Taking the game to another level.
October 8, 2015 7:14 PM Subscribe
What are some good specific examples of someone, in a competitive field of any sort, just playing at a higher level than their opponents? I don't mean just training harder, or having slightly better natural skills within the existing paradigm. More of an "I was playing checkers but they were playing chess" moment.
I'm interested in examples of people playing the meta-game, seeing the bigger picture, understanding strategy as opposed to tactics, etc. Any sources are fine - anecdotes, popular media, scholarly articles, books, the works. Doesn't have to be specifically sports or games - any field is fine.
Inspired by this post on the blue.
I'm interested in examples of people playing the meta-game, seeing the bigger picture, understanding strategy as opposed to tactics, etc. Any sources are fine - anecdotes, popular media, scholarly articles, books, the works. Doesn't have to be specifically sports or games - any field is fine.
Inspired by this post on the blue.
It was said Brooks Robinson "played 3rd base like he came down from a higher league."
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:28 PM on October 8, 2015
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:28 PM on October 8, 2015
The second highest cricket test batting average of all time is 60.97. Don Bradman's is 99.94. No one else comes close.
posted by wnissen at 7:49 PM on October 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by wnissen at 7:49 PM on October 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's hard to separate the physical from the mental in sports, generally, and soccer, particularly, but Lionel Messi is impossible.
posted by griseus at 7:51 PM on October 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by griseus at 7:51 PM on October 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
Ladislav Bezák inventor of the Lomcovak.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:53 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:53 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Among many examples in "Ender's Game", the titular character changes the way his team approaches the Battle Room training by teaching them to think "The enemy's gate is down." Most teams approached the zero-g game from the perspective they initially entered from, the way they would in an environment with gravity.
He also comes up with the plan to intentionally shoot a teammate (or himself, I don't remember) in the legs in order to freeze them in place for use as a shield.
posted by brentajones at 8:23 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
He also comes up with the plan to intentionally shoot a teammate (or himself, I don't remember) in the legs in order to freeze them in place for use as a shield.
posted by brentajones at 8:23 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Peyton Manning is 39 years old. He can hardly run. His arm is a noodle. He's had four neck surgeries. After games, he needs someone else to help take off his cleats.
He's still more effective than 20 or 25 starting QBs in the NFL. His pattern recognition and encyclopedic knowledge is unreal.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:30 PM on October 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
He's still more effective than 20 or 25 starting QBs in the NFL. His pattern recognition and encyclopedic knowledge is unreal.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:30 PM on October 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
When Wayne Gretzky played in the minors, he won a game with an seemingly impossible shot. The PR guy asked him how he found the space between the goalie and the goal to make the shot.
Gretzky said, yeah, it was pretty hard to do. That kind of shot, you have to turn the puck up on its side, so it's thin enough to get through the hole.
The PR guy said he didn't have the nerve to ask if he was kidding.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:37 PM on October 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
Gretzky said, yeah, it was pretty hard to do. That kind of shot, you have to turn the puck up on its side, so it's thin enough to get through the hole.
The PR guy said he didn't have the nerve to ask if he was kidding.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:37 PM on October 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Moneyball and The Big Short are about people perceiving competitive advantages in sports and finance.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:40 PM on October 8, 2015
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:40 PM on October 8, 2015
Ray Leonard was the most exciting boxer I've ever watched. There was a point in every match when he would suddenly reach deep down and find a lot of power he'd been reserving and begin to pummel his opponent with amazingly effective blows. That usually ended with a KO, either because the opponent went down or because the ref stopped the fight. I've never seen another boxer able to do that.
Over the course of his career Leonard won world championships in five different weight classes: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight. It's not that he was getting heavier; he just wanted more of a challenge. Welterweight (where he began) is 147 pounds and light-heavyweight is 175 pounds.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:44 PM on October 8, 2015
Over the course of his career Leonard won world championships in five different weight classes: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight. It's not that he was getting heavier; he just wanted more of a challenge. Welterweight (where he began) is 147 pounds and light-heavyweight is 175 pounds.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:44 PM on October 8, 2015
Best answer: Dennis Rodman and rebounds.
Seriously, this GIF shows just how much Rodman was above everyone else. And he was 6'7". Certainly tall by normal standards but he was probably hardly ever the tallest guy on an NBA court at any given moment.
I'm always skeptical of the stories pro athletes tell years later, but here's a good Isiah Thomas quote about Rodman:
Seriously, this GIF shows just how much Rodman was above everyone else. And he was 6'7". Certainly tall by normal standards but he was probably hardly ever the tallest guy on an NBA court at any given moment.
