Do G.O.A.T.s play robotic “lights out?”

My recent column, “Playing lights out,” sparked this response from an old friend, a Hall of Fame athlete in multiple sports.

Dear Tom,
I love being fully focused, playing in the zone, always in a state of flow. Those phrases capture the ability to perform above and beyond the field of participants, thereby capturing unbelievable success.

In contrast, the term ‘robotic’ strikes a chord that disregards and overlooks that level of mastery over the human condition exemplified by an athlete who so decisively demolishes the opposition.

Thus, I see no robots in the likes of Babe Ruth, Jim Brown, Sandy Koufax, Mohammed Ali, Pelé, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Tom Brady, Jack Nicklaus, Stephen Curry, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, Caitlin Clark, etc.

Dear Harry:
Of course you have named a whole herd of G.O.A.T.s (Greatest Of All Time) and to those players was granted a special talent and charisma that is undefinable. They didn’t need anything resembling robotics. Indeed, their unique talents and performances are what the robotic players are trying to emulate, trying to program themselves to do.

These performers at the top of their fields are in a class of their own. Like Bobby Jones said of Jack Nicklaus, and Jack Nicklaus of Tiger Woods, “He plays a game with which I am not familiar.”

So we are both right: A robot mentality does not apply to the G.O.A.T.s. It applies to the rest of us mere mortals who are trying to play like the G.O.A.T.s.

I have marveled at the privilege our generation has had to witness perhaps the greatest athletes of every sport, some two or three times over. When I think of golf, Ben Hogan was the greatest, then Jack Nicklaus, then Tiger Woods. We have witnessed from Johnny Unitas to Tom Brady, Pete Rose to Shohei Ohtani, Mark Spitz to Michael Phelps, Olga Korbut to Nadia Comaneci, Michael Jordan to LeBron James, Roger Bannister to Usain Bolt, Steffi Graf to Serena Williams and Bjorn Borg to Roger Federer.

And Alberto Tomba … he was in a world of his own. He might even be an example of how G.O.A.T.s think and feel differently, not just perform differently. Once when he was asked if he felt any particular pressure before a gold medal ski run, Tomba replied: “Pressure, what pressure? — It won’t affect the party tonight.”

When Alberto was further asked what in the world he said to himself after one of his great, record-breaking runs, he replied: “I say, ‘Congratulations, ... Alberto.’ “

All this is to say, Harry, that G.O.A.T.s are definitely different, and it is going to take a heckuva robot to mimic any of them. But if players are not G.O.A.T.s, I return to the suggestion for them to attempt to play their games robotically — that is, methodical, unemotional, fully focused in the moment, in their cocoon. I submit to you that such a mindset might be their best chance of getting into the zone and “playing lights out.”
Gratefully,
Tom

Dr. Tom Dorsel is Professor Emeritus of Psychology and a clinical/sport psychologist in Hilton Head. His best-selling book is “GOLF: The Mental Game.” He works with athletes from all sports and can be reached at tom@dorsel.com.