Ever since Roger Federer announced his retirement a few weeks ago, I’ve been going back and watching through highlight reels from his career.
Many of Federer’s highlight reel moments are of him masterfully dictating the flow of the game and utterly dominating his opponents.
In these clips, Federer feels like some mix of artist, chess master, and evil genius.
Through precise and strategic shot-making, he guides his opponents around the court, setting up the pieces with subtle manipulation… before dropping the hammer with an elegant, seemingly effortless checkmate.
These clips clearly display a master of his craft at the height of his powers.
But there’s another, very different type of highlight reel rally that appears again and again in these compilations of Federer’s career. One where it’s Federer being chased around the court.
These rallies are defined less by skill and more by a certain type of grit.
I think of them as Push Back Rallys. And there’s a lot we can learn from them.
Specifically, there’s a certain decisive shot in the middle of these rallies that we all need to learn to make as creator-entrepreneurs as well.
Let’s set the scene.
Hitting Off the Back Foot
In a typical Push Back Rally, the opponent has taken control of the pace and it’s all Federer can do to simply return the ball in play.
He’s clearly on the defensive, struggling to keep up, constantly hitting off his back foot, unable to plant and step into his shots in order to generate more power or accuracy.
You can tell it’s only a matter of time before he cracks, handing his opponent the point.
And then the decisive moment.
His opponent attacks. Federer lunges to get into position, but he’s half a step too slow.
You can almost see the same calculation we as the viewers are making play out in his head.
“Is it even worth fighting to keep this rally going? I’m in a weak position… Maybe I’d be better conceding the point, conserving my energy, and resetting for the next one “
But just as you think he’s giving up, something in his posture shifts, almost imperceptibly.
He’s off-balance, unplanted, and out of position. The safe shot is to simply get the ball back over the net, extend the rally, and hope for a better opportunity on the next shot.
Instead, through force of will alone, he goes on the attack.
With this one shot, he manages to swing control of the rally in his favour, and a few shots later the point is his.
Examples of Push Back Rallys abound in tennis.
It’s a sport governed by momentum where single shots can—and often do—change the complexion of points as well as entire games, sets, and matches.
But the idea applies elsewhere as well, including our creative work.
Don’t Wait for the Perfect Setup
Unlike Federer, most of us default to waiting for the circumstances to be perfect—feet planted firmly in a position of power with ample time to pick our spot, step in, and swing with perfectly controlled form—before making our move.
These opportunities rarely if ever present themselves to us, however.
And so we spend most of our creative lives on our back foot, reacting to what comes our way, just trying to get the ball back over the net, without ever pressing the offensive without making our opponent react to our will.
There’s certainly a time to defend.
To do what we can to keep the ball in play, extending the game while conserving and building up our energy.
But as a larger strategy, simply extending the game is unlikely to win us many points.
Sooner or later, we have to shift to the offensive, to assert ourselves and seize control of the flow of play.
We won’t be given an obvious or advantageous opening to do so.
When the time comes, we’ll likely be on our back foot, out of position, without as much time as we’d like to step up and really swing through our shot.
In watching Federer, it strikes me just how many of his career-defining winning shots came during Pushback Rallies, where the odds were stacked against him and the logical choice seemed to be to wait for a better opportunity.
It makes me wonder.
How many of the losses or draws we settle for in our lives and work could actually be winning points if we were willing to dig a little deeper, get a little more uncomfortable, and go on the offensive, even when all the circumstances are telling us to do the opposite?
Because in the end, these are the opportunities we’re given.
What we do with them is up to us.
Explore how to navigate a creative life that matters
This article originally appeared in my weekly Creative Wayfinding Newsletter. Each issue is the product of a week of work, and contains something not available for sale.
A fresh perspective, a shot of encouragement when you need it most, and maybe even some genuine wisdom from time to time.
Each week, we explore a different facet of the question “How do we navigate the wilds of creating work that matters?”
It’s something I’m proud to create and I’d be honoured to share it with you.
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