I'm always skeptical of the stories pro athletes tell years later, but here's a good Isiah Thomas quote about Rodman:
We were standing in the lay-up line, warming up and shooting, and Rodman was standing back and watching everybody shoot. I said, ‘Hey, come on, you have to participate; everybody’s shooting lay-ups, you have to shoot lay-ups, too.’ And he said, ‘I’m just watching the rotations on the basketball.’ I said, ‘Excuse me?’ He said, ‘Like, when you shoot, your ball spins three times in the air. Joe’s sometimes has 3 1/2 or four times.’posted by mcmile at 8:52 PM on October 8, 2015 [13 favorites]
That’s how far Rodman had taken rebounding, to a totally different level, like off the charts. He knew the rotation of every person that shot on our team — if it spins sideways, where it would bounce, how often it would bounce left or right. He had rebounding down to a science, and I never heard anyone think or talk about rebounding and defense the way he could break it down.
When you talk about basketball IQ, I’d put Rodman at a genius level.
Freakonomics had a podcast episode about exactly this: how Kobayashi approached competitive eating as a novice with a wholly novel approach and blew everyone else out of the water at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition. Before him, people were trying to eat normally very quickly. But he basically dismantled the act of eating to focus on getting food in the body as fast as possible, regular eating techniques be damned.
MMA fighter Ronda Rousey is also considered to be freakishly good and probably decades ahead of her competitors in mastering the sport. Here is a nice analysis of just how good she is.
posted by whitewall at 8:57 PM on October 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
MMA fighter Ronda Rousey is also considered to be freakishly good and probably decades ahead of her competitors in mastering the sport. Here is a nice analysis of just how good she is.
posted by whitewall at 8:57 PM on October 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
This article, Federer as a Religious Experience, by DFW captures this phenomena in a manner only DFW could produce
posted by z11s at 9:02 PM on October 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by z11s at 9:02 PM on October 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
I came in to offer both Ronda Rousey (MMA) and Tom Dwan (Poker).
Rousey is so clearly dominant it is crazy. Basically, she is competing at a level appropriate for if women's MMA had the same history and funding as men's MMA. I suspect she will be long retired before we see another woman who could reasonably be considered in her league.
As for Tom Dwan, he just plays a different game than everyone else and he sees right through all the strategies that all the players from previous generations have internalized and finds ways to exploit them. Here he is picking apart Phil Ivey, generally considered to be the best player in the world before Dwan came on the scene.
posted by 256 at 9:10 PM on October 8, 2015
Rousey is so clearly dominant it is crazy. Basically, she is competing at a level appropriate for if women's MMA had the same history and funding as men's MMA. I suspect she will be long retired before we see another woman who could reasonably be considered in her league.
As for Tom Dwan, he just plays a different game than everyone else and he sees right through all the strategies that all the players from previous generations have internalized and finds ways to exploit them. Here he is picking apart Phil Ivey, generally considered to be the best player in the world before Dwan came on the scene.
posted by 256 at 9:10 PM on October 8, 2015
Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps would both qualify, I think.
posted by randomnity at 9:37 PM on October 8, 2015
posted by randomnity at 9:37 PM on October 8, 2015
Response by poster: Some good answers here, thanks. I want to stress though that I'm specifically NOT looking for someone who's just better than everyone else, but someone who's better because they've taken a different approach, or have a greater understanding of the underlying mechanics of the situation. Dennis Rodman counting rotations is exactly the type of thing I'm after.
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 9:44 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 9:44 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The name you're looking for is Graeme Obree. (The obligatory movie - "The Flying Dutchman")
He was an outsider who invented a new cycling technique, broke records and won races, using his home-made bicycle. The cycling establishment did not take kindly to this and changed their rules to disqualify his achievements. So he came up with another method, started winning again, so they changed the rules again to disqualify him again.
Fast forward to today and all the serious athletes use his technique, and bicycle design has similarly built on his innovations.
In a similar vein, though coming from the opposite of outsiders and arguably deliberately poor form: in Olympic fencing, when the electric scoring apparatus was invented and adopted as the official scoring mechanism (replacing eyesight of marshals), the world's athletes continued to fence traditionally because they though of the machine in terms of what it was meant to do - it served to automate the traditional values. But the
Russians understood that this was backwards (it was not the case that good fencing technique was rewarded by the machine, it was the case that whatever triggered the machine effectively was good technique) and they reinvented their technique radically and effectively.
So radically that the rules were overhauled to stop them, and that even today a lot of fencers mentally associate Russian Olympic team with cheating. (An example - the way the machine works, the ground is electrically grounded so that it will ignore hits on the ground. A side effect of this is that if the electrical surface of your jacket is in contact with the ground, your jacket will be grounded and thus the machine will ignore hits to your jacket. So they came up with novel attack techniques that would ground the jackets).
posted by anonymisc at 10:04 PM on October 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
He was an outsider who invented a new cycling technique, broke records and won races, using his home-made bicycle. The cycling establishment did not take kindly to this and changed their rules to disqualify his achievements. So he came up with another method, started winning again, so they changed the rules again to disqualify him again.
