A little perspective

This article has been written by John-Joe Dawson-Squibb. He is a clinical Psychologist who has worked, whilst doing his thesis with a professional soccer academy. He has a huge interest in sport and the psychology surrounding it, and I trust that his article will be of major interest to you.

- Changing the focus

‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing’
Vince Lombardi
Sir Clive Woodward, rugby guru and general know-it-all, is not a man whose thoughts can be quickly dismissed. Apart from his World Cup medal and thoughtful autobiography he has, despite a dismal foray into football and a (chaotic) Lion’s tour, much respect from the majority of rugby’s elite – no easy feat in itself. Having read a recent entry on this blog outlining some of his points on excellence I began to think the former England coach might be brilliant, but perhaps his vaunted focus on perfection is a red herring for the large majority of players not involved in professional sport. Rather than disagree with him I am taking a different route to see where an alternative focus of thought might lead.
I’m keenly aware that readers of this website are likely to have more than a passing interest in the world of sport. I wonder though how many are actually professional sportsman? To go further, how many realistically (and not after a few drinks or a well-timed square cut in the nets) have aspirations of being paid to play? Few I would suggest over the age of sixteen could admit to having such thoughts. The cold facts are that the Ronaldo’s are on a different planet, and more soberingly it is a tiny percentage of sports men and women who are able to make a living from playing sport.
In contrast then is the amount of coverage professional sport garners from the media (broadly the more elite the competition the more coverage dedicated to it). There is very little interest or focus in the media on your average sportsman, on the majority of participants. I am not suggesting it should be anything other. But what does interest me is the impact of such a myopic focus on those watching.

Myths and Middle school
It’s possible that this excessive interest in professional sport has led to an equally excessive focus on winning. This has fuelled the myth that you can’t have fun or enjoy the game if you have lost. An equally destructive and related idea is that everyone’s dream, if not goal, should be to play professional sport. What rubbish! These myths, it could be argued, are used by key players for cynical purposes. Encouraging unrealistic expectations and goals is the business of sport brands (to sell products), administrators (to increase a games popularity and swell numbers) and the media (to create hype and sell stories). Children are particularly vulnerable. A recent survey in America revealed that 2.7% of Middle school athletes (ages 12-15) had used anabolic steroids (2007, Steroid Nation). That tells of a severely misguided attempt to win at all cost. Of a culture that has become fixated on winning at the expense of health, life and enjoyment. What will happen to those many children whose self-esteem, confidence and dreams are shattered as they, inevitably, don’t reach these impossible goals?
More prosaically I would add that such a focus on professional sport is a hindrance to our enjoyment of the game. I can understand that professional sportsmen and women need to take the game seriously as their income is at stake, but the same surely cannot apply to the majority of participants. Yet too often that seems to be forgotten. By concentrating on the end result, with the increasing emphasis on excellence and perfection, is there not a danger that we miss out on being ‘in the moment’, enjoying the game, just having fun. As Al Pacino’s character, coach Tony D’Amato, said in Any Given Sunday – ‘There’s got to be more to this game than winning and losing’. It is one thing to learn from professional players how to play the game but are they the best people to remind us why we play the game?

Learning from the right people
There is often learning to be had from those who have had things taken away. Those who have recovered from serious illness or life threatening injury are often the best at reminding us of the brevity of our time here. Remembering what it is to play tennis at all, to ride a bike, be on a field with ten buddies on a Saturday afternoon. Perspective is everything. I wonder that too often our focus is in the wrong place and we forget to appreciate, or even remember, how great it is to play sport.
To pre-empt those unimpressed with such a shift let me add that this change in focus doesn’t mean you don’t take sport seriously. There are any number of reasons why we participate and multiple documented benefits of playing have been reported under the headings of ‘social’, ‘physical’, ‘psychological’ and ‘emotional’. All of these remain. A change in perspective does not mean you can’t be competitive, have goals or do the best you can. But it does mean you take stock every now and again and have sport in it’s right place. It’s not about winning and losing - living and dying.