4 ms·

I really recommend reading any of David Foster Wallace's essays about tennis. The book "String Theory" collects all his writing on the subject. He was a lifelon

I really recommend reading any of David Foster Wallace's essays about tennis. The book "String Theory" collects all his writing on the subject. He was a lifelong fan of the sport, but also a nationally ranked junior player and he's able to provide exceptional insight in the insane dedication (as well as talent) needed to reach even the lowest rungs of the competitive tennis world, and what a grind the tour can be for lower ranked professionals.

papa-whisky 2y ago
The essay that the book takes its title from is particularly relevant to this discussion and freely available online: https://www.esquire.com/sports/a5151/the-string-theory-david-foster-wallace/ https://www.esquire.com/sports/a5151/the-string-theory-david... (As an aside, I'm surprised to see this in Esquire, do they still publish writing like this or was it a very different magazine "back in the day"?)
- daseiner1 2y ago
  Can’t comment on the current state of Esquire, but it certainly was “legit” in the past. I’ll take this opportunity to promote the classic Esquire piece “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has-a-cold-gay-talese/ https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has...
  - duck 2y ago
    Just to add, they have a really great archive site: https://classic.esquire.com/ https://classic.esquire.com/
    - NaOH 2y ago
      And the person in charge of Esquire Classic has a site of good long-form journalism that predates the internet. http://www.thestacksreader.com http://www.thestacksreader.com
BaculumMeumEst 2y ago
I felt slightly unhinged when I instinctively control F'd for "infinite" upon seeing this headline for no particular reason, glad to find this comment.
chasebank 2y ago
There’s a really fun YouTube series where a virtually no name ex-NBA player challenges top amateurs to 1 on 1. It’s not even close. Brian Scalabrine is his name and his famous quote is “I’m way closer to Lebron than you are to me.” The dedication to become a top .0001% athlete is absolutely nuts and beyond that is uncomprehendable. https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-brian-scalabrine-destroyed-amateurs-in-the-scallenge https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-brian-scal...
- freddie_mercury 2y ago
  Yeah that series is great. And you can tell sometimes he'll play against someone who has a good move or something that works for about 12 seconds before he adjusts/remembers how to deal with it.
- naveen99 2y ago
  Math >> comprehension. 0.0001% is one in a million. Or within top 7000 rank out of 7 billion humans globally. Or about 0.001% or one in a 100k out of the 700-1000 million in 20-30 age group. There are about 70000 pro athletes in the world. So only 1 in a 10000 or 0.01% to be a pro athlete when you are in the age group. Takes less than a year of recreational devotion for a smart healthy person to get into top 1% globally. getting into 0.01% is obviously more competitive and requires you to give up other things.
- Workaccount2 2y ago
  I believe the origin of Scalabrines channel was from people who absolutely grilled his performance while he was pro. He came out and said "If you think I suck so much, come 1v1 me." He then promptly stomped his detractors on the court
photon_lines 2y ago
Here's a fantastic piece by him talking about how amazing Federer was when he first came up: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20federer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20fed...
rapsey 2y ago
As well as Open by Andre Agasi. One of the greatest autobiographies.

papa-whisky 2y ago

The essay that the book takes its title from is particularly relevant to this discussion and freely available online: https://www.esquire.com/sports/a5151/the-string-theory-david-foster-wallace/ https://www.esquire.com/sports/a5151/the-string-theory-david... (As an aside, I'm surprised to see this in Esquire, do they still publish writing like this or was it a very different magazine "back in the day"?)

daseiner1 2y ago
Can’t comment on the current state of Esquire, but it certainly was “legit” in the past. I’ll take this opportunity to promote the classic Esquire piece “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has-a-cold-gay-talese/ https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has...
- duck 2y ago
  Just to add, they have a really great archive site: https://classic.esquire.com/ https://classic.esquire.com/
  - NaOH 2y ago
    And the person in charge of Esquire Classic has a site of good long-form journalism that predates the internet. http://www.thestacksreader.com http://www.thestacksreader.com

BaculumMeumEst 2y ago

I felt slightly unhinged when I instinctively control F'd for "infinite" upon seeing this headline for no particular reason, glad to find this comment.

chasebank 2y ago

There’s a really fun YouTube series where a virtually no name ex-NBA player challenges top amateurs to 1 on 1. It’s not even close. Brian Scalabrine is his name and his famous quote is “I’m way closer to Lebron than you are to me.” The dedication to become a top .0001% athlete is absolutely nuts and beyond that is uncomprehendable. https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-brian-scalabrine-destroyed-amateurs-in-the-scallenge https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-brian-scal...

freddie_mercury 2y ago
Yeah that series is great. And you can tell sometimes he'll play against someone who has a good move or something that works for about 12 seconds before he adjusts/remembers how to deal with it.
naveen99 2y ago
Math >> comprehension. 0.0001% is one in a million. Or within top 7000 rank out of 7 billion humans globally. Or about 0.001% or one in a 100k out of the 700-1000 million in 20-30 age group. There are about 70000 pro athletes in the world. So only 1 in a 10000 or 0.01% to be a pro athlete when you are in the age group. Takes less than a year of recreational devotion for a smart healthy person to get into top 1% globally. getting into 0.01% is obviously more competitive and requires you to give up other things.
Workaccount2 2y ago
I believe the origin of Scalabrines channel was from people who absolutely grilled his performance while he was pro. He came out and said "If you think I suck so much, come 1v1 me." He then promptly stomped his detractors on the court

photon_lines 2y ago

Here's a fantastic piece by him talking about how amazing Federer was when he first came up: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20federer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20fed...

rapsey 2y ago

As well as Open by Andre Agasi. One of the greatest autobiographies.