Roger Federer, a legend of world sports, continues to teach off the slopes. For many he is the best tennis player of all time although he is the third in Grand Slams (20), surpassed by Nadal (22) y Djokovic (24). His unmistakable elegance and style, his bearing and his practically natural way of playing made him a reference. Now it is also from the pulpits. In the Univertisty of Dartmouth (New Hampshire, United States)the graduating students attended a 25-minute speech that was almost a life lesson and that has caused the admiration of other great athletes, for example Pau Gasol.
Almost everything has been said about Federer. One of the features of his game was his astonishing ease in developing it, hardly effortless. Roger was in charge of denying it for all those who think that to achieve success only talent is enough, that without effort and sweat you can achieve your goals. “I trained very hard when the cameras didn’t see me, I worked on a lot of shots and strategies to then be able to do them in the matches. In life and in sport, discipline is also talent, as is patience. There was a lot of effort“.
Federer, a great champion, relativized the concept of defeat. What’s more, he valued it as a learning method. And he gave the example that throughout his career he could only win “54% of the points, that is, he almost lost half of the points he played. You can work very hard and lose. In the tennis only one wins each tournament and the rest lose, or don’t win at all.
“Life is more important than the field”
Federer He stressed the importance of holding on to life much more than to our professional performance, giving each thing the focus it deserves. Allocating the time that our work deserves, but also having time for family and our friends, and “focusing on what is important. You have to be good people full time“.
