I played tennis for a year in high school. I was no Agassi. I had a shit serve, a God-awful backhand and a mediocre forehand. But, my name ended up on the roster because, at six feet two inches tall, I was a spider at the net.

My coach was this shaggy-haired forty-year-old dude who talked like a surfer and taught philosophy at a junior college a few counties over.

He had one of the most expansive vocabularies I had ever heard and he flexed it often. Most of the tennis instruction I received from him sounded like someone was reciting Shakespeare at Laguna Beach.

Unfortunately, half-way through the season, he had completely checked out of his coaching duties because 1). our record dipped well below .500 and 2). he began an affair with my teammate’s mother.

On the days my teammate’s father (her husband) would show up to the tennis matches, his mother would act like she didn’t know my coach from Adam. But, when his father was gone on the road driving semis, she’d jerk him off after practice in his old 1980-era Mitsubishi Lancer.

But, that’s neither here nor there.

The reason I’m reminiscing on my days playing tennis is because there was this phenomenon called The 5-2 Curse.

To win a set in tennis, you have to win 6 games (by at least 2 games). Often times, players who are up 5-2 with a victory in sight, will choke worse than a dog chomping on a fucking pinecone.

There’s this psychological shift that happens when a player is up 5-2, where they will mentally check out of the set. The “winning” player will think they have the set in the bag, start pulling their punches and then just get absolutely clobbered by the “losing” player.

The 5-2 curse applies to everything in life (not just tennis). Some of our biggest fuck-ups happen when the finish line is close within arm’s reach.

I see this happen often in creative projects. Tremendously talented writers, artists, designers and producers will get a creative project 90% to completion and then suddenly psych themselves out. Many times, the last 10% of a creative project can take twice as long as the initial 90%.

In Muay Thai (yes, I know I’m changing sports here but please bear with me), you’re taught to punch and kick “through” your opponent.

Unless you’re the Hulk, you can’t physically punch or kick “through” somebody. But, by punching and kicking like you’re trying to punch and kick through your opponent, you can generate enough force to knock them out.

A reasonable approach to creative projects is to attempt to punch, kick and create “through” them. Don’t sprint to the finish line. Sprint past the finish line (print 100 yards past it if you have to). This small mental shift will allow you to maintain momentum at maximum creative velocity past the project’s completion.

By Cole Schafer.

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