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Click to watch Brian’s 60 Minutes interview.
Recently the CBS 60 Minutes production team visited Dr. Brian Gordon in Miami to discuss the reasons height makes a difference in the performance capabilities of elite players. The interview was to acquire background for their profile of Diego Schwartzman who has defied common belief by reaching top 10 status despite his reported standing height of 5′ 7”.
The interview was wide ranging, exploring the implications of height in tennis from a sport science perspective. The profile nature of the piece caused most of the technical explanations to be edited out of the final production leaving behind only some of Dr. Gordon’s more general observations. “Diego Schwartzman the Giant Slayer” can be seen as a feature of 60 Minutes+ which streams on Paramount+.
But the more detailed explanation of the importance of height are interesting and explain a lot about why the top players in the world are just that. This article will discuss the technically rooted reasons that standing height is a benefit, or a detriment – reasons that hit the cutting room floor in the 60 Minutes piece.
The Forest
There are many factors that determine a player’s ability to attain…