Inspired of course by Roger Federer. At nearly 37 years of age he just won another Grand Slam and he has been near or at the top for nearly 2 decades.
While earlier it was not uncommon to see athletes be able to play until late 30’s and early forties, it was exceedingly rare to see one be at the top of his or her chosen sport, typically it was an aging veteran who continued on due to experience and respect and runs like Jimmy Conners in 1991 were extremely newsworthy.
Thses days besides Federer and Serena Williams in tennis, you saw Misbah-ul-Haq in cricket (42), ANtiny Ervin winning 50 m gold at Rio, 16 years after doing the same in Sydney…
Has sports science gotten to the point that we will see more and more athletes remain highly competative in their late 30’s and early forties? How will that change sports.
To the first question, the answer is obviously yes. Top athletes from almost every sport are playing at a high level into a more advanced age. In the NBA, guys are willing to take days off. In the NFL, practice rules have changed to avoid the wear and tear before the season starts. I don’t know about tennis specifically, but yeah, sports medicine and medicine in general has come a long way over the years.
The second question is a good one. With old guys sticking around, will it become more difficult for young players to break through? If Tom Brady had retired five years ago, the entire NFL landscape would look quite different.
That’s a good question, and a hard one to look up.
I can’t think of any 40+ pitchers signed for this season besides Fernando Rodney. It remains to be seen if anyone wants Bartolo Colon, Jason Grilli, Koji Uehara, R.A. Dickey, Joaquin Benoit, or John Lackey (40 in October). Who am I missing?
In tennis, in particular, the rackets and heavy ground-stroke game seem to favor older players - you never see teenagers or even guys in their early 20s winning major tournaments, whereas teenage champions weren’t unusual back in the 80s and 90s, and most players peaked in their early 20s.
Sampras won the US Open at 31. He retired shortly after. He had been on a downward spiral for two years. Becker retired at 30, again downward spiral. Agassi won a Grand Slam at 32 and reached a final at 34, he was considered a major outlier, plus lets face it, the early 2000’s were a period of a paucity of good young players.
Just looked him up, not being an NFL fan or American (though I have heard of him). He was named league MVP for this season and is playing in the Super Bowl apparently. Has that been done before? Per, wiki he won the Super Bowl last year (MVP for the league or game, not sure) and two years before that. Is this, unusual?
Remember that in tennis, you earn money by winning tournaments. In baseball, you make money by signing huge contracts with teams. There are still baseball owners and executives stupid enough to give multiyear, big dollar contracts to over the hill players, but not as many as there used to be. Most baseball executives have learned that 32 year old stars are a horrible investment (yes, Albert, I’m looking at you), and that productivity drops earlier than most people realize. Younger players give better value for your buck than 30-something superstars.
Baseball teams are becoming so averse to signing big contrats with older players than the players are starting to bitch about collusion.
In truth, while collusion absolutely HAS happened before, all evidence suggests now that teams just don’t want to hand out big contracts to old guys. Almost all such contracts have been terrible decisions. There is the odd exception, but they’re exceptions and even then you have to be a little generous in your assessment of how it worked out. Even ones that worked out okay the first few years turned out to be horrible albatrosses.
PEOPLE ACTUALLY BEING PAID $20 MILLION THIS YEAR: Jason Heyward, Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Matt Kemp (!!!), Jacoby Ellsbury, David Wright, Troy Tulowitzki. Ouch.
Consequently, some older hitters just won’t be given a shot.
There’s much better understanding of the treatments and exercises that will help a body recover from an intense workout (or injury) more rapidly, as well as how to create a workout routine that will focus on the particular skills and strengths that a particular athlete needs.
Sports doctors and surgeons have become more experienced at treating injuries and correcting problems in a way that will allow an athlete to return to action more quickly, and closer to their original ability.
And, sports nutrition has come a long way, as well, allowing a dedicated athlete to make sure that what he puts into his or her body is exactly what’s needed.
One sport with older athletes becoming rarer is the Indianapolis 500. In 1992 Al UnserSr was 53, A J Foyt 57, Mario Andretti 52, Emerson Fittipaldi 45, Gordon Johncock 55, Lyn St James a rookie at 45. Whether its drivers earning more and retiring earlier or sponsors not wanting older guys is hard to say.
I think athletes are smarter about their training regimen and diet. Teams and pro athletes have a hell of a lot more resources on both those fronts than they did 30 years ago.
Yes, Tom Brady is doing things no NFL quarterback has ever done before. And to my point earlier, if he had retired at, say age 35, just imagine the ripple effect it would have had throughout the NFL. The Pats would have handed the keys to Brian Hoyer or Ryan Mallett and who knows what they would have done.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, compared to 30 or 40 years ago, the amount of money in major sports in the US has just exploded, and player salaries are much higher, across the board. One of the effects of this is that more players (not just the Tom Bradys or Lebron Jameses) can afford to focus full-time on being a pro athlete, and train year-round.
When I was growing up as a Packer fan, it was absolutely common for players to be holding down jobs in the offseason (often as salesmen), just to make ends meet. One of the reasons that training camp was longer (and they had six preseason games until 1978) was that teams needed the additional practice to get the players back into game shape.
I think attitude has something to do with it too. Some famous sports stars of the more distant past were known for their larger than life appetites and partying. Nowadays, many competitive elite athletes (Tom Brady being an example) are all about keeping clean in nutrition and lifestyle, and being in a state of always improving.