Fast forward to today and all the serious athletes use his technique, and bicycle design has similarly built on his innovations.
In a similar vein, though coming from the opposite of outsiders and arguably deliberately poor form: in Olympic fencing, when the electric scoring apparatus was invented and adopted as the official scoring mechanism (replacing eyesight of marshals), the world's athletes continued to fence traditionally because they though of the machine in terms of what it was meant to do - it served to automate the traditional values. But the
Russians understood that this was backwards (it was not the case that good fencing technique was rewarded by the machine, it was the case that whatever triggered the machine effectively was good technique) and they reinvented their technique radically and effectively.
So radically that the rules were overhauled to stop them, and that even today a lot of fencers mentally associate Russian Olympic team with cheating. (An example - the way the machine works, the ground is electrically grounded so that it will ignore hits on the ground. A side effect of this is that if the electrical surface of your jacket is in contact with the ground, your jacket will be grounded and thus the machine will ignore hits to your jacket. So they came up with novel attack techniques that would ground the jackets).
posted by anonymisc at 10:04 PM on October 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
Dick Fosbury is mentioned above and fits your requirement.
Fosbury was a high jumper who developed a unique style of jumping, which became known as the "Fosbury Flop". (It isn't called that any more because every high jumper jumps that way.)
Before Fosbury, all jumpers faced the bar during their jumps. Fosbury's innovation was to have his back to the bar.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:49 PM on October 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
Fosbury was a high jumper who developed a unique style of jumping, which became known as the "Fosbury Flop". (It isn't called that any more because every high jumper jumps that way.)
Before Fosbury, all jumpers faced the bar during their jumps. Fosbury's innovation was to have his back to the bar.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:49 PM on October 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
Sergei Bubka in pole vaulting. I once read about a quote from his top competitor (not sure if it was accurate) - "Rest of us are competing for the Silver medal"!
He broke the world record 35 times! (most of them his own records).
posted by theobserver at 11:09 PM on October 8, 2015
He broke the world record 35 times! (most of them his own records).
posted by theobserver at 11:09 PM on October 8, 2015
Greg Lemond rethought cycling technology including handlebar extensions and aero helmets for time trials. He was certainly naturally gifted and worked hard, but he was also willing to disrupt the existing paradigm about suitable equipment.
posted by 26.2 at 12:01 AM on October 9, 2015
posted by 26.2 at 12:01 AM on October 9, 2015
Tim Ferris won the Chinese Kickboxing National Championships by exploiting a regulation and pushing instead of boxing:
2. There was a technicality in the fine print: If one combatant fell off the elevated platform three times in a single round, his opponent won by default. I decided to use this technicality as my single technique and just push people off.posted by xqwzts at 12:18 AM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Rodney Mullen
DJ Qbert
Both so far outpaced the competitive landscape that they were forced to retire and/or invent new forms of the activity.
posted by rhizome at 12:58 AM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
DJ Qbert
Both so far outpaced the competitive landscape that they were forced to retire and/or invent new forms of the activity.
posted by rhizome at 12:58 AM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Similar to Fosbury, Jan Boklov revolutionized ski jumping by introducing the V style which is how all ski jumpers jump now. When he came on the scene, people ridiculed him. Today we know the V style is considerably more efficient than the old "parallel skis" style.
posted by edlundart at 1:13 AM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by edlundart at 1:13 AM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Michael Larson, who won over $100,000 on Press Your Luck by studying old episodes and finding a pattern in the board.
posted by sleepingcbw at 3:35 AM on October 9, 2015
posted by sleepingcbw at 3:35 AM on October 9, 2015
Similar to Michael Larson, Terry Kniess on The Price Is Right.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:37 AM on October 9, 2015
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:37 AM on October 9, 2015
The Legend of Cliff Young
Every year, Australia hosts 543.7-mile (875-kilometer) endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne. It is considered among the world's most grueling ultra-marathons. The race takes five days to complete and is normally only attempted by world-class athletes who train specially for the event. These athletes are typically less than 30 years old and backed by large companies such as Nike.
In 1983, a man named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this race. Cliff was 61 years old and wore overalls and work boots ... All of the professional athletes knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race. In order to compete, one had to run about 18 hours a day and sleep the remaining 6 hours ... Cliff ... continued jogging all night.
Eventually Cliff was asked about his tactics for the rest of the race. To everyone's disbelief, he claimed he would run straight through to the finish without sleeping.
Cliff kept running. Each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes. He was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he set a new course record.
