Becker: Key to tennis success is chess

Yeah, words of wisdom from Boris. Did anyone know that­ the birthplace of Steffi Graf (Mannheim-Neckarau) and­ the birth place of Boris Becker (Leimen) are only 20­ Kilometer apart, but they never met at either­ place.They met when Steffi stopped playing­ "Satellite Tournaments" while Becker won his­ first two Wimbledons. Graf is, without any dloubt, the­ best tennis player - male or female - who ever played­ the courts of this world. Compared to Becker's five­ Grand Slam, Graf's 22 look like she was the queen­ of tennis, and she WAS. And, she kept things in­ perspective. When she once lost to a journeywoman in­ Wimbledlon, the press was all around her. This is what­ Steffi saidL "My God I lost a tennis match, nobody­ died."
Djokovic is at this time the best player in­ the world. He is also the best trickster when his­ opponents get to close to him. The first issue were his­ feet, and everybody fled the shower rooms when he­ appeared. But, he looks good, is always dressed like he­ knows where he is, and the seven-time ballbounce on­ serving was around right to the beginning. It DID­ make a difference: while he bounces his balls ever more­ often, he got a breather, and his opponents got cold. ­ Lately, and I could be wrong, he has increased his­ arsenal of opportunities to get a rest by lying on a­ stretcher. Is there no rule for that kind of thing? ­ Plus, the ball tosses get more and more and he can­ serve with a blistering speed after now up to 14­ bounces. Still, at least for 2012, his goal is the­ Olympics and so is Federer's. They do not show­ anything new. Look at Chris Evert: At the U.S. Open­ in 1989 she won the first set 6:0 and, in the second­ game, something changed a little, when Chris won that­ one 6:2. She deven served an ace at the beginning of­ the second set. Oh, 50 years of of playing tennis was­ a wonderful experience.

Friedrich Buch

I've often thought that watching Federer at times­ is like watching a game of chess on a tennis court,­ with him trying to out smart his opponent. Its one of­ the main reasons I enjoy watching him so much.

"Becker: Key to tennis success is­ chess"

There is nothing in any of Becker's­ comments printed by Eurosport that suggests that to be­ a Successful tennis player you need to have played­ chess, or that it is the KEY to Tennis success.
That­ is just Eurosport's ILL interpretation of­ Becker's comments.
Becker mentioned Federer &­ Nadal because they both use strategy and tactics, he­ mentioned Lendl because he too used to play chess.
I­ also believe Djoko would make a great chess player, he­ is cunning and creative and I nick named him the FOX­ because he always tries to Outsmart his­ opponents.
Becker mostly spoke of his own experiences­ and how it helped him.
What Becker tried to point out­ is that Tennis, like Chess, is a game of Strategy, of­ Thought, of Focus and Outsmarting Your opponent.
His­ comments were based on the SIMILARITIES between the two­ games.
He did not say one is a pre-requisite to the­ other.
And by the way, 6 slams is classified as SUCCESS­ under any terms or translation.
Any derogatory comments­ towards Becker are completely unjustified.

Not all tennis players play chess, but many chess­ players play tennis. Contrary to popular opinion, you­ have to be in decent shape to play serious chess or­ otherwise you lack concentration. You need it for both­ sports.

A reader

lot s and lot s of training, and mental visualization­ training or meditation and avoid those stupid video­ games and facebook, playing chess definitely makes your­ body lazy and dull....

Becker is not a good chess player for sure, just look­ at his face. he is just a good tennis player...what is­ his chess rating?

YOGA can improve mental toughness at this stage

I kind of see what he means but.....one is a slow paced­ sat-at-a-table game with time to think......the other­ is energetic, fast paced with buggar all time to think!

I guess Becker was not a very good chess player. ­ He's not even in the Top 20 in Men's Major­ winners.

Absolute bollocks!..ok how many winners of the past­ played chess ?. I dont know the answer, but I would be­ surprised if any(except him)..looks to me if Becker is­ just trying to tell us what a clever boy he is, stay in­ the cupboard Boris, your winning moves to take the­ Queen are well known. and I cant think why you think­ its strange Murray has had the same girlfriend for a­ long time, unlike you.

I am a pretty good chess player for an amateur level.­ And yes it helps u focus. And my tennis skills are­ pretty decent again at an amateur level.

Now about­ Becker. coincidentally a couple of days ago i saw a­ game between Boris Becker and British GM Nigel Short.­ And Boris Becker's chess level is pretty pathetic.­ If one is able to concentrate on the chess game, their­ level should be better.

Pretty much it looks like­ Boris Becker is as good a chess player as i am a tennis­ player. Becker's advise of mental preparation and­ relaxation before your "job" is good. However­ not every tennis player may have the aptitude for the­ game.

I know that Becker does not.

