Federerlosophy 101

What is Federerlosophy?

Federerlosophy is a new term that I have coined. Federerlosophy is for the millions of fans out there who extract meaning and purpose through the prism of Roger Federer.

This does not mean that we extract meaning through his personal life; it is his tennis career that we are interested in.

Roger Federer on the tennis court exemplifies Zen. He also exemplifies a lot of other things truly religious. In fact, I would say that Roger Federer, as a tennis player, is nothing short of a spiritual teacher.

We have all heard commentators talk about the calm and serene nature of Federer on the tennis court. He is truly in the present moment.

He uses only enough energy to meet the demands of the moment. That, I believe, is the reason for his success in best-of-five set matches, namely Grand Slam tournaments.

His opponents fight themselves; they fight the present moment. Federer plays in the moment of surrender to the now. This is no quasi-philosophy. Watch him play and you will see the truth of it.

Have you ever seen Andy Roddick play Roger Federer? Of course you have. The contrast is almost comical.

Federer serenely hits winner after winner while Roddick seems to almost expend all his mental energy fighting himself. His biggest enemy is himself; or more accurately, his self that exists apart from tennis.

Roger Federer is fully himself on the tennis court. You could take away his name for all he cares. All attention is on the ball and how to hit it into the damn corner.

Other great sportsmen have also had it; Michael Jordan was one. Federer seems also to have it in his personal life, too; that, I think, is the reason why he attracts fans of a different kind.

Hey, but let's not kid ourselves. You can Zen out all you want. At the end, if you don't win, then there's no point really; you're better off finding something better to do with your time.

You have to have the gift, too; Roger has it in spades, enough to fill out a crater on the moon.

We also have it in spades; just not in tennis maybe.

Game, set and match!