There is no shortage of athletes who have used adversity to inspire them.
John McEnroe springs to mind straight away.
It often looked as if he was waiting for a dodgy line call or a row with an umpire to help fire him up in a big match.
And, off the pitch, we’re forever reading about a ‘siege mentality’ in team sport when a football or rugby side will manufacture a feeling that the world is against them to circle the wagons and prove people wrong.
Maybe Gregor Townsend is trying that trick as we speak!
If I heard an opponent say something I didn’t like, I’d tuck it away for motivation purposes in my curling career.
And the same applied if I thought I’d been written off or something unfair had happened.
I do find the way in which Rory McIlroy has consciously decided to be figurehead for the pro-PGA Tour and anti-LIV Golf crusade really interesting.
This is a whole different level.
There’s no way he has contrived his feelings – Rory has always come across as a man of principle who isn’t afraid to speak out when he feels the situation demands it.
But this is a whole different level.
It must be emotionally draining at times and by his own admission friendships are being lost.
That’s what makes me think he’s realised that having a cause to fight for can benefit his golf.
Starting his season with a W 🏆 @McIlroyRory defends his @CJCUPSC title in his season debut. pic.twitter.com/gnn6W2qBbn
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 23, 2022
He’s reached world number one and was unlucky not to become Open champion, all while taking on LIV on what has seemed a weekly basis.
And it was telling that when asked how long he has targeted staying there, McIlroy answered “332 weeks”, which was Greg Norman’s spell at the top of the golfing world.
He’s either consciously or sub-consciously using the split in the game to motivate himself.
Keep doing it as long as it’s a win-win, would be my take.
But the moment McIlroy feels the scales have tipped and all the LIV stuff is becoming a disruptive distraction rather than a helpful one, he should take a step back and let someone else pick up the baton.
Maybe I’m one of the lucky ones but I’ve always found the right balance when it has come to my family and their involvement in my career.
There was no way I’d ever want to put the two in separate boxes.
My dad has been the biggest influence on what I’ve achieved in curling, from the technique he set me up with to the values I carried through from the juniors into the professional side of the sport.
Having two brothers who are curlers was always a positive rather than the opposite.
But (with the Murrays being a notable exception) tennis seems to be a very different environment.
Emma Raducanu's former coach Dmitry Tursunov lifts lid on coaching split 🗣️❌ pic.twitter.com/k4GDQ8HWaK
— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 27, 2022
The excessive influence of Emma Raducanu’s family appears to have played a part in her latest coach quitting, despite the potential he sees in her.
Dmitry Tursunov is absolutely right that too many voices is something that should be avoided.
Emma’s family should take the message on board and make sure their daughter gets the proper player-coach relationship that all the top tennis stars need.
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