THE MYTH OF THE GREATEST

Some of the Legends to have played in their respective sports have graced us with their presence in the last couple of decades, Sampras and Federer in Tennis, Sachin and Ponting in Cricket, Tiger Woods in Golf, etc and most of these sports are equipment sports.

How much of a role has the improvements of these equipments played in these performances? The power that these guys generate from their latest equipments was unimaginable in olden days. Yes, on average athletes are fitter today but you surely would have had a well build guy in olden days to whack the ball a long way or powerfully.

John McEnroe when he came back from semi retirement was not the same player, the graphite racket had changed the game immensely and his touch game was not quite as effective against these players as it was against the wooden racket players.

Similarly the amount of wood that can be packed into a cricket bat or the sturdiness of the golf club is noteworthy. All these advancements have not only made the equipment lighter in weight, there by easy to handle but also generates huge amount of power. This by no mean demeans these athletes’ achievements as the equipment is same as the other current players.

The advancement in the equipments means that we cannot compare the players from a bygone era with a current player. In my view point Rod Laver cannot be compared with Sampras or Federer just because they played the same game or have won more titles, it’s pretty much like comparing Apples and Oranges.