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Two GOATs on Failure
What we can learn about failure from two of the best
Samuel McKenzie
April 07, 2025
Full disclosure – I believe Roger Federer is the greatest men’s tennis player of all time (although I do have a soft spot for Rafa).
Federer has also delivered one of my two favourite commencement speeches* (you’re not really living unless you have a favourite commencement speech!).
It is one he delivered at Dartmouth College last year, where he covered three life lessons from tennis. His second lesson – “it’s only a point,” in which he discusses failure and losing really resonated.
Federer revealed that while he won over 80% of his tennis matches in his career, he only won 54% of all points. That’s not a typo – 54%!!! He said,
“When you lose every second point, on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot. You teach yourself to think: OK, I double-faulted. It’s only a point. OK, I came to the net, and I got passed again. It’s only a point. When you’re playing a point, it is the most important thing in the world. But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you... This mindset is crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point… and the next one after that… with intensity, clarity, and focus.”
I was reminded of Michael Jordan’s views on failure (More full disclosure – MJ is my GOAT). Jordan had a career field goal percentage of 49.7%, meaning he missed more shots than he made across his career. Like Federer, missing shots at that volume gave him some real perspective on failing. Jordan said,
“People put too much seriousness to success and failure, especially on the basketball court. If you take a shot, you can only do two things; make it or miss. That's how simple it is. That's what you try to get in to your kids so they're not afraid of that simple act. When I took that shot, whatever shot it was, in my mind first of all, I'm thinking I'm gonna make it. Secondly, if I don't, okay we come back tomorrow and work hard to make sure when I get in that situation again I'm going to make the shot. But you don't put the end of the world on that one particular event.”
Michael Jordan - based on his career shooting % it’s more likely that he missed this shot than made it
Samuel Beckett wrote,
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Quite often it’s only the last part of the Beckett line that gets quoted - “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” But when you listen to Federer and Jordan, maybe the most important part are these two words – “No matter.”
Two of the most competitive and successful athletes on the planet (all in the discussion for the greatest men’s players in their sport) have concluded that dwelling on mistakes once they’ve happened is pointless. Counter-intuitively, they have accepted that they will fail (and most likely a lot), and that is what frees them to move on quickly and have more success.
As coaches we can take a couple of approaches to helping players frame failure in this way. First, players will need to experience failure to develop the understanding that failure is inevitable. Therefore, we need to set up the training environment so they get the chance to practice exactly that. The way we then react to failure will role model for the players what failure means. If we can see failure and move on to be present for the next moment, it gives players permission to do the same. Whereas, if we only coach by highlighting failure, it draws player attention to the failure, increasing the chance that players will dwell on it.
Failure is just part of the journey for the best athletes in the world. Federer knows that, as he summed up the ‘it’s only a point’ lesson,
“The best in the world are not the best because they win every point... It’s because they know they’ll lose... again and again… and have learned how to deal with it.”
*My number 1 commencement speech is David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” address to Kenyon College in 2005
Watch Roger Federer’s Commencement address:
Michael Jordan’s advice on failure:
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