When Cliff was awarded the winning prize of $10,000, he said he didn't know there was a prize and insisted that he did not enter for the money. He ended up giving all of his winnings to several other runners, an act that endeared him to all of Australia.
posted by Comrade_robot at 5:06 AM on October 9, 2015 [8 favorites]
Every year, Australia hosts 543.7-mile (875-kilometer) endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne. It is considered among the world's most grueling ultra-marathons. The race takes five days to complete and is normally only attempted by world-class athletes who train specially for the event. These athletes are typically less than 30 years old and backed by large companies such as Nike.
In 1983, a man named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this race. Cliff was 61 years old and wore overalls and work boots ... All of the professional athletes knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race. In order to compete, one had to run about 18 hours a day and sleep the remaining 6 hours ... Cliff ... continued jogging all night.
Eventually Cliff was asked about his tactics for the rest of the race. To everyone's disbelief, he claimed he would run straight through to the finish without sleeping.
Cliff kept running. Each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes. He was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he set a new course record.
When Cliff was awarded the winning prize of $10,000, he said he didn't know there was a prize and insisted that he did not enter for the money. He ended up giving all of his winnings to several other runners, an act that endeared him to all of Australia.
posted by Comrade_robot at 5:06 AM on October 9, 2015 [8 favorites]
Von Neumann story
Two bicyclists start 100 miles apart, and head towards each other, each one going 10 mph. At the same instant, a fly leaves the first bike and flies at 20 mph to the second. When it gets there, it immediately turns around and heads back to the first. Then it repeats, going back and forth between the two bikers. By the time they reach each other, how far will the fly have travelled?
The easy way to solve this problem is to realize that the bikers are approaching each other at a net speed of 20 mph, so it will take 5 hours for them to meet. During that time the fly is travelling constantly, back and forth, at 20 mph, so in 5 hours it will travel exactly 100 miles, and that is the answer.
The harder way is to sum an infinite series. The first leg has the fly meeting the biker at a net speed of 30 mph. They start off 100 miles apart so it takes 3 1/3 hours to meet, during which the fly travels 66 2/3 miles. Now the fly will turn around. By this time the bikers have drawn to 33 1/3 miles apart. So this second leg of the trip will take 1/3 as long. Similarly the third leg will take 1/3 of the second, or 1/9 of the first, and so in indefinitely, with each leg taking 1/3 as long (and hence the fly going 1/3 as far) as the previous one. So the answer will be 66 2/3 times (1 + 1/3 + 1/9 + 1/27 + ...). The value of that infinite series is exactly 1 1/2, so the answer is 66 2/3 times 1 1/2, or 100 miles.
Von Neumann thought for a brief moment and gave the answer. The hostess was disappointed and said, oh, you saw the trick, most people try to sum the infinite series. Von Neumann looked surprised and said, but that's how I did it.
posted by Comrade_robot at 5:18 AM on October 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Two bicyclists start 100 miles apart, and head towards each other, each one going 10 mph. At the same instant, a fly leaves the first bike and flies at 20 mph to the second. When it gets there, it immediately turns around and heads back to the first. Then it repeats, going back and forth between the two bikers. By the time they reach each other, how far will the fly have travelled?
The easy way to solve this problem is to realize that the bikers are approaching each other at a net speed of 20 mph, so it will take 5 hours for them to meet. During that time the fly is travelling constantly, back and forth, at 20 mph, so in 5 hours it will travel exactly 100 miles, and that is the answer.
The harder way is to sum an infinite series. The first leg has the fly meeting the biker at a net speed of 30 mph. They start off 100 miles apart so it takes 3 1/3 hours to meet, during which the fly travels 66 2/3 miles. Now the fly will turn around. By this time the bikers have drawn to 33 1/3 miles apart. So this second leg of the trip will take 1/3 as long. Similarly the third leg will take 1/3 of the second, or 1/9 of the first, and so in indefinitely, with each leg taking 1/3 as long (and hence the fly going 1/3 as far) as the previous one. So the answer will be 66 2/3 times (1 + 1/3 + 1/9 + 1/27 + ...). The value of that infinite series is exactly 1 1/2, so the answer is 66 2/3 times 1 1/2, or 100 miles.
Von Neumann thought for a brief moment and gave the answer. The hostess was disappointed and said, oh, you saw the trick, most people try to sum the infinite series. Von Neumann looked surprised and said, but that's how I did it.
posted by Comrade_robot at 5:18 AM on October 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
There was a comment here a few years ago describing moments like this in both Survivor and The Amazing Race.
posted by rollick at 6:01 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rollick at 6:01 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Rollick, if you mean the comment I think you mean, it's a great comment and a perfect answer to this question, but your link went to the thread rather than the specific comment. Is this the comment you meant?
I wanted to add one other Survivior example, from the very first season. (I'm going to discuss the winner of that season, so this is a spoiler if you somehow missed the past fifteen years of reality TV.)
The original premise of Survivor was that 16 people would be stranded in a remote location, and have to build their own shelter and fend for themselves, while competing in a series of challenges. Every three days, the players would vote for one person to leave the game.
