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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
So after almost four years away from tennis, Serena Williams will be returning to the court. 44 years old, 23-time Grand Slam winner. It's incredible, isn't it? 23 times. She's going to come back to the doubles tournament at Queen's, sparking speculation as to whether she might play Wimbledon. So the question we have is, what is it that motivates athletes to return to their sport?
And sports psychologist with TU Dublin, Stephen McIver, is with me now.
Chapter 2: What motivates Serena Williams to return to tennis after four years?
Were you surprised, first of all, at this news, Stephen?
Well, a little bit. Obviously, there was messages coming out online suggesting she was coming back, but she'd already come back, I think, after her first baby. And I think she was disappointed in coming back then, hoping to win another Grand Slam. And then that sort of set her back slightly. But it is a surprise, but it's also amazing. It's brilliant.
At 44, we're seeing athletes looking after themselves much better now. A lot of athletes elongating their careers way past what we would have accepted or saw as a norm.
She never formally retired, though, did she? She spoke about an evolution out of the sport or moving on. But she never said, I'm finished. I'm never coming back, which is a good idea.
Yeah, but speaks for itself, because how does she see herself? What's her identity? Very interesting with Claire earlier on talking about labels. How does she see herself as a professional athlete? now as a mother, as a partner. And that identity then impacts our decision making. And to sort of make that cessation, I'm retiring. I'm giving up all that adrenaline rush.
I'm giving all that identity, that social salient self. It's almost as a lot of athletes will describe it. It's like a death within you, you know, to give up that part of your life that was so significant can be very traumatic.
Well, you're asking, I suppose, who am I now? You know, who is Serena Williams? Even though she has a lot of business interest, she does seem to seem to be very happy in her life. And clearly there was an itch there that she needed to scratch.
A hundred percent. And, you know, we all know Serena Williams, the tennis player. We don't know Serena Williams, the business person. So we often, as Serena will be looking at it, where do I get that greatest level of self? or salient self. We have our social self and then we have our personal self. And that really is where we make decisions, whether I want to go back.
Is she going back because intrinsically she loves the game, she loves the adrenaline, she loves the rush? Or is her identity so attached to the actual athletics, to the tennis, that she feels she's missing that and needs to go back? They're a mix between them, but it's important for her to realise which.
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Chapter 3: How does age impact an athlete's return to their sport?
But I mean, can you imagine being told that your partner for doubles was going to be Serena Williams? That would be quite the moment to have that conversation. So you said there, if she's coming back for other people... What do you mean by that? Because professional athletes often end up in that, like I think of Andre Agassi all of the time when we have these conversations in his brilliant book.
One of the best books.
Yeah, where he tells us that he hates tennis in the first chapter and that he played because he was good at it, he was pushed, his dad made him do it and he was just on this treadmill and he ended up being absolutely brilliant at it, but he never really loved it. So she can't be going back in those circumstances you would imagine at the age of 44.
You would imagine definitely not. And she has two children, which will also give her a balance and a headache and keep her busy. So that gives her another form of her identity, being a mother, being a partner. But it really goes back to how do we see ourselves? When we look at Agassi, he was good at it, but he was pushed into it and became part of his life.
So it's really important for any of us, for all of us to recognize, how do I see myself? What is important to me? It will impact that we're going to be extrinsic and intrinsic. But where do we want to go and what do we want to spend our time doing? As Claire earlier on in your earlier person said, you know, how we label ourselves. Do I see myself?
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Chapter 4: What identity challenges do athletes face when returning to competition?
Does she see herself as a tennis player? Yes. But does she see herself as more? And this is the important thing for young athletes. You're a great rugby player. You're a great tennis player. You're a great swimmer. But you're much more than that. Humans have multiple identities. People sometimes confuse that with multiple personalities. We don't. We have pretty much one, most of us.
But it's multiple identities. And how we see ourselves is really important. When we walk into the changing room as an athlete... into the classroom as a student, into the home as a child or as a mother or as a father. So it's how we migrate those changes and those different environments that really impact us and how we should act in those certain times.
So if you see yourself only as the great rugby player or tennis player, you're going to have a problem when you have to retire.
Massively so. And this is the problem when people are becoming so fascinated with sport or with acclaim, even in music, stars, actors. If we are confined to that one identity, then all our eggs in the one basket. And that's pretty stressful and worrying about, well, will I get my next role or my next job? Will I win the next tournament?
And that's hanging behind a lot of athletes' minds as they push through. The Institute of Sport in Ireland is doing some great work in terms of identity and Owen Rynish out there with Phil Moore in terms of getting athletes to see themselves as more.
Taking the skill set that they've taken from goal setting, focus, etc., but absolutely seeing themselves as more than just a runner, a rugby player, a tennis player.
So from what you've said, if Serena's going back to have a bit of crack playing doubles, that's probably fine. If she's going back thinking she can win another Grand Slam, she might have a problem.
She might. And if she's going back to win that Grand Slam for the acclaim for that extrinsic, if she's going back to stretch herself, to stretch to show that at 44, which is amazing, she's still the strong woman mentally, physically that she was, and that she's fully invested in playing the actual game for herself, to stretch herself, rather than doing it for somebody else. That's the danger.
Well, our listeners are getting in touch this morning. And this one says, I'd like to think I just retire with all of those grand slams and all of the success. I find it crazy that she wants to keep putting her body through that. That's another element of it. I mean, tennis is not an easy ride for a body, certainly at 44.
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Chapter 5: How does an athlete's personal life influence their motivation to return?
and approach. But it is key for them to be aware of how they see themselves.
Fascinating. Stephen, thank you very much as always.
Stephen McIvor there, sports psychologist with TU Dublin.