Have been watching the US Open for the past few days - quite astonishing seeing the "retour" of many "aged" players winning the game and receiving the respect of clapping hands...The moment when Martina Navratilova played in semi-final of women's double or Andre Agassi won the ticket to Men's Final tonight are all proof of capability of more matured players in the nowadays' energy-consuming competition. The modern sports development, with programmed training scheme, enables young players to enter the top of the cream in most kind of sports, from soccer to tennis, from golf to swimming. The result of the development is a more demanding (edited as per reader's comment) requirement for sportsmen's physical condition, and the lifespan of players reduces when compared to decades before. Because of this, those long-serviced players who can still maintain a good performance in the competitive games become the idols of most audience and fans, and they play as a mythic role model for quite numerous supporters like us. If I remember correctly, there has been a tagline for a sports brand years ago, "never say no", and here comes the long life guru on the field! Long life, our knights.
4 commentaires:
just an observation. it seems to me that while modern technology has made it possible for today's athletes to reach a fitness level unthinkable for athletes of the past, they are also more likely be be injured. quite often, they are injured not when they are competing, but when they are just training. just think of how long a typical footballer (or a tennis player) spends his time injured during his career.
i have the impression that technology has pushed today's athletes dangerously "to the edge".
by the way, i can't see any other "agassi/natvratilova" out there in the tennis world. as you said, these days, players peak early (late teen/early twenties) and then bow out quickly.
this is another problem you are right. The lucky ones can get recover but some good players like Van Basten had to end his career at the peak time. In fact, the demand of physical requirement results in a twisted focus to energy and stamina.
Under this circumstance, we should find the old players more treasurable. See Terry Sherringham and Dennis Bergkamp. Do you remember the 38 yr-old former Chelsea player, Dennis Wise? He is playing in Southampton now.
The blow out effect is when the media are focusing new-rising young players on the field only. Players' confidence is another issue to be tackled. It is hard to maintain good performance for long time under tense pressure I guess.
zirhc, a typo is the sentence beginning with "The result of .... is a more DEMANDING requirement ....."....hehe ....guess which organisation I work for....
It must be a very organised organisation!! So are you working more for the department which focuses on the letter "p" or "s"?
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