‘I honestly don't believe I have that much raw talent,’ Storm said. ‘My talent is to stick to everything I do and commit, day in day out. It ended up helping me because I realised I had to go about it my own way. For three years I set my alarm and regularly got up at 5 am, caught the train an hour into Perth to practise in the morning, then back home to get to school, and repeat in the afternoon. If my parents drove me, it still took 45 minutes each way. I recognise now I was behind in my tennis development, especially because I didn't play as many tournaments as others due to my circumstances. As a result of this I developed more mental skills than my peers at that time. I think it enabled me to have a career and a lot of the other people ahead of me then have now stopped.’
Storm's attitude ultimately assisted her career progression. ‘I remember going for a hit with a junior male player during the Hopman Cup in Perth when I was 15. It was super‐hot, but we kept working through the session. Because of the timing, a few courts down former player and now coach Nicole Pratt was working with Australian player Alicia Molik. She must have noticed us because she came over to speak to me when they finished. She was impressed with how I went about it. There was no coach there. I was running my own session, being independent. She said she was so impressed with my attitude that she would like to help me. I got invited to go to Melbourne for a week to hit and the following year I was invited to an academy there and moved to Melbourne. I had just finished year 11 in Perth, but once in Melbourne I made sure I finished year 12.’
The transition wasn't smooth. After several challenges, including injuries that forced her out of the game for almost a year, and with no ranking in 2018, Storm is now ranked about 120 in the world in singles and 30 in doubles. She has built her game back on the foundation of doubles and in 2021 made the Wimbledon doubles semifinal and US Open doubles quarter‐finals, and represented Australia at the Olympics and the Federation Cup (now the Billie Jean King Cup). She began competing in singles again in 2020, effectively starting her singles career in her mid‐twenties. It's a career that wasn't built on talent, but on mindset. Ash Barty's and Storm Sanders’ stories also reflect the variety of pathways that a sporting career can take. They can be unpredictable, with twists and turns and different talent bases. Using supports, patience and a determined resolve were key mindsets for both athletes that enabled them to advance.
You grow in the direction of your focus
Take another example, this time from a team sport. Sam Mitchell is a retired Australian rules football player who was appointed coach for 2022 of the team he'd had most success with — the Hawthorn Football Club. Hawthorn played in four consecutive Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Finals, winning three in a row from 2013 to 2015. This feat deserves special recognition due to the equalisation policies of player and staff salary caps and drafting policy that the AFL introduced in the late eighties. Since equalisation, 14 teams have won premierships while only two have won three consecutively, which makes the Hawks' achievement even more impressive.
In this winning team, Sam won the AFL Brownlow Medal in 2012. The Brownlow is arguably the game's most prestigious individual honour. It is awarded to the ‘best and fairest’ player in the entire competition in any given season. By the time he retired in 2017, Sam was the third highest total vote scorer in the history of the medal. He had won four premierships, played the third most games in Hawthorn's history and won five club champion awards. In addition, Sam captained the club from 2008 to 2010, with ’08 yielding a premiership.
What's interesting is that Sam was overlooked altogether in the 2000 draft, then was selected in 2001 with draft pick 36. So, in the year of his draft, he was overlooked by every club in the AFL before he was selected in the third round with Hawthorn's fifth pick.
One strength Sam had was his capacity to kick with either left or right foot. He wasn't especially tall or quick. His endurance wasn't necessarily the greatest either. But he had a reputation for his skill and decision making. His proficiency on both sides of his body was so evident that commentators often remarked on the difficulty of distinguishing which his ‘natural’ side was. When I interviewed him late in 2021, Sam said, ‘We had no sporting background in our family at all. Dad actually bought some books about football to learn the game. When I was quite young, Dad had a person working with him, Bill, who had some experience and skill in football, and he said it would be good to alternate one left‐foot kick and one right‐foot kick when I went for a kick.’ Sam took it as gospel. He adopted the principle, and it stuck. ‘I still find it natural to alternate left–right and it actually felt weird right through my career if I had a few kicks on one side of my body before using the other side. It was a learned skill.’ Bill's unsolicited advice many years before Sam was drafted helped make him the champion footballer he became. It was a spark that developed one of his key football skills. And his commitment to practice developed this weapon for him.
Regarding talent, Sam said, ‘Some genetic factors help, but I think the ratio of importance of talent to development is about 10:90. Skill development hasn't got a lot to do with talent. I believe that if you have long‐term commitment, focus and desire, year after year, your development will be strong. Sometimes starting with a lot of talent doesn't help because you become reliant on current skills and don't have to work as hard. You grow in the direction of your focus.’
Is talent overrated?
One interesting insight that arises from Sam's experience is how difficult it is to identify talent or how perceived talent, even at 18, may or may not be realised. Considering the resources, including the experience and expertise of recruiting teams in many sports, identifying future performers remains a challenge. Recruiters and talent scouts need to consider how a future athlete will approach their career once they are drafted as much as or even more than what they have already delivered. Attitude and mindset will determine whether any talent is fully realised and whether they are able to continue to develop.
If we investigate one angle reflecting the challenges, let's look more closely at the Brownlow Medal. Taking into account 19 Brownlows between 1996 and 2021, the average draft selection for the winner was pick 26. (To determine this average, I excluded father/son and zone draft selections as these factors influence where they were selected. Prior to 1996 the draft was not as relevant as today, and players were recruited through zones and other avenues.)
I know some will regard pick 26 as a reasonably high selection. Many diverse factors can also contribute to a prospective winner's chances, such as injury or availability to play, or the team they were selected to and teammates who might draw votes away. It is evident, however, that some of the highest awarded players in the history of the AFL were not recognised at that level at the time of being drafted. Athletes such as Sam Mitchell made themselves into the players they became — through mindset.
That mindset contributed to Sam's left foot–right foot regime, which was one reflection of his determination to achieve his goal of becoming an AFL player. It is even arguable that considering the players who have won the Brownlow as a top 10 draft selection, the feat was achieved on the back of mindset, which enabled them to capitalise on their talent after they were drafted, rather than depending on talent alone. The average number of years that this group had been playing when they won the award is just over seven. This indicates that the length of time to learn and grow is likely a better predictor of a Brownlow winner than draft selection.
Ash, Storm, Sam and the other athletes featured in this book drew on a wide and varied talent base. Even for talented athletes,