature=related

The "Swedishness" really comes oozing through in this interview if you know what you are looking for. He kept it all bottled up inside of himself the whole time and then when it was over it just had to come out. Very COOL dude. The racquet issue puzzles me. The attention that he received really goes against the grain of his culture. It's the "Jante" thing.

He actually had a one and a half handed backhand...didn't he? Or did he not? He releases at contact (or just before...or just after?) every time he hits the ball.

"You have to learn about life."-Björn Borg

[stotty]

Great article. An interesting read.

I find Bjorn remarkably unremarkable as a person, yet enigmatic as a tennis player. It's hard to describe to younger people the aura that surrounded Borg during his 5-year dominance at Wimbledon. The man was an incredible person and player in his day.

Like DB, I don't think Borg walked away from the game because of McEnroe. There are three great mysteries in life: The Bermuda triangle, the riddle of life itself, and why Borg left tennis. The man is unfathomable and none of us have worked out the reason behind him quitting the game. Great shame, though...just think of all those French titles that went unclaimed. I had him down for 10 of those.

I agree with WBC, his passing shots were the best ever, no question about it. He moved better than anyone who has ever played and is as fast as anyone today or even faster. I rate him alongside Gonzales as a match player. No player has played under greater strain than Borg in that 1980 Wimdledon final, yet he came thru just about everything a tennis match can throw at you without batting an eyelid.

I think Borg was THE forerunner to the modern game with his grips and style of play. He ignored advice and stubbornly played his way....makes you question the value of coaching, doesn't it? Until that point he was the greatest player ever to have played...doing it his way. Like JY said somewhere on this website: players innovate, coaches follow.

Definitely an all time great for me. He's in my top five for sure.

[bottle]

A great discussion everywhere, but what I especially value perhaps because of my Swedish girlfriend the daughter of a Supreme Court Judge is the definition and description of "Jante Law."

[chuck62]

Viking Rebels

DB, I don't know about the Jante Law theory. Could it be outdated? Consider Borg, with his unique style of play never seen before. Wilander, who did not want to be Borg II but Wilander I. How about Edberg who ignored their style and played serve and volley with a continental grip off both sides. Now we have Soderling, who's defintely his own man. A baseline basher with a bad cowlick whose best surface is clay. Seems like these guys ignored Jante Law at least on the tennis court.