I started playing chess @ the late age of 22 and I was­ virtually cursing myself for not discovering the game­ at an early age. It's such a great game where both­ players are in a state that feels like they are­ literally engaged in a full scale warfare.
But i do­ not agree with Beker on his opinion. I might not be a­ Professor in any field but as a chess player too, I­ realise the game is a game that is very demanding­ mentally, so a professional tennis player might be­ doing him/herself more harm than good if they play­ chess on a regular basis. Just picture a player having­ a strong session of chess battle with a friend the­ evening before the final of a grandslam( a game that­ lasts maybe a good two hours). How do u think the­ player will feel the next day? He/She could show up­ being mentally drained and below par on D-day.

yah sure and the key to chess success is tennis ...

Becker's comments:

1. "Mental energy is­ hugely important for success in tennis, and chess is­ the perfect way to tune the mind in to the stresses and­ strains of the game."
WHEN YOU GET TO THE TOP­ LEVEL WHERE TWO GUYS ARE EQUALLY MATCHED IN FITNESS AND­ SKILL LEVEL AND DESIRE TO WIN, MENTAL ENERGY IS THE­ DIFERENTIATING FACTOR WHETHER YOU WIN OR LOSE THE­ MATCH. IT'S WHOEVER WANTS IT THE MOST.

2. "I­ took it up as a teenager, and it always helped my­ tennis as a mental stimulation,"
MENTAL­ STIMULATION DURING GAMES IS VITAL. SO OFTEN WE SEE­ PLAYERS HAVE ROLLER COASTER RIDES IN CONCENTRATION OR­ LACK OF IT. TO WIN BIG MATCHES ONE MUST STAY MENTALLY­ STRONG THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THE MATCH.

3. ­ "Like in tennis, strategy is very important in­ chess. It's a one-on-one situation, and it is very­ important to always remain one step ahead of the­ opponent."
STRATEGY IS ALSO VITAL. YOU JUST­ DON'T GO OUT THERE AND HIT BALLS AT WILL AND EXPECT­ TO BEAT GUYS LIKE FEDERER, NADAL, DJOKO, MURRAY. YOU­ MUST HAVE A GAME PLAN ON HAND ON HOW TO APPROACH THE­ MATCH. HOW DO YOU STAY AHEAD OF YOUR OPPONENT? A WISE­ FRIEND OF MINE WHO COACHED 5 WORLD CHAMPIONS IN SQUASH­ (SARAH FITZGERALD INCLUDED) ONCE SAID TO ME,­
"ALWAYS TRY TO MAKE YOUR OPPONENT HIT THE SHOT­ YOU WANT HIM TO PLAY".
THAT IS HOW YOU STAY ONE­ STEP AHEAD OF HIM.

4. "Chess involves the same­ mental approach as tennis, and many players could­ improve their performance if they employed such methods­ to focus on the game before they go on court," he­ added.
HE'S ABSOLUTELY CORRECT HERE AGAIN. SOME­ PLAYERS LISTEN TO ROCK OR HEAVY METAL TO STIMULATE THE­ MIND.
OTHERS LIKE CLASSICAL MUSIC, OR READING TO­ CLARIFY THE MIND AND BE RELAXED AND AT PEACE WITH­ ONE'S SELF.
SOME EVEN LOOK AT OLD CLASSIC MATCHES­ OR ROCKY MOVIES,
OTHERS JUST DON'T DO ANYTHING AT­ ALL!!!!!!
IT'S WHATEVER SUITS EACH INDIVIDUAL.

If­ it helps you win matches, Why not Chess?????

Andrew K, I don't think he was referring to mental­ strength as in "never losing your belief to­ win". Yes of course Rafa is even stronger than­ Federer in this. He was referring more to anticipating­ the opponents moves and thinking ahead during a game.

trisicsasa is my boy, we were together in a madhouse

All Boris Becker is saying is absolutely right apart­ from the fact that he says that Roger Federer is the­ best when it comes to mental strength. I totally­ dispute that and let me hope he is not basing it on the­ "fact" that Roger Federer has more titles. ­ Why I dispute this is that Rafael has many a time come­ from the dug-out in extremely tight situations and­ comes out the victor. There are many times he has­ been down serving at 0 - 40 and come out to win those­ games. There are also many times he has has some­ terrible scores in matches and has hung on in there and­ eventually won them. Examples of these are like in­ the Davis Cap where Del potro super-imposed himself on­ Nadal but Nadal emerged out the victor. Another­ example was at Rolland Garros where John Isner looked­ destined to win that first round match But Rafael came­ out the victor. The examples i can give are quite­ immense so Mr Becker, I think you werwe not terribly­ right about the assertion that Federer was more­ mentally strong. Am Andrew Kisitu In Uganda(Entebbe)

i did not read this artcle seems irrevelant from givng­ advice to someone far far far better thatn himwhenit­ comes to mental thoughness...what else scenario rogers­ hasn't gone through...at his age he is still­ playing great and still none canbeat him othern those­ really top tough ones....and that's it,you can­ never win them all.....

Becker had a good point.
Playing chess just like to­ exercised you brain (mentally relaxing).
I was a chess­ player .for about 10 years, but stop long before­ start to play tennis, so I don't know it can help­ me or not. I guess if you can find some thing to do­ before the match like reading, listen to music, play­ card .... it would help.

yes- a legendary useless pinhead that hits a ball with­ a stick and collects money from suckers.