Champions Can Be Made?

[stotty]

I haven't listened to all this clip but thought I would post it before it disappears. Personally, Martina's 'lottery ticket' analogy seems about right.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p062n8l2

[hockeyscout]

Some people are just born into the lucky sperm club.

[johnyandell]

Born and then self-made with a little help.

[stotty]

Born and then self-made with a little help.

Spot on.

Another feature is if you come from the wrong walk of life you don't stand a chance either, even if you are born with it.

[arturohernandez]

I listened to the whole thing. A wide range of topics are covered. Not just whether champions can be made. They also discussed the role of parents and their role as motivators. Judy Murray was great in showing what an ideal tennis parent should do. Just to listen to her makes one realize how lucky kids are to have a parent who has their child's best interest in mind.

It is worth a listen just to hear her.

Navratilova was really worth listening to as well.

It is eye opening to hear that she is against over training.

I agree that overtraining just creates burnout.

Basically, it is a lot of give and take. There is no sure path...

[doctorhl]

One aspect that is not discussed very much in the making of a champion is the non-tennis side. I suppose it is too to access and too hard to measure how great players have dealt with these aspects: having your life programmed 365 days in advance, conflicting coaches and sports trainers, financial advisors, educational interests, sports equipment merchandising, etc. Then, there are the celebrity consequences- news and social media, publicity advisors, security detail, charities and foundation requests. Many elite athletes I have met at the elite level in various sports were not emotionally healthy off the court or out of the public eye and were lacking in social skills because of isolation by their handlers. Do any of you coaches have a story of a young and up coming professional who did not achieve their potential because of inability or lack of training to deal with the non-tennis side?