NOVAK And His PERFECT Pitch
PITCH is the ability of a musician to play or sing a note at exactly the correct level. PERFECT PITCH is that stunning ability to decode with absolute perfection by indemnifying and mimicking just by “feeling.” In music many come close to perfect pitch but few can match Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston or Stan Getz, to name three artists.
This brings me to another artist, Novak Djokovic, and his “Perfect Tennis Pitch”. Now before proceeding I should mention that Novak is not a perfect tennis player. In fact he could still improve in some meaningful ways. “Perfect Pitch” is used here as an analogy /metaphor to explain
Novak’s innate ability to hit close to the right shot, in the right way at the right time, almost every time. Many performers in all areas can come close to such a high standard. The margins that separate the very best from the almost best however, are razor thin and no matter how much we practice we can never match Stan Getz’s ability to play a note on the Saxophone or Novak’s ability to perceive the ball, court and opponent with the suppleness, dexterity and clarity that he and a few others display.
Novak feels the shot and sees the court differently than most players. He has great technique, mentality, physicality and tactics for sure, but there always seems to be something more to his game.
Novak has no excess in his movements and his shots. He moves with such effortless efficiency that he makes the sport look way easier than it really is. He hits with an economy of effort that has as much pace, spin, height and distance as needed but no more. Some call his efficiency “pushing.” If Novak is a tennis pusher then Ernest Hemingway is a literary “pusher”
As an athlete similar to Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky and, most recently, Nikola Jokic, Novak has a feel that can be described as a perfect pitch in athletics. When combined with his incredible fitness, such feel with little interference leads to efficiency that is the foundation for why he can play at such a high level for so long in a match, and continue for so long, in his career.
