Killing the father is not only an Oedipal temptation but, symbolically speaking, is becoming almost an Olympic discipline. Jannik Sinner has never won as much as he has since he changed technical leads. And his dioscuro Matteo Berrettini is only the latest champion to have abandoned that putative father (sometimes, as we shall see, he is also a real father) who is the coach: goodbye to Vincenzo Santopadre after thirteen full years.
Alberto Cei, a sports psychologist, tries to illustrate the complexity of the problem: “Sometimes you change coaches because you know each other too well, because repeating yourself tires or bores, it is no longer motivating. Trapattoni said it himself: after five years, athletes no longer follow you. But a new coach can also be a positive shock in a time of crisis: I think of Jacobs and Berrettini. Novelty as a necessary stimulus. Finally, do not forget that a champion may need to “kill the Buddha,” that is, go beyond the master, overcome him through his teachings. Here we are talking about absolute situations: with you I have already gone to the moon, you took me there, now how are we going to go back? Between the two of us, what more could there possibly be?”
Read the full article by Maurizio Crosetti on Repubblica.it
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