One of the most famous tennis cliches is “you learn more from a loss than you do a win.”
Yet every time I’ve heard some sage say this observation, never once has the sage ever cited any specific examples of anything they learned from a loss.
It never made any sense to me. Why can’t a player learn equally from a loss or a win? There are specific reasons for one winning or losing a match. Served poorly, mistimed passing shots, volleyed badly, attacked the opponent’s strong point, ate or drank too much before or during the match, insufficient warm up, too offensive minded, too defensive minded.
To win a match requires a lot of thinking and proper executing and correct strategies. Losing a match can be due to an array of reasons also. The good player can learn from both a win and a loss. Maybe more can be learned from a win.
If losing were so educational, then wouldn’t it be true that the losing players learn the most and thus are the most intelligent players? Of course not, the smartest players are the ones that win the most.
So next time you hear someone say, “You learn more from a loss than a win,” take that nugget of wisdom with a grain of electrolyte. The wisest players can learn equally from losing, winning or even watching somebody else play.
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Chris · May 14, 2025 at 12:10 am
Looking back losing might require changes while winners move on. No need to change a winning game/less thought. Losing requires or should require a bit of analysis.
Scoop Malinowski · May 14, 2025 at 9:04 am
Chris, thanks for your comments. But when you win a match, it require a lot of thought and execution of tactics that self educates the player. To win a match entails a lot of solving and figuring. A player learns a lot from a good hard fought tough win, because as we know, most wins don’t come easy. What do we learn from a loss? That our ideas and executions failed. The last loss I had at a tournament was 64 36 6-10 to a guy I had beaten weeks earlier at a different tournament 75 36 10-4. What did I learn from the loss? He played a lot better! His backhand made less errors and he served better!
catherine · May 14, 2025 at 10:34 am
Scoop – interesting to read the comments under the Tommy Paul piece, all 65 of them.
Fascinating to see readers’ take on Andreescu from the perpective of years. Also one of the first mentions here of Leylah Fernandez on her way to a rendezvous at the US Open. No one had heard of Emma Raducanu who was still at school.
Fans don’t comment so much now on tennis blogs. Many reasons I suppose but I suspect various social media swallow lots of them. No one seems very interested in longer pieces. In the UK you get those on football and cricket.
Scoop Malinowski · May 14, 2025 at 11:38 am
Catherine, Noticed that too, comments for boxing and tennis blogs are definitely down, and probably social media comments are part of the reason. But the sport of tennis will always have some interesting developments and surprises like Peyton Stearns who right now is the hottest thing in tennis. Here a couple of new commenters have popped up lately Lan and Chris which is a good sign. Jimmy Arias made a curious comment on Tennis Channel today about Sinner meeting Pope: “I hope the Pope didn’t bless Sinner’s racquet…he doesn’t need any more help.” Did Jimmy imply Sinner is already getting a lot of assistance?
catherine · May 14, 2025 at 12:53 pm
Ha ha – I think Arias meant Sinner’s talent, or maybe Sinner presumably being a Catholic, that he can already rely on help of a spiritual kind.
Scoop Malinowski · May 14, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Not the clostebol or deep state special privileges? )
Sam · May 20, 2025 at 2:29 pm
Scoop, I think it all depends on what you feel the players are learning.
You may not necessarily learn more tennis-wise from a loss, but you may learn more in a “life skills” kind of way—you know, resilience. And let’s be honest—if you’re just breezing through all your matches with nary a drop of sweat, are you really learning that much? Probably not, because it’s too easy for you. As the following article points out, we tend to learn best when we fail about 15% of the time, because it’s proof we’re actually being challenged:
https://www.theswaddle.com/learning-through-failing-15-percent-of-the-time
Sam · May 20, 2025 at 2:32 pm
Scoop, do you think the Pope might bless Sinner’s clostebol?? 😆
Scoop Malinowski · May 20, 2025 at 3:20 pm
There are a lot of aspects to learn in tennis. The list could probably take a year to compile )
Scoop Malinowski · May 20, 2025 at 3:21 pm
Sam I don’t see the purpose or function of the pope. People do not need a pope to create a relationship with Christ.
Sam · May 28, 2025 at 5:32 am
Very true, Scoop. And as corrupt as the recently deceased pope was, even more reasons to dislike the whole setup! 😑
Scoop Malinowski · May 28, 2025 at 7:55 am
The whole Vatican is a suspect op and likely infiltrated by very dark forces. All these recent popes have very bad vibes with the red shoes and un Christian views.
Sam · June 5, 2025 at 5:11 am
Yeah, I’d trust the Vatican about as far as I could throw them. 🤮
Anyway, speaking of learning more from losing, I came across this just a few days ago:
“Not winning is in fact more powerful than winning,” Professor Monica Wadhwa argues. Her research reveals that people tend to be most energized and motivated not when they win but when they almost win. Falling just short of one’s ambitions tends to give people the motivation to keep growing and striving. Easy victories, on the other hand, tend to cripple energy and motivation.
Scoop Malinowski · June 5, 2025 at 7:44 am
Without a doubt Sam, thanks for sharing that.