On July 7, 2013 Andy Murray, ranked #2 in the world beat #1 ranked Novak Djokovic to win the 2013 Wimbledon Championship and taught all of us a few lessons in the process. The past doesn't matter. Murray became the first British tennis player to win the men's singles championship at Wimbledon since Fred Perry won in 1936. Over the last 77 years many, many people have thought and even stated out loud, "He can't win Wimbledon - he's British!" As the years rolled by some even suggested there must be some kind of curse on the British.

1. What We Can All Learn from Wimbledon
Champion Andy Murray
-by Coach Dave Stricklin
http://www.hoopskills.com
On July 7, 2013 Andy Murray, ranked #2 in the
world beat #1 ranked Novak Djokovic to win the
2013 Wimbledon Championship and taught all of
us a few lessons in the process.
The past doesn't matter. Murray became the first
British tennis player to win the men's singles
championship at Wimbledon since Fred Perry won
in 1936.
Over the last 77 years many, many people have
thought and even stated out loud, "He can't win
Wimbledon - he's British!" As the years rolled by
some even suggested there must be some kind of
curse on the British.
Why do people think that way? Why do people think you'll never win because
you're on the Clippers or because you live in that school district?
One year ago Murray lost to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon championship match
on centre court. "It was the toughest loss of my career," said Murray. How many
teams and players lose a devastating game and never recover?
Not only players and teams but also schools, communities, and even nations have
convinced themselves they're not good enough based solely on previous results!
Fortunately, Andy Murray didn't buy into that garbage; he knew the only thing that
really matters is what happens now!
Rankings are meaningless. I always get a good laugh when I'm at a summer
tournament and hear parents mention the fact that their little all-star is ranked
87th by some scouting service. How does anyone come to that conclusion and
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What We Can All Learn From Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray-hoopskills.com

2. ultimately who does that impress? If rankings really mattered we wouldn't have to
play the games! When two teams, or two individual players, are scheduled to play
we could just award the highest ranking with an automatic win.
Andy Murray went into that championship matched ranked lower that his
opponent. Did he let that bother him? At any point during the match did he think
for even a split second, "I can't win this - Djokovic is ranked higher than I am"? No,
he knew that games are won or lost on the court and not on ranking lists.
To be a champion you have to keep improving. It doesn't matter how good you are
right now, you have to continue to get better. Murray has been quoted as saying
that one of his biggest goals is to get a little bit better year after year. After losing
to Federer at Wimbledon in 2012 Murray sobbed into the live microphone, "I'm
getting closer!" He didn't look at the loss as a complete failure but rather as an
indication that he still needed to improve.
Jordan, Magic, Shaq, Kobe, Ginobli, LeBron and countless others had to improve
certain areas and even add to their games before they could become one of the
game's elite. They could've stayed the same, which was still very, very good, but
they never would have been champions. Remember what Abraham Lincoln once
said - "I will get ready and then perhaps my chance will come."
Don't take yourself too seriously. To a competitor, winning is the ultimate thrill.
However, while we should all take competing (and the competition) seriously we
shouldn't do the same with ourselves. After winning a tournament earlier in the
year, Murray grabbed the microphone and dedicated the victory to a friend who
had been recently diagnosed with cancer. Following his Wimbledon championship
Murray took several pictures of his dogs standing with the trophy. He almost
instantly tried to return to being a regular guy. Championships are great and
should be our ultimate goal but like Andy Murray we should remember that we are
playing a game and neither wins nor losses should severely change our personality.
There's going to be pressure. Nothing worthwhile ever comes extremely easy.
There's going to be pressure and how that pressure is handled will often determine
the outcome of the competition. Sometimes the pressure is self-inflicted, trying to
live up to your own expectations. Other times its pressure from outside sources in Murray's case it was the hopes and expectations of an entire country resting
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What We Can All Learn From Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray-hoopskills.com

3. squarely on his shoulders. Then once you win, expectations often become even
higher and the pressure even greater.
When asked how he dealt with the pressure of Wimbledon, Andy Murray replied,
"You have to embrace the occasion and try to embrace the pressures, the
emotions, and the struggles you're going through."
I must admit that I'm not the world's biggest tennis fan but I do have a lot of
respect for Andy Murray and his Wimbledon championship and am very grateful
for the lessons his career has taught us.
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What We Can All Learn From Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray-hoopskills.com