Tendulkar must learn five management lessons from Tiger Woods

Despite the odds, the master blaster can stick on to the game he loves, if he reinvents himself in the way the golfer did after hitting career lows in 2009

The problem with being an icon is that people tend to have unrealistic expectations that are often times hard to live up to. For the past few years, Sachin Tendulkar has failed to meet his own high standards of batting, let alone the expectations of his legion of fans. In the 21 Tests that India has played since the World Cup two years ago, the maestro has batted 38 times, remaining not out just once. He has scored a total of 1,145 runs, failed to manage a single century, and notched up a batting average of 31.8. The right-hander has 15,837 runs at an average of 53.86 in 198 Tests that he has played so far. The tally includes 51 hundreds and 67 half-centuries.

 

Experts are of the view  that Tendulkar’s footwork is not as nimble as it used to be, to play the moving ball or to get to the pitch of it. The Little Master’s movements and his reflexes have slowed down. He is nearing 40 and even a genius like Tendulkar cannot continue to defy the natural process of ageing. The big question is: whether Tendulkar is being fair to himself and to the game he loves by continuing to play at an age when most sportsmen are content to hang up their boots.

 

Cricket pundits say a player should retire at the point when people will wonder why so soon, instead of sticking on to the point when they question why not. Tendulkar is now being seen in some quarters as a liability to Team India that is bristling with young talent in its 20s; in the series against Australia that has just drawn to a triumphant close for the Indian team, Tendulkar scored the least number of runs among the top six batsmen.  The batting icon should go with grace and perhaps with grandeur. The Little Master is adored by cricket fans both young and old, and his popularity in India helped him make $18.6 million last year, according to Forbes. Tendulkar currently has 16 sponsors, including Adidas, Coca-Cola, Castrol and Toshiba.  

 

Beyond his records, he represents the aspirations of middle-class India, and for years has managed to retain his clean image. Tendulkar needs to take a cue from Ricky Ponting, who realised his poor form was not doing the team any good and also blocking a young player's place and promptly called time on his career. His going would mark the passing of an era in Indian Test cricket, one that saw the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag.  

 

Life is going well for Tiger Woods. The ace golfer is making headlines on the Page 3 for dating Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn and on the sports pages for winning Bay Hill and returning to No. 1 in the world for the first time since his career was derailed by a sex scandal and a string of injuries. The Masters Tournament, which starts on April 11, will be his first real test.

 

His woes began in 2009 when a US tabloid aired claims he had had an affair with a nightclub manageress. Two days later, amid speculation about his marriage, he was slightly injured when he crashed his car near his home.

Here’s what Sachin Tendulkar should learn from Tiger Woods if he wants to prolong his game

 

1) Face pressure head on
 

In 2008, after winning the US Open Woods said that pressure and feeling nervous is a good thing …  The most effective technique for working through pressure is to admit that the stakes are high and then move on. Force yourself to concentrate on what you can control, rather than allowing your mind to fixate on what could go wrong or on what the competition is doing. Michael Jordan had said he always felt nervous before a big basketball game, but once the game started his confidence and instinct took over and he was no longer nervous at tip off.

 

2) Self-confidence is the key

Self-confidence is the key variable for positively impacting performance in the entire field of sport psychology. The art of giving oneself credit is a particularly effective way of increasing self-confidence and, hence, improving the performance. In a media interview, Woods said: "I'm very pleased that some of the shots that I struggled with last year are now strengths. One of the things that we need to continue to work on is getting it more refined, because my good ones are really good. Just making sure the bad ones aren't that bad… ” 

 

3) Positive thinking is the mantra

Sports psychologists say positive thinking doesn’t always work but negative thinking does. When you believe in yourself, you considerably raise your performance to achieve greatness. A mental training programme is necessary to train the brain towards positive thinking. Despite losing sponsors like Gillette and Tag Heuer in the wake of his late-2009 troubles, Woods remains the third highest-paid athlete in the world (and the world’s highest-paid golfer), making an estimated $60 million last year.

 

4) Be accountable sans criticism

When Woods fell, he plummeted. The nadir was in November 2011, when he dropped to No. 58 in the world, suffered Achilles and knee injuries, and went through an acrimonious and public split from long-term caddie Steve Williams. The golfer admitted his battle to re-establish himself amongst the world’s elite had been a tough journey. “It was a by-product of hard work, patience and getting back to playing golf tournaments,” he said. He learned to be accountable for errors without internalising failures. Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, has been famously quoted stating: “I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as a good a teacher as success.”

 

5) Focus on training

Being the best does not mean you can't be even better. After working through some personal distraction, Woods is back on track with his mental and physical preparation. Management experts agree on a single point that there’s always room to grow. Preparation will go a long way at determining the final score on the scoreboard.