Tennis

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Piers Morgan using Osaka to attack Meghan Markle. Even by the usual standard of racist, misogynistic bullies, he is one horrible piece of shit. Still, it pays well, so he'll keep at it.

[SasaS]

One thing I don't quite understand is, how can you deal with tremendous, relentless  pressure of competitive sport, and tennis is probably the worst here - you spend two hours playing against an opponent waiting to capitalize on your tiniest mistake, but saying a few platitudes at a press conference any PR intern can easily come up with in advance causes you waves of anxiety.  

Watching all those Klopp conferences regularly, they can be a proper pain in the arse but surely going through an actual game is much more stressful.  

[Bjornebye]

If someone suffers with poor mental health and depression it often takes something small to trigger it and if in Osakas case it's having the press call her shit on clay then so be it. I don't think questioning her issues is fair, she's still a young girl thrust into the lime-light at a young age. It's a lot for a young person to take and more should be done for her and others rather than dismiss it as petulance. 

 

Piers Morgan is a grade A cunt. 

[Bjornebye]

1 minute ago, SasaS said:

One thing I don't quite understand is, how can you deal with tremendous, relentless  pressure of competitive sport, and tennis is probably the worst here - you spend two hours playing against an opponent waiting to capitalize on your tiniest mistake, but saying a few platitudes at a press conference any PR intern can easily come up with in advance causes you waves of anxiety.  

Watching all those Klopp conferences regularly, they can be a proper pain in the arse but surely going through an actual game is much more stressful.  

Hmm maybe she's comfortable in that environment (On a court) because thats what she has done all her life and is trained to do. We can see how much the press can be cunts and if a few of them have got wind that she doesn't like certain questions then they will jump on it for a story. If you want to use Klopp then look at Des Kelly who did all he could to rattle Klopp after the Brighton game. 

[YorkshireRed]

3 minutes ago, SasaS said:

One thing I don't quite understand is, how can you deal with tremendous, relentless  pressure of competitive sport, and tennis is probably the worst here - you spend two hours playing against an opponent waiting to capitalize on your tiniest mistake, but saying a few platitudes at a press conference any PR intern can easily come up with in advance causes you waves of anxiety.  

Watching all those Klopp conferences regularly, they can be a proper pain in the arse but surely going through an actual game is much more stressful.  

The answer is probably far more complex than the one I’ll provide but I think, in part at least, she trains for the former because it’s her passion, her talent, her purpose etc. The latter just comes with the territory and triggers the anxiety she describes. 

[SasaS]

I get that speaking in public causes people anxiety, it is usually listed among major fears, but you can also media train people. We do live in a communication age and all of us face demands to communicate from time to time or all of the time. And of all depression cases in sport, I don't think I ever heard talking to the media mentioned as some isolated,  main cause. There must be more to this with her. 

[Gnasher]

She should take a few tips of this Scottish fella and twat one of them,

 

 

[Anubis]

2 minutes ago, SasaS said:

I get that speaking in public causes people anxiety, it is usually listed among major fears, but you can also media train people. We do live in a communication age and all of us face demands to communicate from time to time or all of the time. And of all depression cases in sport, I don't think I ever heard talking to the media mentioned as some isolated,  main cause. There must be more to this with her. 

She does describe herself as having social anxiety disorder and not socialising with other players, but rather sitting with her headphones on in the dressing room and not speaking to anyone. Out on the court, the only person she has to answer to is herself (well, the referee as well I suppose) but nobody else.

 

I can kind of understand where she is coming from. I'm an introvert. It doesn't stop me going to court and advocating in that setting, but I shy away from any publicity and swerve social gatherings because of how uncomfortable I am in those settings.  I don't consider it a mental illness, more a psychological issue that stems from being embarrassed about my weight, and a complete inability to make small talk.

[YorkshireRed]

4 minutes ago, SasaS said:

I get that speaking in public causes people anxiety, it is usually listed among major fears, but you can also media train people. We do live in a communication age and all of us face demands to communicate from time to time or all of the time. And of all depression cases in sport, I don't think I ever heard talking to the media mentioned as some isolated,  main cause. There must be more to this with her. 

There will be, but this is obviously one of her triggers. Maybe she’s built it up to be more in her mind than it is in reality, but that’s what happens. Once these fears set in, they’re extremely difficult to overcome. 
 

Of course you can obtain media training, but another difference here could be that she wants to train at Tennis. If she has had any media training, it’ll be because she feels she has to. That’s a very different mindset. 

[YorkshireRed]

1 minute ago, Anubis said:

I can kind of understand where she is coming from. I'm an introvert. It doesn't stop me going to court and advocating in that setting, but I shy away from any publicity and swerve social gatherings because of how uncomfortable I am in those settings.  I don't consider it a mental illness, more a psychological issue that stems from being embarrassed about my weight, and a complete inability to make small talk.

Being an introvert, as I’m sure you know, doesn’t mean you are unable to carry out your duties well. Or that you can’t enjoy that kind of setting. It’s more about what happens to your energy while you’re doing at and the self care needed to ensure you can do it in a sustainable way. 
 

