Awesome story attached by Tom Perrotta in today's WSJ about how one tennis player is using technology to gain a leg up in competition.
I think Ram is onto something here, as evidenced by his recent jump in the rankings. Ram played collegiately at Illinois, helping them clinch a national title during his tenure there and now is playing both on the ATP singles and doubles tour. He plays a classic serve and volley game, something a little obscure in todays realm of the sport, but it great to see him thinking outside the box to try to improve his game.
I think the attitudes of most pro's is similar to how Perrotta described it in the article and that is why they are not top 10. They all play the same way (serve huge, smack their strokes mach ten, and go down guns blazing in their matches). I think that strategy can get you to a certain level, top 50 maybe for the extremely talented players, but what differentiates top 10 from top 50? I think it comes down to creativity, mental toughness, and a willingness to think outside the box. Djokovic getting into the incubator is a classic example of someone thinking outside the box.
I think using technology to track opponents patterns and tendencies is something that we will be seeing more of in the coming ages especially for players who are looking for an edge. Scouting occurs in every sport baseball, football, and basketball to name a few. Coaches dissect film about how their team performed and also on their upcoming opponents to try and get a better feel for their tendencies. The most successful teams in sports are the ones that are most prepared. John Wooden once said, "Failure to prepare, is preparing to fail". Hopefully in the future we will see a trend of pro's using this and other technologies to their benefit.