Everydayness…

Novak Djokovic (The Joker), according to my client Baby Kass, will go down as the greatest tennis player of all time. Baby Kass has some street cred here. He’s a former tennis stud (world number one as a junior) and serial entrepreneur, including owner of Pickle & Chill and The Columbus Sliders – 2025 Champions of Major League Pickleball. He knows what he’s talking about, at least when it comes to racquet’s…

The Joker’s stats tell a pretty good story too. Ranked number 1 for a record 428 weeks, won 100 ATP singles titles, including a record 24 majors, a record 10 Aussie opens, an Olympic gold medal and much more. Hard to argue he’s the beast!

Baby Kass and I discussed what separates good from great in sport and any endeavor actually, he asked me if I knew what separated Joker from the other greats. I. Did. Not. Have. A. Clue. So, I got curious, was it his first serve? Nope. Very average. His forehand? Nope, not it. How ’bout his backhand? Well, Baby Kass began, it’s really good but even that isn’t his signature strength. I kept guessing tactics, mental strength, and coming up empty. Finally, growing frustrated with my answers, Baby Kass gave it to me.

Footwork and racquet prep.

His footwork is best in the world. The speed in which he gets his racket back is fractions of a second quicker than anyone. He told me it’s absolutely uncanny how Joker is on his toes all the freakin’ time. What’s the key to both of these I asked.

Pure effort.

Here’s the greatest tennis dude in the history of the game and his separators come down to his effort mastering two of the most basic fundamentals – Footwork and racquet preparation. What, friend, are you focusing your training efforts on? STOP looking for silver freakin’ bullets. Master your fundamentals and never stop mastering what you already know is good enough. And, do this consistently. Everydayness again. Marry the mundane. Get comfortable on the plateau. You’ve heard it all. Are you doing it all? Consistently? Damn. 

Live hard. Love harder. Everyday…

Gu saw this at some shared office space in Columbus. Don’t know how BBTL got there. Blessed…