Most of the players made their choices individually, and so their votes were randomly distributed among the other players-- one vote for one guy, two votes for another, etc. But one player (Richard Hatch) realized that if he could get a small alliance to meet up and discuss their votes before the voting took place, they could all vote the same way. With the other votes distributed randomly, the four members of Hatch's alliance were able to control who went home, time after time.
On top of that, while most of the other players were voting on some sort of ethical ground ("This person does the least amount of work around camp. He doesn't deserve to stay!"), Hatch was voting purely strategically, knocking off the biggest threats whether or not they "deserved" to be there.
The result: the 12 people who were playing the game the way the producers expected it to be played went home, one after another, leaving Hatch's alliance as the final four players. Hatch ended up winning the entire game.
Playing by alliance is now the default method of playing the game.
posted by yankeefog at 6:22 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wanted to add one other Survivior example, from the very first season. (I'm going to discuss the winner of that season, so this is a spoiler if you somehow missed the past fifteen years of reality TV.)
The original premise of Survivor was that 16 people would be stranded in a remote location, and have to build their own shelter and fend for themselves, while competing in a series of challenges. Every three days, the players would vote for one person to leave the game.
Most of the players made their choices individually, and so their votes were randomly distributed among the other players-- one vote for one guy, two votes for another, etc. But one player (Richard Hatch) realized that if he could get a small alliance to meet up and discuss their votes before the voting took place, they could all vote the same way. With the other votes distributed randomly, the four members of Hatch's alliance were able to control who went home, time after time.
On top of that, while most of the other players were voting on some sort of ethical ground ("This person does the least amount of work around camp. He doesn't deserve to stay!"), Hatch was voting purely strategically, knocking off the biggest threats whether or not they "deserved" to be there.
The result: the 12 people who were playing the game the way the producers expected it to be played went home, one after another, leaving Hatch's alliance as the final four players. Hatch ended up winning the entire game.
Playing by alliance is now the default method of playing the game.
posted by yankeefog at 6:22 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not sure that it can be attributed to a single person, but you might be interested in the development of the butterfly stroke. From the linked Wikipedia page:
Australian Sydney Cavill (1881–1945), son of the "swimming professor" Frederick Cavill, was 220 yards amateur champion of Australia at the age of 16 and is credited as the originator of the butterfly stroke. He followed his famous brothers to America and coached notable swimmers at San Francisco's Olympic Club.
In late 1933 Henry Myers swam a butterfly stroke in competition at the Brooklyn Central YMCA.[5] The butterfly style evolved from the breaststroke. David Armbruster, swimming coach at the University of Iowa, researched the breaststroke, especially considering the problem of drag due to the underwater recovery. In 1934 Armbruster refined a method to bring the arms forward over the water in a breaststroke. He called this style "butterfly". While the butterfly was difficult, it brought a great improvement in speed. One year later, in 1935, Jack Sieg, a swimmer also from the University of Iowa, developed a kick technique involving swimming on his side and beating his legs in unison, similar to a fish tail, and then modified the technique afterward to swim it face down. He called this style Dolphin fishtail kick. Armbruster and Sieg quickly found that combining these techniques created a very fast swimming style consisting of butterfly arms with two dolphin kicks per cycle. Richard Rhodes claims that Volney Wilson invented the 'Dolphin' after studying fish, and used it to win the 1938 US Olympic Trials, earning him a disqualification.
This new style was considerably faster than a regular breaststroke. Using this technique Jack Sieg swam 100 yards in 1:00.2. However, the dolphin fishtail kick violated the breaststroke rules set by FINA and was not allowed. Therefore, the butterfly arms with a breaststroke kick were used by a few swimmers in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin for the breaststroke competitions. In 1938, almost every breaststroke swimmer was using this butterfly style, yet this stroke was considered a variant of the breaststroke until 1952, when it was accepted by FINA as a separate style with its own set of rules. The 1956 Summer Olympics were the first Olympic games where the butterfly was swam as a separate competition, 100 m (women) and 200 m (men).
posted by peacheater at 6:38 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Australian Sydney Cavill (1881–1945), son of the "swimming professor" Frederick Cavill, was 220 yards amateur champion of Australia at the age of 16 and is credited as the originator of the butterfly stroke. He followed his famous brothers to America and coached notable swimmers at San Francisco's Olympic Club.