Part of my business is to stand up and talk to people about stuff. I am also an introvert but over the years I’ve learned how to use this to my advantage, it’s never all about me and I think that plays well in an industry filled with extroverts. I do know that if I tried to do that kind of work every day though, there would be consequences to my energy levels and sense of well-being. 
 

We can become products of our environment but I don’t think we lose the core of who we really are. 
 

As for small talk, do what I do at the god awful networking events I sometimes have to attend. Hide. 

[Josef Svejk]

I think it's a load of bollocks, frankly. Not mental health issues, obviously. But this particular drama.

 

And I'm not anti-Osaka. On the contrary, a lot of what she did around BLM was really admirable, I thought. 

 

But she sort of stumbled into this mess. As her sister acknowledged. And has just kept digging. 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

11 hours ago, Josef Svejk said:

Her sister basically admitted she gets pissed off with journalists asking her about her struggles on clay.

 

That's a mental health issue, apparently. If you wish to cheapen the concept of a 'mental health issue'...

From the statement you posted, it absolutely is a mental health issue; no cheapening required.

[Josef Svejk]

4 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

From the statement you posted, it absolutely is a mental health issue; no cheapening required.

Being (sensitive to being) asked about poor form on clay is not (in itself) a mental health issue. The sister effectively conceded the point and deleted her post.

 

Osaka doesn't like doing press during clay court season. She's contractually obliged to do it. Boo fucking hoo.

 

There is, incidentally, no evidence of her being asked difficult, never mind disrespectful, questions in this context.

[Rico1304]

If the organisers required the wheelchair players to walk up the stairs would they ban those that weren’t able to do it? 
 

She’s got mental health issues, she can’t do do the interviews. She should be able to miss them and just play tennis. 

[Bjornebye]

15 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

If the organisers required the wheelchair players to walk up the stairs would they ban those that weren’t able to do it? 
 

She’s got mental health issues, she can’t do do the interviews. She should be able to miss them and just play tennis. 

Spot on mate. 

[Gnasher]

29 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Spot on mate. 

Then every player would be able to cite mental issues and be allowed to stop speaking at press conferences, id guess the sponsorship would thereafter drop dramatically.

 

Tennis journalists are hardly the most robust questioners in the sporting world. I wonder if in future she'll take questions after playing on a surface that suits her? 

[Gnasher]

To digress, top women tennis players are the most fortunate athletes in the world. They get paid the same as men, do not play as many sets and wouldn't win a set against any man in the top twenty.

[YorkshireRed]

Just now, Gnasher said:

Then every player would be able to cite mental issues and be allowed to stop speaking at press conferences, id guess the sponsorship would thereafter drop dramatically.

 

Tennis journalists are hardly the most robust questioners in the sporting world. I wonder if in future she'll take questions after playing on a surface that suits her? 

I think that’s part of the education that needs to happen though, not just in Tennis but society as a whole.

 

The default position needs to be that we believe people who are struggling. Part of making that happen is to ensure others know the impact of playing the mental health card to obtain whatever, when they know it’s not real. Doing this stops people from believing the genuine cases. 

[SasaS]

She seems to be doing quite well here, you can say that this is probably not her favourite activity, may be slightly socially awkward, but she interacts well with the journalists, comes across as eloquent, intelligent and quite in control.

 

[YorkshireRed]

2 minutes ago, SasaS said:

She seems to be doing quite well here, you can say that this is probably not her favourite activity, may be slightly socially awkward, but she interacts well with the journalists, comes across as eloquent, intelligent and quite in control.

 

 

 

 

But this is still not an indication of whether she has, or hasn’t got a mental health issue. 

[TheHowieLama]

So we are now doing some whataboutery on this?

 

Nice.

[SasaS]

1 minute ago, YorkshireRed said:

But this is still not an indication of whether she has, or hasn’t got a mental health issue. 

I wouldn't know, I am not a mental health expert.

[Bjornebye]

2 minutes ago, SasaS said:

I wouldn't know, I am not a mental health expert.

I think education around mental health has come a long enough way in the last 5 years to merit an "Ok lets hope the girl gets the right help" rather than the ancient "Oh bollocks you're just pulling that card because it doesn't suit you". 

[Gnasher]

10 minutes ago, YorkshireRed said:

I think that’s part of the education that needs to happen though, not just in Tennis but society as a whole.

 

The default position needs to be that we believe people who are struggling. Part of making that happen is to ensure others know the impact of playing the mental health card to obtain whatever, when they know it’s not real. Doing this stops people from believing the genuine cases. 

What about the disingenuous cases? Normally you could let them slide, not sure with this case tbh. I'm obviously not a mental health expert but from an amateur perspective her case seems a little frivolous.

[Dr Nowt]

13 minutes ago, SasaS said:

She seems to be doing quite well here, you can say that this is probably not her favourite activity, may be slightly socially awkward, but she interacts well with the journalists, comes across as eloquent, intelligent and quite in control.

 

Imagine if it were possible for someone’s mental health and therefore what they feel capable of doing to fluctuate and not be the same one day/week/month as it was another.