Good Start

​Well the Commonwealth Games are over for another couple of years.  It went well.  Australia to me went surprisingly well. I was watching a show and the host asked someone else what was the highlight for them.
It made me ask myself the same question.  For me it was an unexpected gold.  Ollie Hoare winning the 1500 metres.  Beating the reigning world champion and a former world champion who were both ahead of him coming into the final straight.  He did not win by much, but he won.
It made me think of some of the close sporting contests I have seen.  It always amazes me how two teams in AFL can end on the same score after four 25 minute quarters.  Yet they do.  Every six pointer ends up being significant.  Every one pointer ends up significant.
The goal or one pointer may have been at the very beginning of the game.  There was no way anyone knew what it would mean.  Yet it mattered.  The start mattered.  Finishing may bring the prizes but starting lays the base.
This is a personal opinion only but I reckon the Australian women’s soccer teams days of glory are over.  We are headed back to the pack.  We have raw talent.  It served us well for a while.  But other world teams are combining raw talent with disciplined coaching.  Doing the same thing over and over again.  I remember in the world soccer when we played Germany in the Olympics.  We were done.  It was so clinical.  They were not just a team of champions but a champion team.
In golf it seems the very best do the mundane repeatedly.  What looks brilliant has been rehearsed when no one was watching.  Over and over again.  When others have gone home the very best stay back.
I remember when someone was coaching me in table tennis.  I remember them saying that for older players they look at their game and make them the best they can be.  Younger players are taught what is right from the start.  Older players have flaws in their game, but the best is made of what there is to work with.
I reckon there has got to be something in there for me.  A good start sets me up for a good finish.  Doing something right early sets me up for doing it right naturally down the track.  When I do it right from the start, I can surprise myself.  One point can mean the difference between winning, losing or drawing.  Ollie Hoare surprised the world.  Habitually doing it right primed him for taking on and beating the world’s best.
But what I find really encouraging is even when my start is not what it could be, I can still be the best I can be.