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What if Lleyton Hewitt never yelled Come On?
5 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
Lleyton Hewitt maximized his tennis performances by utilizing the very powerful energy source of emotional adrenaline – there is not a shred of a hint of doubt about this. The Hall of Fame boxing trainer Emanuel Steward once told me about one of his fistic champions: “You watch him talk sometimes about (boxing an opponent) in his interviews and he almost comes to tears at times. That emotional intensity brings out extra talents.”
Hewitt and Serena and Nadal (and others) all use or used “emotional intensity” to fuel and accelerate superior performance. But what do you suppose would have happened if Hewitt and Rafa and Serena bottled up their “emotional intensity”? What if they forced themselves to contain and stifle their passion and fury for the battle – and they chained themselves to act like Raonic or Todd Martin on the court? Well I think the answer is obvious. These three players would have had far less successful careers because they would have cheated themselves out of being what they were supposed to be – lion-hearted, expressive, strong, alpha personalities on the tennis court. They would have Beta’ed their own careers into mediocrity. If Lleyton Hewitt never yelled a single Come on in his life he would have been Tim Smyczek – and that’s not a knock on Tim who has had an overachieving career.
I believe Milos Raonic could be a major champion if he can find a way to successfully channel and summon his own “emotional intensity” which obviously is not a simple skill because if it was everyone would be doing it. Todd Martin was like Raonic for all of his career except that one match vs Carlos Moya at the US Open when Gentleman Todd was down two sets to love and suddenly decided to bring out his inner “emotional intensity” and fist pumps and roaring like a lion and guess what? Todd came all the way back to beat the Spanish former world no 1 in five unforgettable sets. Would Todd have won that match if he did not tap into his “emotional intensity”? Only Todd can answer that for sure – but perhaps even he isn’t sure.
It would be an interesting question to ask players like Hewitt and Nadal and Serena. What if you never allowed yourself to yell Come On! for your entire career? How would your career have played out differently? – Scoop Malinowski
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Scoop Malinowski · November 1, 2016 at 11:23 am
Going to try to test “emotional intensity” theory to see if it helps with performance in chess and fishing too 🙂
catherine bell · November 2, 2016 at 2:47 pm
Fishing ? Are you going to yell at the fish and see how fast they fly onto the hook ? : )
And chess – two people shouting at each other across the chessboard – maybe chucking a pawn or two ? Hilarious : )
Scoop Malinowski · November 2, 2016 at 7:58 pm
I was more thinking along the lines of grunting while casting and reeling in and yelling come on! and Vamos when catching a fish – maybe bouncing around and hopping while waiting for a fish bite 🙂 – In chess I’d do Rafa’ rituals before every chess move and flex my bicep after every move 🙂
catherine bell · November 3, 2016 at 3:34 am
I seem to recall that fish do not like noise and are therefore likely to flee from your line 🙂
Chess – similar fleeing from your opponents so maybe some wins there 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · November 3, 2016 at 9:00 am
Thanks for the advice Catherine – will need to rethink/adjust this theory application 🙂 maybe try the Stepanek Worm or Rios cartwheel after every success 🙂