BShaw on being "In Form"
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Here there be sports-political commentary. Hey, why don't we just make a 'blog' for that, and then amigos can skip over these articles if so desired. A new use for the nested-blog paradigm!
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New poster BShaw writes,
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In soccer they refer to being "In form." Simply, it's playing above your average level of play, that's my understanding anyway. Players have described it as things just going right, passes hitting team mates perfectly in stride, receiving passes in control, scoring goals off of shins. On the other hand, being out of form means things just don't work, whether a perfectly set up shot going just wide, or passes being just that little bit too far out in front.
In my own experience playing pickup soccer, I have been what I would consider "in form" once. For someone of my skill level that means I don't turn the ball over, and score a couple goals a game (which is unheard of). It lasted for probably three weeks, and afterwards I wouldn't say I lost the talent, just returned to my normal "grit, hustle and defense" game.
I think it is partly "random," but it also has a to do with a great deal of playing/practice, self-confidence, things just feeling right. So much goes into soccer, baseball, a shot in basketball, that it can't simply be explained away with "statistical variation." Maybe luck, if by luck you mean things happening that you don't understand, or can't explain thoroughly with science or math.
Granted, soccer is far more free flowing and seems more emotional than baseball, but I think the analogy is a good one.
By the way, I love this site. Definitely my go to source for M's news, and the occasional Seahawks article.
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In chess they use exactly the same term, "being in form;" it's one of those phrases that (in that case) is used constantly, ad nauseum. You'll talk to five guys in a row at the skittles table and they'll tell you whether they are in form or (more likely) need to get back in form.
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One of my best friends, now 40 years old, had a couple of years where he led a Carribbean men's league in goals. We're not talking park-and-rec; he was playing in the top league in Haiti or the Grand Caymans or I forget what.
He was the only white guy in the league, and the fields were surrounded by fences and guys with machine guns already ... imagine the grief he took, from opposing players and fans (and refs!). :- ) Now I hear that Luis Suarez is on the verge of being kicked out of European soccer for using a racial epithet one time; better not happen again, man ... cf. John Terry and the other hysterical BPL reactions to violations of the PC code. In the BPL, "investigations" of whether a player said one word, one time, are more grave and serious than investigations of whether a player molested a 15-year-old girl.
Another player, I forget who, is indeed threatened with a lifetime ban for using a Nazi salute during play. I think it's better to refute incorrect speech than to censor it, but that's just me.
Sense of proportion, man. Yes, abusive language should be punished. Fairly. And non-hypocritically; we all say mean things about people different than us. Let's not pretend that Luis and John Are Bad and We Are Good.
Anyway...
Luis Suarez' form seems to be related to his being on the edge, like some baseball players' All-Star form seems to be related to their partying on the road, or using substances, or whatever. I'm not endorsing it; my life mission rotates around the issues of right and wrong behavior, ethics, morals, love and standards.
I'm just asking, to what extent is a pro athlete's form related to a highly aggressive mood? Are we going to throw gladiators into the ring and then swoon away, suffering the vapors, when they act like cave men? Or are we going to apply a sense of proportion when they act out? If an NCAA basketball coach shoves one of his players during practice, are we going to pretend that's the same thing as if somebody does it to you in the office on Monday?
I suppose we already do cut them some slack for being animals, sometimes. They punch one another on the field, and we don't have the police take them to jail, right :- )
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Cricket is the guy's name. He'll tell you that the difference, in soccer, is VISION. He saw things just a fraction of a second quicker than other people did. So he'd get to a spot, one-half step sooner, get his foot to the ball.... GGOOOOOAAALLLL!
Vision also applies to the technical side that BShaw brings up -- you turn the ball over less, when you "see" the defenders' reactions just a hair quicker.
It applies to the 50-50 balls and second balls -- you see the bounce of the ball just a hair quicker.
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A baseball hitter? He intuits that slider just an eyelash earlier... Mike Morse didn't talk about being "out of form" after that yo-yo broke his hand with a second inside pitch. Morse said he needed to get back his timing. Same thing.
Rauuuuul's vision, his timing, is uncanny. You've seen that, right? How he is not "in between," late on fastballs and early on changeups? He smashes 94 MPH fastballs into his power alley, and hits light-tower shots to RF off sliders. How much do you suppose the other players go up and talk to him about Vision?
Thanks BShaw!,
Dr D