In late 1933 Henry Myers swam a butterfly stroke in competition at the Brooklyn Central YMCA.[5] The butterfly style evolved from the breaststroke. David Armbruster, swimming coach at the University of Iowa, researched the breaststroke, especially considering the problem of drag due to the underwater recovery. In 1934 Armbruster refined a method to bring the arms forward over the water in a breaststroke. He called this style "butterfly". While the butterfly was difficult, it brought a great improvement in speed. One year later, in 1935, Jack Sieg, a swimmer also from the University of Iowa, developed a kick technique involving swimming on his side and beating his legs in unison, similar to a fish tail, and then modified the technique afterward to swim it face down. He called this style Dolphin fishtail kick. Armbruster and Sieg quickly found that combining these techniques created a very fast swimming style consisting of butterfly arms with two dolphin kicks per cycle. Richard Rhodes claims that Volney Wilson invented the 'Dolphin' after studying fish, and used it to win the 1938 US Olympic Trials, earning him a disqualification.
This new style was considerably faster than a regular breaststroke. Using this technique Jack Sieg swam 100 yards in 1:00.2. However, the dolphin fishtail kick violated the breaststroke rules set by FINA and was not allowed. Therefore, the butterfly arms with a breaststroke kick were used by a few swimmers in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin for the breaststroke competitions. In 1938, almost every breaststroke swimmer was using this butterfly style, yet this stroke was considered a variant of the breaststroke until 1952, when it was accepted by FINA as a separate style with its own set of rules. The 1956 Summer Olympics were the first Olympic games where the butterfly was swam as a separate competition, 100 m (women) and 200 m (men).
posted by peacheater at 6:38 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Whoops, yes, it is that comment I meant, thanks yankeefog.
As another example, I remember the book Backroom Boys being a great set of essays on people with limited resources challenging the expectations of their industry. Here's an extract, about the programmers of the computer game Elite. I think I also remember reading something similar about the company that made Doom.
posted by rollick at 6:39 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
As another example, I remember the book Backroom Boys being a great set of essays on people with limited resources challenging the expectations of their industry. Here's an extract, about the programmers of the computer game Elite. I think I also remember reading something similar about the company that made Doom.
posted by rollick at 6:39 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Lee Young Ho (aka Flash) was a starcraft broodwar player (he does play sc2 now but is not anywhere close to what he was in brood war). That 70% win rate they mention at the top of the wiki is a huge effing deal within the context of a game that is often held up as the poster child for perfect balance.
he is often described as a
Bonjwa: is a term used to describe a player who dominates the StarCraft scene for a long period of time. A bonjwa has a very high winning percentage and successive title wins. However, a bonjwa is not defined by his statistics or records. Rather, a general consensus is reached that he is the most dominant progamer of his era.
There have been a couple others, but no one has dominated an esport like Flash dominated Starcraft: Brood War
Some other handles to look into:
All of these guys are more defined by their superior mastery of the meta and strategy of sc/sc2 than by their mechanical skill at playing the game (which is also necessarily prodigious)
Jaedong
MVP
MC
Nestea
posted by deadwater at 6:44 AM on October 9, 2015
he is often described as a
Bonjwa: is a term used to describe a player who dominates the StarCraft scene for a long period of time. A bonjwa has a very high winning percentage and successive title wins. However, a bonjwa is not defined by his statistics or records. Rather, a general consensus is reached that he is the most dominant progamer of his era.
There have been a couple others, but no one has dominated an esport like Flash dominated Starcraft: Brood War
Some other handles to look into:
All of these guys are more defined by their superior mastery of the meta and strategy of sc/sc2 than by their mechanical skill at playing the game (which is also necessarily prodigious)
Jaedong
MVP
MC
Nestea
posted by deadwater at 6:44 AM on October 9, 2015
The oft-mentioned Golden Balls Split or Steal strategy.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:04 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:04 AM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Tetris block at SGDQ 2015, KAN vs KevinDDR. KevinDDR is probably the best American Tetris player around, but KAN absolutely destroys him and you can see the vast difference in skill levels.
posted by dilaudid at 9:14 AM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by dilaudid at 9:14 AM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think the canonical example of this is Dick Fosbury and the Fosbury Flop. There are also a number of examples in tournament play where a team may try to exploit bigger picture strategy. Take, for example, the Barbados intentional own-goal in 1994 Caribbean Cup .
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 9:43 AM on October 9, 2015
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 9:43 AM on October 9, 2015
In the hilarious documentary "The King of Kong," (trailer here) about world-champion-level Donkey Kong players, there's a discussion of how the game divides its players: most DK players play a few levels into the game, literally 2-3 minutes of gameplay, and then lose, while the players who can get past that hump can generally go all the way to the last level of the game around 2 hours later. Well, there's no last level as such, but eventually the game approaches a failure-point called the "kill screen."
There's a critical skill to master and that is to instinctively face Mario in the correct direction just as a barrel is deciding which ladder to go down. The player can then control the barrels' movements (at least as far as this decision point), and go from 3-level chump to 100-level mastery.
