Sports psychology: injury – a tragedy or a reason to think? Arguments for an Unified State Exam essay on the topic: Victory and defeat.
Actually, I'm not into popular psychology in the style of "How to stop worrying and start living." But I read this text and realized that the time has come to eliminate this gap in education. Thanks to Thomas Mensinger of Active.com, I finally understand why many tennis players say the same things in post-match interviews (especially after losses).
“Have you ever experienced a bad loss in a tennis match, after which you found it difficult to regain your confidence and lost the desire to fight and work towards your goal?
This can happen to anyone, and Roger Federer is a great example of this.
First, he lost the Roland Garros finals to Rafael Nadal - he had no chance there. But when he lost again in the hard-fought final at his beloved Wimbledon, it really hurt him.
Remember - after that Roger lost to Gilles Simon, Ivo Karlovic and James Blake? He didn't show his best performance in any of these matches.
So what should you do if you are having a hard time coping with a painful defeat?
Sooner or later everyone loses important matches
Even the greatest players are vulnerable. Let's look at a few examples.
Before winning the first tournament " Grand Slam", Ivan Lendl lost four finals. He ended up taking 8 titles in 19 finals. One of the most painful was the defeat to Pat Cash in the Wimbledon final - the only Slam that Lendl never won. But other losses, of course, were also very disappointing. Andre Agassi lost three TBS finals before winning his first Wimbledon title. The two defeats were very disappointing. First there was the first Roland Garros final against Andres Gomez, in which Agassi was the overwhelming favorite - after all, Gomez was 30. And then the second final against Jim Courier, in which Agassi led 2: 1 in sets and had Courier in defense, but intervened the rain helped Courier recover, find a winning strategy and win in five games.
Probably the best netminder in history, Patrick Rafter, lost the Wimbledon final to Goran Ivanisevic. And while it was nice to see the Croatian win Wimbledon (he had lost three finals before!), it must have been very painful for Rafter not to win the tournament that best suited his serve-and-volley game - Wimbledon.
If you take the time to study the careers of top players, it will undoubtedly become clear that they all experienced serious defeats. These are the players who stayed on top because they managed to recover.
The sting of defeat can be removed by constantly reminding yourself that losing is part of the game, something to be accepted and left behind. It is not defeats that prevent you from being at the top, but a negative reaction to them, which gets stuck in the mind and affects confidence.
Allow yourself to feel the pain, fully process the emotions associated with failure, and then regroup. Remember what you achieved before you lost and think that you can be successful again.
Defeats affect psychology, not skills and abilities
After a big defeat, you can feel depressed and incredibly disappointed. You might even think that after such a loss you will no longer be able to show good game. But if you think logically, it becomes quite clear that physical and technical skills have not changed. You can still do the same things you did before you lost, the same things that have already helped you win other matches.
Defeat may be due to incorrect tactics, bad luck, incredible game opponent and many other factors influencing the outcome of a tennis match. But defeat cannot take away your skills. You are still capable of the same level of play.
No amount of logic will prove that today's defeat cancels future victories. If you think that failure has affected your skills, it is only because you think so. Only you can lower your game with negativity and the illogical belief that something is now wrong with you.
The most painful defeat can be the best lesson
Pete Sampras lost the US Open final to Stefan Edberg in 1992 and later called this defeat the “wake-up call” he needed to understand how difficult it is to become the best in the world. Everyone knows what happened then - Sampras set a record by finishing the season as world number one six times in a row.
Instead of blaming failure on circumstances beyond your control, find the flaws in your game and work on them. After all, you can completely control your actions.
Tennis is a sport that demands a lot from a player, and you can hardly ever say that you have reached your ceiling in all aspects of the game. Sometimes only a painful loss can show you what you're missing and motivate you to train to take your game to the next level.
Recovering from a painful injury does not have to be a difficult or drawn-out process. If you realize that this happens to everyone, that you did not play worse, and that defeat could become best teacher, you will not only return to your previous level, but will soon become even stronger.
You can't control winning and losing. But behind the desire to improve your game there is always a choice, and this choice will sooner or later lead to success."
Apparently, these truths are instilled in tennis players early childhood in sports schools. Therefore, the absolute majority after defeats say something like - I lost, it’s a shame, but it doesn’t happen to anyone (see point 1). Some, who have already achieved a lot, bring their fans to white heat, optimistically telling in those moments when it seems that the whole correct world order is collapsing, something like this - I lost, it’s a shame, but I played well, and in general I didn’t get worse from it, all the blows are with me, and everything will be fine (see point 2). Well, about the fact that the ideal is still far away, and we need to work, work and work (see point 3), everyone is just tired of reading. But the interesting thing is that these simple spells help them. This means that maybe someone else will be helped in a difficult situation.
There are many situations in life when things don’t end our way. How to deal with this? How to teach a child to accept defeats with dignity? What is it absolutely impossible to lose at? Priest Vitaly Vorona, rector of the temple Pochaev Icon Mother of God Kramatorsk, helped us understand these difficult issues.
Success or failure?
Before you understand how to lose, it’s worth defining what success is, what this concept means for us. Very often, victories and losses turn out to be completely different from what they initially seemed. If you take the most high example- the life of our Lord Jesus Christ - then from a worldly point of view He lost: he was betrayed, mocked, and ascended to the Cross, on which he died. But after some time this defeat turned out to be greatest victory: the salvation of the whole world. Or the first canonized Russian saints, Boris and Gleb - they also failed: they were killed, and power went to another person.
