Literally everyone these days seems to concur that the WTA is full of mentally weak players, who lack the mental and emotional spine of those of yesteryear. I can't count the number of posters sneering that Serena 'era' is compromised by mental midgets and the chorus gets boost from former players like Navratilova etc.
When asked how one knows, posters suggest all you have to do is watch the sport being played ,and see how quickly yesterdays upstarts, fall away and how few can stay competitive for major titles.
Well I don't watch, but I have to ask if there are statistical measures we can use and study comparing individual mental strength and then extrapolate in larger analysis on top ten players or the tour to accurately determine whether mental fragility is our suspect. What am I supposed to be noticing and how can I concretely connect the patterns to this ephemeral concept?
If I am suspicious of arguments that some eras are weaker than others, I am even more suspicious that we accurately identify and quantify a particular culprit.
Whenever there is a big point or major moment in a tennis match, someone inevitably performs better than another, and thus there is a winner in the mental toughness wrestle, and a loser. I see a zero sum that does not change with eras
Maybe we are misguided or not vigorous in questioning what we are seeing is mental weakness.
When asked how one knows, posters suggest all you have to do is watch the sport being played ,and see how quickly yesterdays upstarts, fall away and how few can stay competitive for major titles.
I think what we are referring to is a composite of these elements that are combined: mental toughness = sustained concentration/focus + sustained emotional control + a capacity to compartmentalize + maintaining and calibrating optimum intensity + a capacity to tweak any and all of the above, to maximize physical control and performance under diress or stress.
Well I don't watch, but I have to ask if there are statistical measures we can use and study comparing individual mental strength and then extrapolate in larger analysis on top ten players or the tour to accurately determine whether mental fragility is our suspect. What am I supposed to be noticing and how can I concretely connect the patterns to this ephemeral concept?
If I am suspicious of arguments that some eras are weaker than others, I am even more suspicious that we accurately identify and quantify a particular culprit.
Whenever there is a big point or major moment in a tennis match, someone inevitably performs better than another, and thus there is a winner in the mental toughness wrestle, and a loser. I see a zero sum that does not change with eras
Maybe we are misguided or not vigorous in questioning what we are seeing is mental weakness.
Last edited: