Rafael Nadal is a genius!

[janverhaas]

Roger Federer is a genius. Rafael Nadal is an extremely hard worker and a grinder all credit to him, but this does not a genius make. Rafael Nadal is also a Gentleman and a credit to his sport, as is Federer and as is Tiger Woods in Golf, who is both a Genius and a Gentleman. Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Rafael Nadal cannot be compared in my opinion to Ronnie OSullivan, who may be talented with a Snooker cue in his hand but when you consider his often outrageous behaviour off the table and in the arena (lewd comments, assaulting officials, walking out of matches, etc, etc, etc.) he does not even come close to being in the same league as these 3 distinguished SPORTSMEN and GENTLEMEN of world sport. Hendry was and is FAR more of a credit to the Sport of Snooker than O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan may be the World Champion, but being so good and talented that you can thrash everybody else does not make a true Champion in the sense of the word that is used when describing Federer, Nadal, Woods, and Hendry. The way they conduct themselves both inside and outside the arena puts them in their own league as true champions.

This is true. Ronnie's achievements also fall well sport of the above sporting stars. It seems very convenient for the people shouting 'genius' to overlook his limited success on the table.

[Littlesense]

you lot are so wrong wrong wrong............ Hand orientation is developed in unborn children, most commonly determined by observing which hand is predominantly licked or held close to the mouth. Current genetic research suggests there is a genetic factor involved.

and

Ronnie was always able to use his left hand better than most people are able to, of course it is something he has worked on like he has had to work on playing the game with his right, every player needs to practice and Ronnie isnt any differant, but the talent for using his left has always been there.

It is such a good tool to have that if everyone could do it they would.

[matoski]

you lot are so wrong wrong wrong............ Hand orientation is developed in unborn children, most commonly determined by observing which hand is predominantly licked or held close to the mouth. Current genetic research suggests there is a genetic factor involved.

and

Ronnie was always able to use his left hand better than most people are able to, of course it is something he has worked on like he has had to work on playing the game with his right, every player needs to practice and Ronnie isnt any differant, but the talent for using his left has always been there.

It is such a good tool to have that if everyone could do it they would.

Maybe Ronnie licked both of his hands when he was a fetus. That explains why he is so good lefthander.
I wonder, if someone licks his feet while in his mothers womb, can he play snooker with his legs?

[matoski]

Imagine Ronnie making a leftleged bicycle kick pot.

[frameandfortunereturns]

you lot are so wrong wrong wrong............ Hand orientation is developed in unborn children, most commonly determined by observing which hand is predominantly licked or held close to the mouth. Current genetic research suggests there is a genetic factor involved.

and

Ronnie was always able to use his left hand better than most people are able to, of course it is something he has worked on like he has had to work on playing the game with his right, every player needs to practice and Ronnie isnt any differant, but the talent for using his left has always been there.

It is such a good tool to have that if everyone could do it they would.

Nadal isn't left handed. He has practiced tennis left handed and this why is so good. The proof is that O'Sullivan wasn't much good left handed when he first started showing off!

Nadal is better than O'Sullivan in comparison with their achievements, and he plays EVERY shot with his wrong hand!

[ADR147]

you lot are so wrong wrong wrong............ Hand orientation is developed in unborn children, most commonly determined by observing which hand is predominantly licked or held close to the mouth. Current genetic research suggests there is a genetic factor involved.

and

Ronnie was always able to use his left hand better than most people are able to, of course it is something he has worked on like he has had to work on playing the game with his right, every player needs to practice and Ronnie isnt any differant, but the talent for using his left has always been there.

It is such a good tool to have that if everyone could do it they would.

i am afraid in the case of ronnie this is not correct, whatever the genetics might be, ronnie is right handed and the left handed skill is a practised technique not a natural one.

[wildJONESEYE]

you lot are so wrong wrong wrong............ Hand orientation is developed in unborn children, most commonly determined by observing which hand is predominantly licked or held close to the mouth. Current genetic research suggests there is a genetic factor involved.

and

Ronnie was always able to use his left hand better than most people are able to, of course it is something he has worked on like he has had to work on playing the game with his right, every player needs to practice and Ronnie isnt any differant, but the talent for using his left has always been there.

It is such a good tool to have that if everyone could do it they would.

mate im not wrong.....yes he is talented to be able to do it but how many other players over the years could have if they had made the efort.....

the reason Ronnie found out he could and put in the hours to do it was boardom as we know his boardom threshold is so low he got bored and needed a challange.....

maybee if Hendry or other players had a low boardom threshold and put in the work ronnie did they could have....boardom was Ronnies catalist to try it.......

[Littlesense]

mate im not wrong.....yes he is talented to be able to do it but how many other players over the years could have if they had made the efort.....

the reason Ronnie found out he could and put in the hours to do it was boardom as we know his boardom threshold is so low he got bored and needed a challange.....

maybee if Hendry or other players had a low boardom threshold and put in the work ronnie did they could have....boardom was Ronnies catalist to try it.......

I understand what your saying wild and i have said the same about it comming from the boardom aspect , what i am getting at is that he has always had a natural feeling and has some degree of ambidexterity which started the process and has always been able to do a number of tasks with his left hand. The good thing about being able to do this is that when Ronnie feels out of sorts he can swop hands and play with the other which he finds he can gain a balance from. when you understand how the brain works this balance is a normal natural and well documented side effect of being ambidextrous where the physiological brain growth allows a more balanced working of your brains 2 hemispheres. O'sullivan may think himself that it is something that came from nothing and being bored. It is more likely to have been from a natural instinct to try, that Ronnie at the time saw and understood as just boardom but the brain just doesnt work like that.
i dont think O'sullivan has any idea how this has happened or understands why he feels more balanced after he swops. It was great news when Ray Reardon encouraged him to play more with his left hand as without probably knowing it he has encouraged Ronnie to tap into this self balancing more, and is something knowing about brains i would have encouraged myself as a huge positive.

