FedExpress117
Rookie
Defining athlete is relative to everyone else's terms/opinions: whether it emcompasses physical strength, agility, hand eye coordination, consistency, level of competition (ie soccer and football are more popular sports, and many potential tennis stars might end up playing the more popular sports, affected by cultural influences in their community). etc... but in the end, do you believe that Federer is the greatest athlete of all time?
He plays in an individual sport, thereby demanding more mentally than any other team sport: he has no one to take the pressure off of his mind but himself. Now for strength, I believe that anyone can simply build up muscle and strength through training, but fitness depends a lot on mental strength, and we've seen him endure the tests that the tennis world has demanded of him. And simply put, there are shots that Federer makes that many athletes make in practice easily, but it's his mental strength and amazing hand eye coordination that allows him to do it consistently. Also consider the level of competition in his sport: he has to play with the likes of Andy Roddick, the biggest server in today's game (in terms of speed); Rafael Nadal, who has revolutionized spin in today's game, and a plethora of other highly skilled players like Djokovic, Murray, del Potro (power anyone?). I don't want to criticize other sports, but I feel like tennis demands more out of you yourself (you're the only one that will really put a toll on your body) than team sports sport like football in which your career is determined by essentially how many times you're tackled and how hard. Baseball perhaps holds the claim of players with the highest amount of hand eye coordination in the world... except they don't do it while they're moving. The only significant moving they do is catching baseball with big gloves (cricket players catch balls bare-handed...) and sprinting for bases. I can assure you that players like Monfils and Nadal could outrun most baseball players in today's game. Taking all of this together, and Roger Federer has become the greatest player in his sport, all within 7 years.. So, is there any other comparison? Pele, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods???
What is your definition/take on how an athlete should be defined? Does Tiger Woods, who probably does no actual running on a golf course, or racers, who only sit in place for the entire race, be considered to an athlete like Federer?
He plays in an individual sport, thereby demanding more mentally than any other team sport: he has no one to take the pressure off of his mind but himself. Now for strength, I believe that anyone can simply build up muscle and strength through training, but fitness depends a lot on mental strength, and we've seen him endure the tests that the tennis world has demanded of him. And simply put, there are shots that Federer makes that many athletes make in practice easily, but it's his mental strength and amazing hand eye coordination that allows him to do it consistently. Also consider the level of competition in his sport: he has to play with the likes of Andy Roddick, the biggest server in today's game (in terms of speed); Rafael Nadal, who has revolutionized spin in today's game, and a plethora of other highly skilled players like Djokovic, Murray, del Potro (power anyone?). I don't want to criticize other sports, but I feel like tennis demands more out of you yourself (you're the only one that will really put a toll on your body) than team sports sport like football in which your career is determined by essentially how many times you're tackled and how hard. Baseball perhaps holds the claim of players with the highest amount of hand eye coordination in the world... except they don't do it while they're moving. The only significant moving they do is catching baseball with big gloves (cricket players catch balls bare-handed...) and sprinting for bases. I can assure you that players like Monfils and Nadal could outrun most baseball players in today's game. Taking all of this together, and Roger Federer has become the greatest player in his sport, all within 7 years.. So, is there any other comparison? Pele, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods???
What is your definition/take on how an athlete should be defined? Does Tiger Woods, who probably does no actual running on a golf course, or racers, who only sit in place for the entire race, be considered to an athlete like Federer?
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