Noted coach Patrick Mouratoglou doesn’t think that breaking a racquet is a sign of weakness, as some might say, but it could be the opposite using the example of Novak Djokovic.
Anytime you use the example of Novak Djokovic, you have to qualify the statement that he’s not really the norm. He’s the exception to the rule because he might be the best ever to do it, but Mouratoglou’s points still stand.
Djokovic hasn’t been the only one who could channel his frustration into something positive. In fact, many of the historically best players can use it to fuel their desire to win even more, resulting in a positive outcome.
When a player breaks a racquet it doesn’t mean that he’s weak mentally. Othwerwise Novak is weak mentally. He is breaking racquts. I don’t think we can say that Novak is weak mentally. I would say it depends how you break it in a way.
Breaking the racquet is simply a release of frustration. Most players do it, though some, like Rafael Nadal, have abstained from doing so. In itself, it doesn’t mean much, but how you react after it happens is the telltale sign. For some players, it really is a sign of weakness.
You see players, when they break a racquet they are giving up. And you can see in the next points, games that they have shut down, they have given up. So for them, it shows a mental weakness at that moment.
For Djokovic and some others, it’s simply a release, as it should be. Once it happens, he starts playing better because sometimes he uses that anger as fuel and sometimes simply to rid himself of the tension. It depends, but not giving up is the common denominator.
For some of the players, and Novak is a good example, it doesn’t mean he’s giving up at all. And usually, when he breaks the racquet he plays better after that. And when he breaks the racquets he needs to take his anger out, or he needs to recruit within himself anger, but a positive anger that’s going to make him improve his level of play in the next points and games.
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