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I would say I'm an alright tennis player, have been playing since I was younger, lessons, coaches, the whole thing. Never even got close to playing at a D1 scho

I would say I'm an alright tennis player, have been playing since I was younger, lessons, coaches, the whole thing. Never even got close to playing at a D1 school though. Mostly out of curiosity, I looked into what it looks like to go pro now. Basically you go into a machine as a young kid, and if you show promise, you get focus from the coaching staff at the academies. Everyone else is basically just a warm body whose parents are paying a ton of money for their teen to be a hitting partner for the academy's golden goose. THEN if you make the show, you're fighting for rankings through some absolutely abysmal satellite tournaments that you're essentially losing money to go play in. Losing in the first round of a major makes you more money than winning one of these things. The delta between the 20th ranked player in the world versus the top 150th insane, too, with one worth millions and one worth maybe a small six figure salary, with a notable portion of it going toward travel/training expenses.

handmodel 6y ago
Meritocracies always produce the biggest difference in outcomes of results.
clifdweller 6y ago
that's one of the failings of the youtube system it relies on the creators to self evaluate their success whereas in sports its pretty obvious when you hit the wall. a few will push through by paying lots of money for private coaching but most are naturally weeded out. content creators though have that constant carrot of if they try a bit harder or make more varied videos the algorithm may bless them with millions of viewers.
mrkstu 6y ago
Yep. I had a neighbor growing up that got all the coaching, was a great player and did well as a doubles player- but he had exactly one good run in a major tournament at singles- quarterfinals at Wimbledon. He didn't have that next level of extreme athleticism- he could make every shot and was very proficient and earned a good living on tour, but if he hadn't come from good money he never would have been there in the first place, because he didn't have the native talent, never getting into the 60s in ATP rankings. Doing great as a coach though.

handmodel 6y ago

Meritocracies always produce the biggest difference in outcomes of results.

clifdweller 6y ago

that's one of the failings of the youtube system it relies on the creators to self evaluate their success whereas in sports its pretty obvious when you hit the wall. a few will push through by paying lots of money for private coaching but most are naturally weeded out. content creators though have that constant carrot of if they try a bit harder or make more varied videos the algorithm may bless them with millions of viewers.

mrkstu 6y ago

Yep. I had a neighbor growing up that got all the coaching, was a great player and did well as a doubles player- but he had exactly one good run in a major tournament at singles- quarterfinals at Wimbledon. He didn't have that next level of extreme athleticism- he could make every shot and was very proficient and earned a good living on tour, but if he hadn't come from good money he never would have been there in the first place, because he didn't have the native talent, never getting into the 60s in ATP rankings. Doing great as a coach though.