[FOUNTAIN]Wait for Park’s comeback

We often use the word “slump” to describe a period of poor performance, but in fact, it is an economic term referring to a serious decline in economic activity. The Great Depression of 1929 is also known as the Great Slump. Depending on its size and duration, such an economic phenomenon can be also called a slowdown, recession or depression.
Even economists mix these terms, so the British weekly magazine Economist defined the differences between the three terms. When your neighbor loses his job, it’s a slowdown, and when you are unemployed, it’s a recession. When a business reporter loses his job, then it is a depression. If you and your spouse lose jobs at the same time, it is a slump.
A slump is a very serious setback. It can come to anyone anytime. Tiger Woods, the best golfers of all time, has experienced two slumps, one in 1998 and another in 2004. He won only one event in those years and was taunted as a paper tiger. Russian-French abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky fell into a deep slump. No matter how hard he tried, he could not paint a work that satisfied him. He thought he had no talent and was greatly disappointed in himself.
But a slump is only a period of preparing for a greater leap. The “tiger” roared to let the world know when he returned from his slump. In 1999, he won eight PGA titles, including six consecutive victories. He won the U.S. and British Opens, the PGA Championship and the Masters, a winning streak of the four major PGA tournaments that is now known as the “Tiger Slam.” In 2005, he won the Masters and the British Open and was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year.
What brought Woods out of the slump was practice. Instead of showing off his trophies and celebrating with champagne, he hit the range to modify his swing and developed his physical strength. Kandinsky had a different course of escaping his slump. One day, he stopped by his atelier, which he had not visited for some time, and was surprised to see a masterpiece on the wall. After studying the artwork, he saw someone had put his painting upside down. He then realized that depending on the perspective, his potential could have completely different values.
Lately, Koreans have been questioning the talent of soccer player Park Chu-young. He was once praised as a football genius, but when his performance became a little dull, people started to complain that he had been overestimated. It is up to Park how he gets out of his slump. We should trust him and wait for his comeback. We’d better save hasty criticisms because we will be embarrassed when he returns to brilliantly dribble the ball.

by Lee Hoon-beom

The writer is the head of the JoongAng Ilbo’s “week&” team.