When you are an athlete, it's difficult to take time off and say you want to come back without everyone judging you and attacking you.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
As athletes, we all have egos, we all think we can help, and when you're not given that chance, it's hard to watch.
I mean, as an athlete, as a competitor, you have to have that belief in yourself.
I've been an athlete and competitor my whole life, and there's nothing more that I get off on than competition.
When first starting to work with someone you try to get them in the same mindset that you were in when you were successful, and I realized the best thing you can ever do is realize that they are not you. They have a different persona and mindset, and you have to figure out what works best within your communication with that athlete.
As athletes, we're used to reacting quickly. Here, it's 'come, stop, come, stop.' There's a lot of downtime. That's the toughest part of the day.
As a competitor and an athlete, you love that you get to go back and challenge someone, especially the world champs.
When you're an athlete, you've got the horse blinders on pretty thick. Your exploration of other things in life tends to be limited because you have to have such a focus on what you're doing. I wasn't a good enough player to stray from that focus and still keep my ability.
As a professional athlete a lot is going to be said about you - but I just try to move forward and try to achieve my goals.
You don't have to try to hurt people and be angry to be an athlete.
As an athlete, you have to become quite selfish with your time and your body and your training.