Читать книгу The Performance Mindset - Anthony J. Klarica - Страница 15

A challenge to developing a high‐performing open athlete is appreciating how individual the journey is. It is not a linear progression. Athletes, like everyone pursuing an endeavour, have different personal characteristics and backgrounds, and come from different geographical regions with varying support bases. Support, opportunities and even luck all play a role in the roller‐coaster path of sporting progression. Recognising and appreciating that each athlete's journey is unique and that there are many paths to achieving goals can aid persistence and development.

Ashleigh Barty, the world number one female tennis player in 2021, is an example of how challenges need to be overcome to keep going in sport. After winning Junior Wimbledon in 2011 and making the finals of open Grand Slam doubles events in 2013, Barty took a break from her sport in 2015. It was a bold move that many athletes would struggle to make. She stopped playing tennis and played cricket. However, after time away and likely with a fresh mindset, she returned to tennis in 2016 aged 20. Even then it wasn't smooth sailing. She lost in the qualifying rounds of Wimbledon in 2016 and in 2017 lost in the first round.

To facilitate Ash's return to tennis from cricket, she moved to a new base in Melbourne and began an individualised program. In her transition, she was supported and coached by the highly regarded Jason Stoltenberg, himself a former Wimbledon men's singles semifinalist. Ash then began working with her current coach, Craig Tyzzer, who was also very experienced. Her new schedule was flexible and her support network were patient and encouraging. The relationship between Craig and Ash went from strength to strength. These factors contributed to her being able to capitalise on her original foundation of work. After three years back on tour she climbed to the top of the sporting mountain and won the French Open in 2019, Wimbledon in 2021 and her home Australian Open in 2022. We'll never know what might have happened had she not taken the break and the path back that she did.