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It's official, Roger Federer is a psychopath, but a nice one at least. And, yes, Rafa and Novak are psychopaths too.
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Stotty -
good find, interesting -
It is interesting. The way very successful humans behave is often interesting.
For me, Roger is a predator, a hunter. He kind of tracks players down during a match and will often seize a set by leaping through a tiny lapse in his opponent's concentration or sudden loss of nerve. He does it time and time again. He's acutely aware of his stature in the game and how prized a scalp he is for any player to beat. Because of this he knows a player will get nervous at the business end of a tight set. I have lost count of the amount of matches where a player has lost his nerve at the critical moment only for Roger to nick in and win the set, or match.
Rafa and Novak are much the same but go about it in another way.
Rafa, Roger and Novak capitalise on their stature big time and have no problem walking around with a big bullseye on their back: "Have a go, beat me if you can, but don't count on it."StottyComment
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Do not agree with the word pyschopath in respect to Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. This would imply antisocial behavior, impaired empath, callousness, conning others,etc.
But journalists like to be provocative.
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It's not the journalist that calls them psychopaths - it's the psychologist. But he prefaces it with the "best kind of" psychopath. I'm not sure it makes sense, but the article is interesting. Serena, however...Comment
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I put psychologists in the same category as art critics...
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Not all psychopaths are violent. James Fallon wrote a book on it.
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Interesting and probably true. A psychopath can be channeled, it seems, if they develop an obsessive interest in something.Originally posted by arturohernandez View Post
I see no empathy in Federer. None whatsoever. I find his victory speeches and pressers incredible banal at times too. Novak is much the same. Rafa has a bit more emotion in him but he's still a psychopath. You get a the feeling he'd slit your throat on a hot, muggy night in Spain if the rewards were enough.
Anyway, the article I posted puts a different spin on things at least. And the article about Fallon is certainly though-provoking.
StottyComment
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After seeing the Wimbledon final, maybe the article is on to something after all...Comment
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Nothing new here. Two guys with the racquets representing rapiers and the balls symbolising the testicles. Castration of the other the goal. It's mean and it isn't nice. But they act like civilised human beings in the process and shake hands afterwards. This is where it might start to get a bit dicey. Some of those handshakes are a little stiff. Some not so nice. That's ok...life wasn't supposed to be all nicey, nicey. It isn't for the masses...it's dog eat dog. The elites fool themselves with their toys and their money...it all adds up to control.Originally posted by stotty View Post
Rafael Nadal is truly a psychopath. He will do anything to win and he can't hide it. This charlatan is so transparent that for many he is impossible to see straight. But he doesn't fool me. Psychopath. Roger Federer on the other hands has us all fooled. Or not. But this is one scary guy. His control of his emotions is downright unfathomable. He spent how many hours dueling with the other two psychopaths and he never uttered a peep. Never gave in to the others. Even when he lost he never revealed his cards...he humbly went to the net and shook hands nicely. Such control.
But the word aside...these guys are surely control freaks. Their emotions and personal lives take a distant second in the priorities. You have to be that way. My very own and very dear tennis coach told me the score on that account a long, long time ago. He told me that there were going to be sacrifices. Family, relationships. Even the dog. All come in second in your priority to be the best tennis player you can be. There simply cannot be enough preparation and that requires a selfishness that borders on psychopathic or sociopathic behaviour. Tennis is a sport where the word love means literally nothing. Doesn't that say it all?
The irony of it all is that in the end...these guys are so rich and have so much wherewithal that they can afford to be sympathetic and empathetic. The lower tier do not have that luxury. There is where you will find the real sociopaths. Those guys are short on resources and are eating there way up the food chain. It's simply a question of survival. What's a psychopath? Here's the deal...here's the score. Turn off the electricity and the water for two days in any big city. What you will find that it is only a matter of time that when the fabric of the nicey, nicey and the whole kit and caboodle becomes a nightmare.
Federer is not worthy of the word psychopath. Control freak...that's a different story. Nadal is borderline in my book. You can call him anything you like.Comment
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It is interesting because the very best tennis players appear rather early. There are some who get better with age and those to me seem more fragile.Originally posted by don_budge View Post
A really good example is Wawrinka. To me he was never the killer he could be until later. Then through sheer physical training and some desire that finally shed his outer skin he learned to become one. And then his body failed him at an age one would expect.
To me it seems like Stan realized he wanted more. He ended up leaving his wife. He ended up training like crazy. He became the Stanimal. Everything had to be about him.
Can tennis make someone into a psychopath or bring that out in them?
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agreed... seemed like a click-bait-title using "psychopath"... OCD definitelyOriginally posted by gzhpcu View Post
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I believe that a more correct description would be "narcissist".Originally posted by nytennisaddict View Postagreed... seemed like a click-bait-title using "psychopath"... OCD definitelyComment
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