Discipline your baby

"He's a big baby." This isn't my quote. I was watching Sky Sports last night and Samantha Smith made this trite comment about Benoit Paire. I say trite because our opening quote is a common phrase, that is, simplifying a worrying condition, that we feel we have to criticise, or make an aggressive remark about. Complicated indeed. But Samantha Smith was right, Paire is a big baby.

In my club is a player my age, with the same ranking as me. He's a guy who played U16 national football, and is the most wonderful mover, simple, precise, early movements. An easy sprint if necessary. However, he's a baby. That means that at any moment in a tennis match, winning or losing, playing well or poorly, he can start blubbing. Of course he doesn't blub. He starts screaming to himself, "What was that?", "Are you stupid or something?" " Let's just forget this!" " You can't do that, so why even try it!" These comments are designed to let all those who are listening know, that he is ready to escape from this match.

Hysteria

When things get difficult, a "big baby" will, showing his lack of maturity and responsibility, abandon a situation. This is a coward, a person who is at the bottom of the reliability pile. He'll give up on you, give up on your team, give up on himself, and he'll feel totally justified in doing it. He'll signify his "quit" moment with a tirade of self-abuse, maybe some racket-throwing, and a non-chalant, high risk, extravagant style of play, that just reminds the spectators that he is immensely talented, is great fun to watch, and this sort of match is in fact beneath him. He wants to play, but different sorts of matches please. Easy ones. Not ones like this where you need to show discipline, and pay back to all those who've supported you, parents, coaches, friends, team colleagues, a certain performance for the team, his group, his past.

The icing on the cake

Just to put the icing on the cake, he laughs, disgustingly, as he is quitting the ship.

I have to confess. I hate it when I play on the same team as this player. He's otherwise one of the more intelligent and personable people down at the tennis club. But I have terrible problems being close to, being involved with, someone who is a quitter. And this is a serial quitter. Someone who has done this regularly, countless times. Just when you've assumed things are normal, when he can show his real athletic talent, he'll lose his head, from one happy moment, to the next one of despair, he's gone. And you can't get him out of it.You can laugh with him. You can shout at him. You can reassure him. Nothing works. He's gone.

Quitting

I have never seen a big baby manage to get out of "quit" mode in one match. Once it's gone, it's gone. So now, if he's quit his match, I just ignore him. This risks making him more angry, making him feel even more abandoned by one of his supposed friends, but I need my energy for my own performances. Why should I try and help such a quitter?

Samantha Smith timed her "big baby" comment just right. Paire had taken a toilet break, accompanied by a line judge. He took a racket with him, smashed a racket on the toilet floor, assuming he wouldn't receive racket abuse warnings, penalty points and fines and such rigmarole. Of course the accompanying line judge had to report it to the umpire, and so Paire duly received his warnings. In fact the umpire was, as they often are, particularly lenient with him.

Mama, look at me

What we have here is a professional tennis player, surrounded by experts and perfect playing conditions, blessed with exceptional tennis talent, who, at selected moments, reverts to big baby. Like my club colleague, I don't want to be near anyone like this. I can admire their talents and skills, but I simply have zero tolerance of human beings like this. People who are so spoilt, so irresponsible towards their supporters, that they are NOT on your team when they choose not to be.

So, after the racket smashing incident in the toilets, Paire put on his non-chalant mode of play, and started to play a host of extravagant, non-competitive points, and then smiling every time it didn't work.What is his coach thinking, head in his hands? What about the spectators who've paid good money to watch a pro game?

Quite rightly, after his abject defeat, Paire was whistled off the court. He departed from the arena - an absolute disgrace to his profession. No fine or retribution can be severe enough.

I can't end an article like this. So, back to Samantha Smith, my guest on workouttennis this week.

Guest journalist

She said, "Paire needs at least 3 or 4 years to address this problem."