Likewise, the ghost programming in Pac-Man can be understood pretty simply, partly just by knowing it's there, and that is knowledge that marks the difference between average players and players that pass tens or hundreds of levels. Tale a look at this Gameinterals post and scroll down to "Individual Ghost Behaviors." Knowing the rhythm of ghost "scatter" vs "chase" and how each ghost seeks Pac-Man in chase mode enables the player to beat any level as long as they have the dexterity.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:27 AM on October 9, 2015
There's a critical skill to master and that is to instinctively face Mario in the correct direction just as a barrel is deciding which ladder to go down. The player can then control the barrels' movements (at least as far as this decision point), and go from 3-level chump to 100-level mastery.
Likewise, the ghost programming in Pac-Man can be understood pretty simply, partly just by knowing it's there, and that is knowledge that marks the difference between average players and players that pass tens or hundreds of levels. Tale a look at this Gameinterals post and scroll down to "Individual Ghost Behaviors." Knowing the rhythm of ghost "scatter" vs "chase" and how each ghost seeks Pac-Man in chase mode enables the player to beat any level as long as they have the dexterity.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:27 AM on October 9, 2015
I was going to say Fred Astaire, but in researching him, I found out there was a dancer he wouldn't work with - Eleanor Powell. From Fayard Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers tap dancing team (h/t to The New Republic):
“Eleanor Powell was one of the very greatest, period, bar none,” said Fayard Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers dance team, who understood greatness. “Not one of the greatest woman—one of the greatest, period.” Dynamic and versatile, Powell danced with a melodist’s sensitivity to the essential musicality of tap. “She was a musician,” Nicholas said, using the word tap dancers tend to reserve for their highest praise.
Watch this video and judge for yourself. The spins - while STILL TAPPING - are incredible.
posted by singmespanishtechno at 12:42 PM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
“Eleanor Powell was one of the very greatest, period, bar none,” said Fayard Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers dance team, who understood greatness. “Not one of the greatest woman—one of the greatest, period.” Dynamic and versatile, Powell danced with a melodist’s sensitivity to the essential musicality of tap. “She was a musician,” Nicholas said, using the word tap dancers tend to reserve for their highest praise.
Watch this video and judge for yourself. The spins - while STILL TAPPING - are incredible.
posted by singmespanishtechno at 12:42 PM on October 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
Does the different approach include coaching?
In the 90's, as Rugby Union transitioned from amateur to pro, Ian McGeechan was the first to understand and exploit the role of referees in matches. In the fledgling pro game, there were large variations in how refs from different countries interpreted the laws. McGeechan understood this and included the refs' historical performances in the match strategy. This approach yielded historic wins for Scotland and the British Lions in rugby. I remember this being reported at the time, but this article is the best I can find to illustrate it.
posted by Jakey at 1:19 PM on October 9, 2015
In the 90's, as Rugby Union transitioned from amateur to pro, Ian McGeechan was the first to understand and exploit the role of referees in matches. In the fledgling pro game, there were large variations in how refs from different countries interpreted the laws. McGeechan understood this and included the refs' historical performances in the match strategy. This approach yielded historic wins for Scotland and the British Lions in rugby. I remember this being reported at the time, but this article is the best I can find to illustrate it.
posted by Jakey at 1:19 PM on October 9, 2015
The Rise and Fall of the Flying Wedge (in football)
Ironically, Lorin F. Deland never played football. In fact, he did not see his first game until 1890. But after that first game, he was taken by the sport. spending hours studying its principles and devising plays. The strategies carried out on the football field, Deland came to believe, were relatively the same as those executed by armies during battle. This notion prompted him to re-read his well-worn books on Napoleon’s military tactics and the histories of his campaigns. “One of the chief points brought out by the great French general,” Deland observed, “was that if he could mass a large proportion of his troops and throw them against a weak point of the enemy, he could easily defeat that portion, and gaining their rear, create havoc with the rest.”
Translating this idea to football, Deland concluded that if a football team were so arranged that the 11 men could throw their entire weight against a necessarily stationary and detached opponent, great gains of yardage would be made. As the 1982 Harvard-Yale game would demonstrate, the New England entrepreneur was correct.
...Camp finally decided the flying wedge was not only dangerous but also unsportsmanlike.
posted by Comrade_robot at 2:05 PM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ironically, Lorin F. Deland never played football. In fact, he did not see his first game until 1890. But after that first game, he was taken by the sport. spending hours studying its principles and devising plays. The strategies carried out on the football field, Deland came to believe, were relatively the same as those executed by armies during battle. This notion prompted him to re-read his well-worn books on Napoleon’s military tactics and the histories of his campaigns. “One of the chief points brought out by the great French general,” Deland observed, “was that if he could mass a large proportion of his troops and throw them against a weak point of the enemy, he could easily defeat that portion, and gaining their rear, create havoc with the rest.”
Translating this idea to football, Deland concluded that if a football team were so arranged that the 11 men could throw their entire weight against a necessarily stationary and detached opponent, great gains of yardage would be made. As the 1982 Harvard-Yale game would demonstrate, the New England entrepreneur was correct.