With regard to Rafael Nadal im positive that if you looked into the proper reasons why he was encouraged to play with his other hand he would have been showing some natural ability of being able to do it anyway in the same way to O'sullivan which has been picked up by his coach as a talent to make the most of. No coach just encourages a sportsperson to swop hands completly without a very good reason and because its hard to return the shots isnt a good enough one, and again if it was, everyone would be doing it.

[Semih_Sayginer]

what i am getting at is....

O'sullivan may think himself that it is something....

It is more likely to have been from a natural instinct to try...

i dont think O'sullivan has any idea how this has happened or understands why he feels more balanced after he swops.

With regard to Rafael Nadal im positive that if you looked into....

no matter what you are getting at, what its more likely to have been in your opinion, what you dont think, what you are positive about..........others have a different opinion. we cant all be correct, but we can all have different opinions.

the ROS i watched years ago was nowhere near as good with his left hand. i dont have a clue how to quantify the amount of effort he has put into being able to use it

hes great at using it, but it doesnt make him a genius. no matter what wording you or anyone else uses, i dont think this can be put to bed 100% solved as some think it along with other aspects of his ability makes him worthy of that tag. its not one id use for sports players in general, and if i ever did in future id find several sports players worthy before putting ROS in the ball park

[dantuck_7]

I remember watching Ronnie at the WC this year and I noticed a couple of shots where he was playing really welll and at a good tempo. He had a couple of tough positional shots that no other player would have approached in the same way. Might have been against Williams when it was still quite close.

From the blue he had to land perfectly to get the correct position on the next red. Before taking the shot he cued from where he wanted to white to finish.
He landed the white exactly and then played the next tough shot without looking at the potting angle or the positional side of the current shot - it had already been worked out! It's hard to explain how watchable he is - just the speed he plays at and how easy he makes the game look. I can't really think of any other player that 'flows' as much as Ronnie does.

There are apparently some baseball players that can switch hands - I don't think this is quite the same Nadal switching hands. Phil Taylor is mentionned on the BBC site atm - maybe someone has been reading this thread?

So should Phil Taylor be labelled a genius - he's had countless 9-dart finishes in the last 20 years, has won something like 15 world titles. Somehow I still think ROS has more of a claim?

[Littlesense]

no matter what you are getting at, what its more likely to have been in your opinion, what you dont think, what you are positive about..........others have a different opinion. we cant all be correct, but we can all have different opinions.

the ROS i watched years ago was nowhere near as good with his left hand. i dont have a clue how to quantify the amount of effort he has put into being able to use it

hes great at using it, but it doesnt make him a genius. no matter what wording you or anyone else uses, i dont think this can be put to bed 100% solved as some think it along with other aspects of his ability makes him worthy of that tag. its not one id use for sports players in general, and if i ever did in future id find several sports players worthy before putting ROS in the ball park

I havnt said that i feel O'sullivan is a genius infact i have said completly the reverse, The same as yourself i do not class these kind of people a genius or any of the great artists that you can name. They may well be a genius in their field which i see as something slightly differant. I see as i have already explained a genius as someone who can adapt to many various situations, achieve the greatest level in these situations and someone who has changed the world in a permanent positive way that has affected or changed the lives of thousands.

I know that we cant all be correct and if you knew anything at all about me youd find that i listen and learn from others around me, but i would add that i acctually know what i am talking about and its part of my daily role. what im trying to do is explain how this whole thing works and correct what has been said to try to help people understand the factors in play. Im more than happy for people to go off with their opinions, but make sure their right before sharing them.

[frameandfortunereturns]

The genius thing was brought up because of this left handed playing thing. A few tennis players have had to change to playing left handed because they got a right arm injury and been successful. This proves it is about practice. Matthew Stevens has made centuries left handed so he is yet another genius. Geniuses are 'ten a penny'.

By the way O'Sullivan isn't that fast either. Look at the stats.

[Littlesense]

Fast at what frame ??

Tennis is a little differant also as you can use your wrong hand as it were as an anchor hand so you still have the strength to balance and direct the racket a little easier, but may loose in overall power. due to where you have to hold a cue and the distance between your hands this makes it a little more un-natural and off balance making the transition when swopping hands harder.

All you are after yet again frame is another wind up as normal, Matthew stevens will still have some degree of natural talent in that area that yes he has practiced but it is nowhere as good as what O'sullivan has been able to achieve which proves there are various degrees within this ability. Geniuses are only ten a penny if you regard all these players as being a genius which it looks as though you do ? I personaly dont so to me geniuses are very rare.

[frameandfortunereturns]

O'Sullivan isn't that fast at playing is what I said.

Tennis is harder at changing hands than snooker because it is a 'moving ball game' and your footwork changes also, making it harder than snooker.

What I am saying is if you are going to label someone a genius because they can change hands then the world is full of them.

[Littlesense]

What you said was O'sullivan isnt that fast, that could have ment at running for all i know, Ronnie is fairly consistant at playing at a fairly fast pace, what add's to this is Ronnies pace of thinking and the speed that he takes in what is in front of him, thinking a couple of shots ahead of what other players would normally do. Another input that Reardon had was to slow O'sullivan down so that he wasnt making rash decisions and taking on positive shots when a defensive one would be better. Other players can play just as fast but arnt consistantly quick.

With regard to tennis you are trying to compare to completly differant sports with both having their own styles and problems, thats just opening a can of worms that nobody will find a common ground to agree on.