I speak to my players of perfection all the time. The word is thrown around but it's careful and deliberate for I know that language is an extremely powerful tool that can encourage or discourage a player. What I'll discuss in this post is the real possibility of perfection but how it happens in brief moments. Also, how we can all be perfect at certain points but must understand that if we are not, it's not rather failure but an opportunity to become perfect later on.
I will never forget a Saturday morning practice where we stopped after our dynamic warm-up to discuss a topic that seems so, well, perfect. It was Perfection and if it was ever possible. My players all had various points of views on the word and what it meant to them and before you know it 45 minutes had passed by with all of us sharing, linking and evolving the idea more and more. What we came up with was that Perfection is unobtainable for long periods of time but it is possible for brief stints. Of course, as a coach you don't want to set up a player for failure, so to expect perfection all the time would be impossible. We have seen how the greats in every sport, Jordan, Federer, Ali, Navritalova, failed in certain situations. But what did we see from these great athletes time and time again, Perfection!
Kids to this day know who Muhammad Ali is. His name resonates as one of, if not, the greatest boxers of all times. We can see him doing the rope-a-dope against big George Foreman at The Rumble in the Jungle. When we struck Foreman with left hook followed by a right cross it brought the big man down and Ali was Heavy Weight Champion of the World once again, a moment of Perfection. For that brief combo, the left hook to right cross, Ali was Perfect. People will always remember that, but do we remember when Ali almost went down? How about when he took many blows from Foreman that almost finished his dream of recapturing the title? These moments are absent from our memory but we will never forget Perfection.
The greatest basketball player of all times, Michael Jordan, was Perfect many times. He always believed in his will to be Perfect but understood that he can only do it for so long. He was trusted with the ball in his hands 26 times, and failed but he also made 25 game winnning shots; some to win The NBA Championship. He was Perfect for those brief 25 moments and what made that possible were the 26 imperfections he had.
I remember last year at the US Open where Federer had a 40-15 lead on Djokovic. A 16 Grand Slam time champion serving to the deuce court and Djokovic swung his racket hitting the ball at the Perfect angle at the Perfect speed. Before we knew it he was raising his hands beating the all-time great. Djoko was imperfect for much of the match as he was taken to 5 sets but he was Perfect at that moment of time.
When I talk to my players I tell them to understand imperfection but to welcome and strive for Perfection at the same time. Of course, they will be dissapointed if they are not Perfect all the time and, frankly, I would be disappointing if they were not, but with the understanding that imperfection will occur they will welcome it and move forward to a positive mental state much faster. My players hear the message that imperfection or problems, as I call them, are nothing more than opportunities to succeed. We all love to strive and achieve, the sweetest victories in our lives are the ones that come from failing. Understand the problem, search for a solution, execute your decision and Perfection will occur; in the case that it doesn't, try again it will happen at one point.
Looking back at that Saturday, our players did a lot of growing up in those 45 minutes of discussion. The most powerful tool that day was not hitting balls or making adjustments to their tactical game, but rather being Perfect about Perfection for 45 minutes.
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