Sjogren's is something you live with your whole life. The good news for me is now I know what's happening after spending years not knowing... I feel like I can get better and move on.
Venus WilliamsRead
Tennis is mostly mental. You win or lose the match before you even go out there.
Interpretation
Mental strength is crucial in tennis, often determining the outcome before the match begins.
This quote by Venus Williams emphasizes the significant role that mental fortitude plays in competitive sports, particularly tennis. It suggests that a player's mindset, confidence, and psychological preparation can heavily influence their performance, making victory or defeat largely a mental battle that begins long before stepping onto the court. Thus, the psychological aspect can be as important as the physical skills honed through practice.
In practice
A coach could use this quote to motivate their team before a big tournament.
Sjogren's is something you live with your whole life. The good news for me is now I know what's happening after spending years not knowing... I feel like I can get better and move on.
I don't want to give anyone an edge in my mind. Every time I walk out on the court, I have to feel I'm the best so I can compete well. A lot of times, my chief rival is just me.
I think nowadays it's so easy as an athlete to become a statistic whether or not you lose everything or having trouble or whatever it may be.
I have always said that after sport, I wanted a life, I wanted an opportunity, I wanted to be able to do something. And if something happens - the economy falls out or the dollar is worthless, anything could happen - you have to be ready to work. And I'm ready.
If I have to work hard or think hard or just copy somebody else that's doing it better - whatever it takes, I'm going to find that solution. That's the drive that keeps me going.
Sports are a great place to show that equality can happen.
I came up in 1941 and I played against men who played in the 1930s. I stayed until 1963 playing against men who will be playing in the 1970s. So I think I can feel qualified to say that baseball really was a great game, and baseball is really a great game, and baseball will always be a great game.
But in the end it's still a game of golf, and if at the end of the day you can't shake hands with your opponents and still be friends, then you've missed the point.
Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.
Sometimes the coaches tell me to be selfish, but my game won't let me be selfish.
On the best tactic when playing alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- Just give him the ball.
I've always wanted to shoot a good percentage for my team, because I'm the point guard, and I can take fewer shots, still score more, so that I can get my teammates feeling good about themselves. That was always my feeling - that if I shoot a high percentage, I don't have to shoot a ton.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.