Hi everyone,

Having recently been part of a Q&A session with tennis legend Boris Becker, I have a very special post for you today to share some of the greatest secrets behind his success. These top tips for achievement are not just about tennis. Indeed, their relevance here is that they can help you improve your soccer performance and help you more generally in life too! After all Boris is a massive football enthusiast as well as an incredinly succesful tennis star, so everything here can be applied to soccer to the benefit of beginners and advanced players alike. I hope you find this article exciting and helpful. I was certainly inspired just listening to him. If you do feel this way, please feel free to leave your comments below and share it with others you think it would be helpful to.  Firstly there’s a short sporting bio of Boris, followed by his top tips and mixed with some quotes from him during the event. Let’s get going….

Boris Becker

Boris, at just 17 years old, became the youngest player ever to win the Wimbledon tennis championship. He then followed this up with another victory in this tournament aged 18!  Even at 9 years old he was already considered the best German tennis player in his age group. But it wasn’t just tennis he was great at, for he’s also been involved with various other sports including golf and skiing. What’s more, he’s a life long soccer enthusiast and has been on the advisory board for Bayern Munich for over a decade. His tennis tips are applicable to all sports

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Secret to Success: Live by YOUR Passion

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At the event Boris said that whatever you do in life, whatever the reason for pursuing your chosen course, the motivation has to come from you! Do not give in to peer or parental pressure… you can’t live your life by what your coach tells you to do. Indeed, Becker argued that passion has to come from your heart and no one else’s! This tip about the independence of motivation is said to be a core component of lasting success in sport.

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Play for Enjoyment, Not Just to Win

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According to Robert T. Kiyosaki, author of the best selling Rich Dad Poor Dad books,  money through creativity is better than money through competition. Similarly, though nothing to do with money, Boris Becker said that enjoyment is perhaps more important than pure competition.  Indeed, when playing soccer, it is claimed that your enjoyment is of fundamental importance. This is not to say that Becker isn’t ultra competitive, that would be an utterly ridiculous suggestion, but that enjoyment of sport is vital for its own sake.

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Listen to Your Instincts, Then Follow Them

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Your success in soccer needs to come from within. You will have subconscious instincts that you need to follow. Is soccer for you? What are your goals? Listen to your own thoughts and instinct, then act upon them in the best way for you. This is general advice, but is perfectly applied to sport. And who better to give you sporting advice?!

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“Follow through and play until the end”

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There’s No Way Round Hard Work!

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Sorry folks- hard work is the name of the game for tennis and soccer. If a world superstar admits this then I think we can safely say it’s a simple, hard truth! But this needn’t be a question of natural talent or hard work- try to think of hard work as a talent in itself. Work ethic is a talent which you need to pursue. According to Becker, at least 75% of your success in any sport can be attributed to two key factors: hard work and discipline. Or, as other writers and sports stars like to say, ‘the harder you work the luckier you get’!

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“Focus on the next point”

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Don’t Give Up- Be Persistent!

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According to Becker, too many tennis players give up too early and you can see that mentally they’ve lost the whole match after simply losing the first set. The key, he says, is not to dwell on your mistakes but to keep trying and keep fighting. If you enjoy your sport, this is where the competition element comes in and the test of your character. Do not throw in the towel too early. Keep going.

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Maintain Focus: Watch for the Next Ball

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With experience of playing as a goalkeeper, this is a tip I can particularly sympathise with. He was actually referring to a tennis ball at this point, naturally, but this can be applied to any position in soccer as a lesson about focus. “Focus on the next point” was a key phrase Becker used and this is vital advice. Always be aware, pay attention to what’s going on around you and be alert. Even more importantly, don’t dwell on your mistakes…pick yourself up and focus on the next piece of action whether this is taking a free kick, making a clearence or pulling off a diving save.

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“A tennis court is similar to a stage…you perform”

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Be an Actor: Play for the Crowd!

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This presents another key point to Becker’s answers during the Q&A event. He underlined the importance of the crowd by saying, “they play a great role”. Viewing each game of soccer as a performance for all the watching spectators may help you to pysche yourself up, motivate yourself, play better and use the crowd’s presence to your own advantage rather than letting the pressure get to you. This will become more important the higher the level you play at, but always keep it in mind. You are a performer in soccer…so perform!

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“I was always trying to win (over) the crowd”

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I hope you found these tips from the legendary Boris Becker most inspiring and in case you need a recap, here they are again: live by your passion, play for enjoyment, listen to your instincts, work hard, don’t give up, maintain focus and perform for the crowd. These pieces of advice are invaluable as they come from someone who has achieved so much in tennis and maintains a passion for sport generally. Yes he was graced with a wealth of natural talent, but there is no reason why his secrets of success cannot be used by anybody at any level in any field. As he is a soccer fan himself, soccer is an especially relevant sport for which these tips whill come in useful. Read them again and put them into practice during your next game. Use them throughout your life, and the results may surprise you.

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Thank you. Have fun,

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Soccer Geek

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