Digging in Deep

?

One of my favorite quotes is a quote by the athletic icon Jesse Owens:

?

“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort…”

?

If one dissects this quote, it is clear to me is that having dreams is universal. However, realising dreams is something that is unique and in theory, dreams are never supposed to become realities.

?It’s interesting to analyse world champions. It is an obsession for me to try and understand what makes a world champion. Being involved in a team sport, one often gets caught up in the culture around the team and the ability to get a team to bond and play for something that is far greater than the individual. The clichés that are thrown around at any given juncture, statements like “it is not the name on the back of the jersey that counts, rather the name on the front” often take the forefront in motivational talks and half-time speeches. I believe in such motivation, but I like to take example from the tenacity of individual sportsmen as when you are an individual sportsman, while you have “your backroom office”, essentially you are on your own. Sometimes coaching can be the same.

?As a rugby player, on the field, the team could lose but you yourself could have a good game and you go home feeling good about yourself. This is the ultimate ambiguity of a team sport; when your team loses but you yourself have a good game. This makes you feel good and bad at the same time. Team sports teach us character, but the ultimate cauldron of competitiveness comes out in individual sports. I find myself glued to watching champions apply their trade, whether on the tennis court, the golf course or in the boxing ring etc.

?What is It that makes someone the best in the world?

?Recently Raphael Nadal won his 21st grand slam, beating a considerably younger player Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open. As Nadal won his championship point, the commentators called it, “The miracle in Melbourne” he did this by coming back from two sets (and some change) down. ?Medvedev is no slouch - at 26 years old, he recently won the US open. Nadal on the other hand, a veteran at 35 years old, came back from the dead to beat the younger player. This Nadal?did in his 29th grand slam final. In the process he overtook Federer and Djokovic, with regard to Grand Slam titles. I am sure at two sets down, most thought that Medvedev had the scoreboard and, of course, youth on his side.

?When facing a world class competitor like Nadal, who is hard wired to dig deep, driven to succeed and make his dreams a reality, any tiny opening is an opening too much. Nadal proved his tenacity and “dig deep” attitude at 0-40 down, 3 games to 2 down in the third set. He continued to chase down every point clawing back to deuce and then three games all and then…the rest is history.

?Champions have a way, of finding a way – they realise that they won’t always be ahead at the beginning, what counts is being ahead at the end.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

?People talk about turning points in championship matches and perhaps this was the “turning point” in the Nadal – Medvedev match. The truth is, in an instant the world went from admiring Nadal reaching the final, to actually believing that Nadal, with his trade mark fist pump, could reel in the younger man and create history.

?While there is no definitive secret to making dreams become realities, we can all take example from a true champion like Raphael Nadal. He has lived through an era of champions like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and now recently outshone them all in terms of Grand Slam wins.

?The example that I take from Nadal is not the points that he has won by digging in deep and chasing them down, but rather the points that he has in fact lost, by digging in deep. I believe to dig deep is a skill and you only learn it by losing. There is no sportsman or human that wins all the time.

?It is true that you only lose when you quit.

?Nadal is a great example of a player that digs deep, whether he is “winning” or losing.He chases down every point and makes sure that he maintains that tenacity on the court no matter what.

?

Sport is a great allegory for life, as not all points and matches are won. We tend to get negative when things don’t go our way and our dreams turn into nightmares. However, if we maintain our tenacity and keep chasing down every point we will find that when it matters most, the effort and practice of digging deep, will enable us to win the most important points; those championship ones…