Playing the Clutch moments

I found very little time during this long weekend for myself but when i did, i happened to make another friend of mine into a serious tennis player. He is also a regular follower of my blog. I also looked at some of my sports video collection. A question suddenly came to my mind. How can one perform so well during the defining moments (aka Clutch moments)?

There are more than one word to represent this but basically Clutch movement , as it applies in sports is the time when the game is on the line and one's performance at that moment pretty much defines the outcome.

[eg:

1) final set tie breaker 6-6, serving at 7-8. Lose the serve, you go home. make the serve and you live another moment.

2) Break point down on the serve. Serve well and you can still take the game. Lose it and suddenly your opponent goes one break up.

3) In basket ball, you are taking the last shot (as the timer is about to expire) and you need to make the shot for your team to win

]

Sports all across are full of people who are great clutch players and people who choke when it matters.

I tried to analyze this aspect a bit. Arguably, i believe i am a good clutch player. I won a significant percentage of such moments than i lost (i would say i have a 80% success ratio). I enjoy such moments and relish them a lot.

While i agree that performance during defining moments/clutch moments requires a certain mental fortitude, i dont believe that it cant be acquired. I definitely disagree that it has to do with genetics.

I mostly used examples from the three popular sports i follow..Tennis, Basket ball and Cricket.

My analysis goes like this...In order to succeed during those moments, couple of important factors need to considered.

1) Technical strength : How technically sound is your serve/forehand/backhand OR your jumper or 3 point shot or Free throw shooting, etc

2) Sound Strategy : Ie attaching weaker side of opponent, employing a surprise factor, etc

3) Belief/Risk tolerance : This is the only aspect that cant be objectively established/measured.

Belief comes from successfully coming out of such situations time and again. It is basically a function of (1) and (2).

The biggest difference between a normal moment Vs Clutch moment is the additional pressure,Usually caused by the occassion. Having (1) and (2) will largely alleviate the pressure.

I agree there are external factors that come into play (if i lose this match, how do i explain to press? ) .

So how do we about building a successful Clutch moment Strategy?.

The easiest answer is keeping it simple.

TECHNICAL STRENGTH

first and foremost, when faced with Clutch moment, One has to rely on their strength. If your strength is serve, may be thats a possibility. If thats not an option (ie you are receiving during that game) then run down the pecking order. see if the Forehand is something you can rely upon. Basically chose something that doesnt break down easily and stick with it.

STRATEGY

This is where most people falter. This is not the time to be defensive or aggressive. This is the time to be controlled and stay with in your game limits. Ie dont aim for corners or lines but leave enough margin.

This is also the time to not make strategic blunders by leaving the door open. I cant illustrate this any better than using a NBA example.

What is the blunder?. Sacremento Kings , for inexplicable reasons, left open a player. They chose the wrong player-- NBA playoff's greatest clutch 3 point shooter , Robert Horry.

This match ultimately costed Kings the western conference championships (and by extension, The NBA championship for 2002)

What is an equivalent Tennis example?

(The moment is at 3:21 in the above clip)

Roger Federer had match points against Marat Safin in the semi final of Aus 2005. What is the blunder? Roger chose the wrong shot--between the legs shot. He had enough time to actually run around the ball and hit a clean forehand/backhand but he chose not to. It costed him a Grandslam.

Here is an example of a good strategy.

(The moment is at 6:33)

Rafael Nadal has a Championship point against Roger Federer. Yes, he lost the point (eventually would still win the championship) but he had a clear cut idea.

Technically he hit a forehand and he has a monsterous forehand.

Strategically he chose to attack Federer's backhand. This has worked 90% of the time and for him and no reason not to do it at this moment.

Belief was always there for him. One cant determine that from the video of this point but just the fact that he withstood Federer's on slaught, served from behind in the final set and still won 9-7 shows a lot.

Here is another example

Nadal saves not one or two but Three match points. Controlled aggression using his technically sound Forehand's monstrous TopSpin , Strategy of moving Djokovic all across the court and then believing that he can win.

To be continued..............