WHY CHAMPIONS WIN

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 November 1923, Page 3

WHY CHAMPIONS WIN

POWER OF SUGGESTION. There are hundreds of young players of lawn tennis whose strokes are perfect but who never win a match, let alone ,a championship, declares A. E. Crawley in the “Daily Mail.” It is the same in other games, and it makes a curious chapter in the history of sport. On the other hand, there have been champions whose strokes were far from perfect-; they were clumsy, bizarre, or ludicrous. What are the reasons for this difference? Some people say, when a tine Btroke-phjyer loses because [he has not the capacity to win, that he lacks experience. But what is experience ? A certain young woman won the championship of Picardy at the age of 12. A certain young man of 15 won a championship in the United States. The critics one and all assured us that these young persons had experience. But if they had lost, the same critics would have said they “lacked experience.” Again, there are players who have matured but are not too old to win championships. Sometimes they go near to winning them, but they never do win in spite of experience. The critics talk about “the winning temperament,” but do not explain what this is. They do not know; but when a player continually wins, he “has the winning temperament.” So far, we have had “experience” and “temperament,” but we do not seem to get any farther to.wards an explanation. A player from Australia, who was not then famous, was about to play his first match in England and against a famous player. He was asked conversationally whether he was going to beat . that player. His reply was, “Of course I shall beat him.’’ And he did. That man possessed what is called “character” or “personality.” But someone will say, “What about tactics? Is it not tactics that win matches ?” My view is that tactical capacity is closely bound up with strength of character and determination. Ordinary and obvious tactics are possible for the most ineffectual players, but not the tactics that help to win great matches. Strokes with control are the instruments; tactics are the directing brain; character is the divinity that rules our ends. A characteristic, often unknown to the possessor, of the dominating personality is a sort of Cone habit. Unconsciously he is always _ saying to himself “I am going to win,” and he wins. This is auto-suggestion, and it has won many wars as well as lawn tennis matches.