...Camp finally decided the flying wedge was not only dangerous but also unsportsmanlike.
posted by Comrade_robot at 2:05 PM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Emanuel Lasker, World Chess Champion from 1894 to 1921:
His contemporaries used to say that Lasker used a "psychological" approach to the game, and even that he sometimes deliberately played inferior moves to confuse opponents. Recent analysis, however, indicates that he was ahead of his time and used a more flexible approach than his contemporaries, which mystified many of them.posted by clawsoon at 3:12 PM on October 9, 2015
...
In a way, he was the first universal player, which made him very odd indeed for those times. Like all great players, Lasker could play any type of position; however, the classic course of a Lasker game was to concede some small concession to an opponent, exchange off either one or two minor pieces and then play a game of manoeuvre where he did not necessarily stand better but in which he could keep the position balanced. When his opponent could not maintain the balance, either by over-pressing or by playing too passively, Lasker would have them. Although famed for his defence, Lasker was equally brutal in his treatment of opponents who overpressed or played passively.
I'm going to 3rd Wayne Gretzky, but with more of the angle that you're looking for:
posted by clawsoon at 3:24 PM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Gretzky quickly moved to higher-level leagues with much older, beefier guys. Since Gretzky couldn’t out-physical his opponents, he developed a different kind of weapon: his brain. “When I was five and playing against 11-year-olds, who were bigger, stronger, faster, I just had to figure out a way to play with them,” Gretzky explained. “When I was 14, I played against 20-year-olds, and when I was 17, I played with men. Basically, I had to play the same style all the way through. I couldn’t beat people with my strength; I don’t have a hard shot; I’m not the quickest skater in the league. My eyes and my mind have to do most of the work.”You could say that he was playing chess while everybody else way playing hockey.
...
Before long, he could see the whole evolving situation – everything that was happening on the ice and the movement of every player – in his mind. “When you’re 170 pounds playing with 210-pound guys, you learn to find out where everybody is on the ice at all times,” Gretzky noted.
...
That was his famous line: He’d say that he doesn’t skate to where the puck is – he skates to where it’s going to be.
posted by clawsoon at 3:24 PM on October 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
David Berkoff figured out that you could swim much faster if you stayed underwater as long as possible. His innovation, dubbed the Berkoff Blastoff, got him four Olympic medals for the backstroke (two gold, a silver, and a bronze). The concept is still applied in freestyle races, but it's been banned from the backstroke because it was considered too great a change to the sport.
Another great reinvention of a sport was the Fosbury Flop, popularized by Dick Fosbury. He's the one who first figured out that you can get over a much higher high jump bar if you flop over it, rather than trying to gracefully jump over it.
Both of these are discussed in Innoventors – How Entrepreneurs Change The Rules Of The Game.
posted by alms at 8:27 PM on October 9, 2015
Another great reinvention of a sport was the Fosbury Flop, popularized by Dick Fosbury. He's the one who first figured out that you can get over a much higher high jump bar if you flop over it, rather than trying to gracefully jump over it.
Both of these are discussed in Innoventors – How Entrepreneurs Change The Rules Of The Game.
posted by alms at 8:27 PM on October 9, 2015
Many of the people who become world-historical figures did so because they were "playing the game" on another level. So pick an incredibly famous person, and you've got a chance of a good example.
In war, Napoleon and Hannibal were able to combine tactical, strategic and logistical considerations in ways that led to military victories that are still studied today.
Einstein was one of many people trying to wrap his head around anomalies in physics like the Michelson-Morley experiment. It has been said that others probably would've come to the same conclusion and figured out special relativity within five or ten years of Einstein; however, general relativity was so far beyond was anyone else was thinking about at the time that the discovery of general relativity probably would've taken decades longer if not for Einstein.
Euler is said to have done math - the most advanced math of his time - while bouncing a baby on his knee. Personally, I find that the most amazing of all.
posted by clawsoon at 2:19 PM on October 28, 2015
In war, Napoleon and Hannibal were able to combine tactical, strategic and logistical considerations in ways that led to military victories that are still studied today.
Einstein was one of many people trying to wrap his head around anomalies in physics like the Michelson-Morley experiment. It has been said that others probably would've come to the same conclusion and figured out special relativity within five or ten years of Einstein; however, general relativity was so far beyond was anyone else was thinking about at the time that the discovery of general relativity probably would've taken decades longer if not for Einstein.
Euler is said to have done math - the most advanced math of his time - while bouncing a baby on his knee. Personally, I find that the most amazing of all.
posted by clawsoon at 2:19 PM on October 28, 2015
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Babe Ruth for homers
Gretzky for scoring
Wilt Chamberlain for scoring and rebounding
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:17 PM on October 8, 2015