Why pacing yourself is key, on or off the tennis courts
Naomi Osaka is back for the 2026 Australian Open, recently making a grand entry with a sense of calm and style that belied the turbulence of her journey. She first picked up a tennis racket as a young child, trained rigorously, and seemed destined for continuous dominance. Yet her career has not been a straight line. After early success, mental health struggles forced her to take a break from professional competition. The hiatus allowed her to step back, recalibrate, and eventually return to the sport at her own pace. Her story offers a striking lesson, not only for aspiring athletes but for anyone pursuing mastery in complex skills, including language learning.
The assumption that starting early guarantees adult excellence is widespread. Parents enroll children in intensive language programs, schools push high-achieving students to specialize, and the prevailing logic suggests that prodigies, be it in tennis or linguistics, will naturally become elite performers. But research challenges this notion. Studies across sports, music, and academia show that the very best adult performers often did not stand out as children. Instead, they tended to explore broadly, pace themselves, and specialize later, cultivating resilience and adaptable skills along the way.
In Osaka’s case, her early career fits the classic “prodigy” narrative: young talent, early international success, and intensive coaching. Yet it was precisely the pressure of being an early star that contributed to her burnout. The break she took, away from structured training and the constant scrutiny of competition, allowed her to return with renewed focus and improved mental stamina. In other words, early brilliance alone did not ensure sustained excellence, pacing and breadth of experience did.
Language learning follows a similar pattern. Children who excel at a second language in school, including memorizing vocabulary, acing grammar tests, or performing in language competitions, are not automatically destined to become adult polyglots. The most successful language learners as adults are often those who took a slower, broader path. They may have dabbled in multiple languages, explored different cultural contexts, or allowed their curiosity to guide them rather than rigid curricula. Like Osaka stepping back from the court, pausing, and returning stronger, language learners who pace themselves and embrace exploration tend to achieve greater fluency and long-term retention.
This “later flowering” effect is supported by cognitive science. Adults who reach high levels of linguistic expertise often exhibit what psychologists call “enhanced learning”, which is the ability to acquire new knowledge more efficiently after exposure to varied experiences. Early specialization can limit this effect, leading to burnout, frustration, or shallow mastery. By contrast, broad early experiences followed by deliberate focus allow for rapid gains when the time is right.
Osaka’s story also highlights another lesson: success is not binary. Not everyone can be an exceptional athlete, or an exceptional polyglot. Some will achieve moderate proficiency, others extraordinary mastery, but the pace and path of learning matter more than raw talent alone. In tennis, as in language, maintaining curiosity, exploring widely, and allowing for recalibration can be the difference between temporary brilliance and sustained achievement.
Ultimately, Osaka’s performance at the 2026 Australian Open remains to be seen. More importantly, her journey is more than a sports headline. It is a case study in pacing, resilience, and the long arc of development. Whether you are learning Japanese, Spanish, (or like me, Chinese) or any other complex skill, her experience underscores a simple truth: early exposure helps, but mastery comes with time, patience, and the freedom to stumble and explore. In the pursuit of expertise, slow and steady often wins the race.
About the Author
Gerald Lee is the Chief Marketing Officer with Flynde, a global company providing translation solutions to businesses of all sizes.
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