There is a sensational video of tennis player Rafael Nadal, super champion of the world sport of all time. In a famous Spanish TV program (El hormiguero) he answers the fashionable question: “Does your mentality make you win or lose?”
His answer –one click on the internet– is a real gem: “There is a lot of talk about the mental issue, but in the end what normally makes you win is hitting the ball well,” he says without holding back his laughter as he moves his hand like a racket.
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Well said: first things first. In these mystical times of magical and facile ‘laws of attraction’ fashions, of self-help books with “words that have power for mental reprogramming” from so many talkative coaches, “mentality” is repeated in sport like fanciful hocus-pocus.
And twisting reality into an illusionism that is confused with mentalism, it is sworn that Colombia was not, among others, world soccer champion in men and women because it lacked ‘mentality’. And they say that if the word ‘champions’ is not repeated to “attract the universe”, it is said that it falls into a supposed conformist mediocrity.
It is argued, for example, that this is why Once Caldas won a Libertadores or Greece, a Euro Cup. A fallacy: when David knocked down Goliath, he did it because he was technical and strong with his slingshot, because he was successful in executing his plan, because he had an aim.
When Once Caldas or Grecia won they did as Nadal says: first of all, for their sporting virtues, for being good teams, for the quality of their players, for the cunning of their coaches, for the correct execution of their strategic plan.
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Look: it turns out that Pereira lost last April against Boca Juniors at La Bombonera “due to a lack of mentality” and now, just a couple of months later, they are in the quarterfinals of the Libertadores because of their “mentality” and not because of their penalty kicked by Independiente del Valle or for his defensive stamina.
Perhaps Nairo Quintana didn’t you wish with all your mind and all your heart to be champion of the Tour de France? He couldn’t because Chris Froome had more strength, legs and lungs. It was better!
The ‘mindset’ argument
The “mentality” argument is also curiously convenient. Look again: it is repeated that the Women’s soccer team had players with “mentality” to qualify for the quarterfinalsbut was eliminated at that stage due to the “lack of mentality” of the coach Abadía.
They said the same about the men’s team: they say they did not have the “mentality” to beat England in Russia in 2018, when they were eliminated due to missed penalties by Bacca and Mateus Uribe. Spot.
If it were for that “mentality”, David Beckham hires a coach and not Lionel Messi!
The defeat of the women’s team was caused by the English superiority, as was known: they had more possession of the ball (61% to 39%), more shots on goal (6 to 3) more passes (520 to 332)… and scored more goals: 2 to 1! In “mentality” Colombia won, sure.
With this demagogic and facile pretext, as good Colombians we enlarge ourselves like a clown’s shoe, since reality is unknown and disfigures.
Mindset…? No way! Illusionism! Rather it is that.
Meluk tells him
GABRIEL MELUK
Sports Editor
@MelukLeCuenta
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#Womens #team #mentality #mentalism #illusionism.. #Meluk #tells