The late, great Arthur Ashe, for whom the Stadium Court at Flushing Meadows Tennis Complex in New York City is named, was not only a great pioneer in the sport, but was also known for his intellect and ability to teach in both words and examples.
I attended a tennis clinic one time where he was a guest speaker and remember him saying, “The single most important difference between the professional money players and the really good amateur players is “speed to execution”–the professionals are one critical second faster in their decision-making than the best amateurs.
The best amateur players are one second faster than the average players and so on and so forth. A mere one second in decision-making makes all the difference between a world-class player and a good club player. He gave example after example of this in teaching how to set up strategy for hitting baseline shots, volleys or overheads. When you think about this “speed to execution,” it seems to apply in other places as well.
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