The Sixth Sense

Mental blocks - why Andy Murray lost

I knew Andy Murray would lose the US Open Final. I’m not a prophet or psychic or anything. I just knew. How? Because he had already won his final. Beating Rafa Nadal was a huge mental breakthrough having lost each of their previous contests.

This is the classic sporting situation. It happens in most sports. Teams beat opposition that they should never have beaten only to surrender meekly in the following round.

For whatever reason, many sportsmen and teams suffer from this mental block. They have a major - and perhaps unlikely victory - only to then struggle in the next round.

Here’s why I think this is. It’s because they don’t have high enough expectations. Their goal is not winning the competition (no matter what they say otherwise); it is winning the immediate contest.

It is not the goals that you say out loud that count; it is the goals we truly believe deep down that define us. Andy Murray will have looked at the draw, seen he had to face Rafa Nadal in the semi-final, and known immediately and that was THE match of the competition.

Sure he will have dreamt of winning the whole thing. And, of course, he said he believed he could win it. But as soon as beating Nadal became THE match, the competition was lost.

Of course, next time round, facing Nadal is a totally different proposition. This makes his future chances of success in a major tennis tournament far more likely.

This all leads to some interesting questions for the rest of us. Whilst it’s unlikely we’ll face circumstances quite like Andy Murray, we do all have goals and ambitions which each have coinciding obstacles. What are the mental blocks we may have holding us back from getting to where we want to get?

What do you think?

What makes the Olympics so magical?

I’ve been thinking about this question today. What is it about the Olympics that sets it apart from any other sporting event? Sport is typically enjoyed by a select group of people. But the Olympics brings in viewers who’d never venture near a game of football or rugby. Why is this?

I loved it that the start of the Premier League season was completely overshadowed by the Olympics. The over paid footballers relegated off the front and back pages of the the newspapers as British Olympians made all the headlines.

It is amazing how you get sucked into the Olympics. You switch it on and you nearly switch over as it’s some random sport you don’t know anything about. And yet, before you know it, you’re screaming at the tele, desperately urging your team on. I love it!

The Olympics is able to bring out the absolute best of the athletes. World records crumble every time. People put their bodies on the line like never before. It’s puts the football world cup to shame on that front.

What about you? What makes the Olympics so magical for you? (If it does, of course!)

Euro 2008 and teams

For some bizarre reason, I have been really enjoying the European Championship despite England having failed to qualify for it. In fact, it may be because we’re not in it that I’m enjoying it so much. There’s none of the tension, fretting, worrying, frustration, etc, etc, that typically coincides with following England in a major football championship. 

Having said that, I have been disappointed with the more recent quarter-final games. As the tension increases with the move to knock-out stages, it seems that the players shift into a far more defensive mindset. After all the adventure of the group stages, there just hasn’t been as much entertaining football. Let’s hope that things improve with the semi-finals later in the week.

Watching football - or any team sport really - always gets me thinking about, well, teams. Its fascinating seeing how some teams are crippled due to too much reliance on a ’star’ player whilst other ‘lesser’ teams really pull together and pull off outstanding results. Whilst I wanted Holland to win, I was very impressed with how the Russians played so well as a team and ended up totally dominating the match.

What lessons have you been learning from teams lately?

Italy: Good or Bad for football?

I watched the Italy vs. France game tonight. Potentially both teams could have gone out the tournament if Romania had beaten Holland. But, as it happens, Romania lost and Italy won. 

What is it with Italy? They’re always there or thereabouts when it comes to major football tournaments. They are, of course, the current world cup holders too.

I have a big problem with them though. And this may be my perception, but I can’t get away from these thoughts. They just strike me as really dull. They are uninspiring. They play very safe football. And they sneak wins.

Take tonight for example. They won 2:0 which sounds pretty convincing. But the truth is that one of those goals was a penalty and the other was a lucky deflection. Oh, and they were playing with an extra man for most of the game after France had a player sent off.

Even though they could have gone out tonight, they are through. And I wouldn’t bet against them winning the whole thing. After all, they won the World Cup play dull, unimaginative football.

I think its the way they play so safe which frustrates me. There’s something within me which reviles against that which is safe. When not attempt something more risky? Why not try to create something spectacular rather than sneaking a single goal and then hanging on for the win?

For me, Italy winning the World Cup was bad for football. Do we want the teams or try so little and sneak wins held up as the pinnacle of the sport? I don’t. I love to see adventure.

I think this is relevant for organisations too. Do we want to play it safe and keep things predictable? Or will we attempt something grandeur, even if we don’t ‘win’? I know for me, I’d choose risk over safety any day.

What about you?

Greatness

I have to say, Tiger Woods is simply amazing. This guy has barely hit a golf ball for several months after having a knee operation and he comes back, plays his first tournament, and is on the brink of winning it.

I love seeing greatness. People making the most of their talents. I watched Rafael Nadal win the Queens tennis tournament at the weekend as well. There too was greatness on display.

It is sometimes easier to look at sportsmen or women and tangibly seem them making the most of their talents. The challenge is to consider our own talents though and make sure we’re doing everything we can to make the most of them. 

In our own unique way, we all have the potential for greatness. It won’t look like it does for Tiger Woods or Rafael Nadal, but it is equally impressive. Do we want to be people to admire greatness from afar or pursue it for ourselves with every breath we have?

Interesting Links

• Automatic cars ’slash journey times’
• In US election, every (written) word counts
• 12 Traits of Successful Bloggers
• The card that lets you choose death

Interesting Links

At least once per week I plan on having a post that includes a selection of interesting links. I’ll be asking different people to sometimes contribute to this selection. The selections this time though are my own.

Why homophobia is so gay - Blog post by Eric Bryant

Hypocrisy on Hamas - Washington Post article by James P. Rubin

The curse of the talisman - Article in the London Times by Simon Barnes

That’s not all folks - Blog post by Johnny Dee from the Guardian Film Blog

Churchgoing isn’t always religious - article in the London Times by Camilla Cavendish

What do you think?

If you haven’t already, please reply to the ‘Who Are You?’ post. Thanks!

New stadium for Leicester Tigers

I’ve just seen that Leicester Tigers have got the go ahead for the redevelopment of their stadium. Looks very cool. As a lifelong Tigers fan, it’s great to see a new stadium finally emerge. For years nearly every match has been sold out due to the limitations within the current stadium.

You  can read more about the plans here.