Goals and victories are different, it all depends on the point of view and perspective. It is not always easy to assess the situation in real time. We need to see what fruits what is happening will bring, and only then can we say whether it was a success or a failure. Many contemporaries considered King Herod like a god. He had special honor, dressed in rich clothes, sat on a throne, had eloquence, but it all ended very badly: he fell ill terrible disease, and he was literally eaten by worms.
Despite everything - don't give up
Wikipedia gives the following definition: “Success is the achievement of a goal or result in a project; public acceptance" What success should be depends on the person and the goals he sets for himself. What may be a failure for one may be a victory and have deep meaning for another.
It is very important to teach children to have a healthy attitude towards losing, because success is only possible through overcoming defeats and failures. This is proven by numerous achievements and scientific discoveries, many of which were not spontaneous, but were the result of hard work in achieving a goal. The goal seemed illogical and impossible, but there were people who had the desire to achieve it. Classic example- Edison and his light bulb. To find the right material for the filament, he had to try six thousand options. It is important not to give up when you fail. We need to convey to children that failure is not when it doesn’t work out, but when you refuse to make it work.
It is important not only not to be afraid to lose, but also to set goals correctly. A person’s whole life is a struggle between good and evil, a daily choice between them. Important for correct goal setting correct system values. This also needs to be taught to children, but first we need to learn it ourselves. Children usually do not what we tell them, but what we teach them. by example. We can say anything in theory, but if we don’t act as we say, it will be even worse than if we didn’t teach anything at all. Therefore, first of all, you yourself need to learn how to lose with dignity and set the right goals.
Practice helping children
If we talk about how to practically teach a child to accept a loss with dignity, then we need to start from age. For example, children under five have a completely different mindset than ten-year-olds. Moreover: they themselves can often teach us a lot. But even at this age we notice certain character tendencies in them, on which their ability to lose also depends. It will be easier for a phlegmatic child to cope with a loss than for a sanguine or choleric child.
In such a situation, you just need to support the child. Try to let love lead us first and foremost. First, we, adults, must believe and understand that success is impossible without falls and defeats. Secondly, we must show that our attitude towards a child has nothing to do with his successes or failures. He must believe that he is loved, and not loved for his victories. Thirdly, it is important to teach that, despite failures, you still need to try to go towards the goal. If he doesn’t want to do this - and there is always such a temptation - it will be necessary to convince him. I believe that you should absolutely not give up what you started.
Don't lose your life
In the same way, we, adults, must not lose our lives - not lose the most important goal of our existence, which will sanctify all the goals that we set for ourselves every day. So we get up in the morning, some drink tea, some coffee, and some cocoa, and in the meantime we set goals for ourselves: what to do during the coming day. Our day is filled with meaning. But if we do not have the most important goal - the salvation of the soul - then these everyday tasks can become false.
It may happen that, when we come to the end of our life, we see that the achievement of all everyday goals is left behind. We still have some period of time, but we don’t know how to fill it. If we set ourselves a goal that lies beyond the boundaries of our earthly existence, then, firstly, we will protect ourselves from such a situation. Secondly, our daily tasks will remain the same in nature, but will be sanctified by a different meaning: the search for the key to heaven. This key is love. The Kingdom of Heaven is the kingdom of love, and those who do not have it will not be able to enter there. This means that he will not be able to achieve the most important, most genuine success of his life.
About humility and SMS from God
The main goal in life cannot be achieved without humility. Without it, you cannot learn to lose, and without knowing how to lose, you cannot learn to win. If we are not humble, then our life and attempts to win will be akin to flagellation: in the end, a person simply cannot withstand the pain of disappointment. Humility is when we accept the will of God and entrust ourselves to it. We must try to accept everything we have and think about how we can develop what is given to us. An ignoramus can become an erudite if he is a humble ignoramus, that is, if he accepts his situation as a given and does not stop trying to correct it.
Often these people and I discuss the task of humility. They say: you Orthodox believe that you are sinners, you are picking on yourself, what’s the point? The point is to understand who I really am. Am I really who I think I am? The Lord helps us stop stepping on the same mistakes and get on the right path. And the failures that happen along the way are SMS from God that He sends to us when we are going in the wrong direction.
Co-creation with God
Let us remember the parable of the talents: the one who did not increase what was given by the master lost. When the Lord gives a talent, he does not indicate exactly how to implement it. This is our co-creation with God: it doesn’t matter how you increase your talents, it’s important to increase them. This is something you absolutely cannot lose at. You need to continue to work, look for ways to realize it, don’t stop on this path, because if you stop, then you’re dead - even if you’re still walking, but you’re no longer living inside, you’ve lost your life. Non-church people remain so until they touch the main goal. As soon as they understand that they need to set the bar as high as possible, in eternity, then any segment of life will be filled with meaning and sanctified. The Lord sanctifies it, brings His order into it, and this is the most important thing.
Once again about children: raising a successful child is no small achievement. It is important to give children the opportunity to go through life joyfully. Failures are steps to success. The faster you go through them, the faster you will reach your goal. Therefore, defeats should be perceived not as a result, but as new point reference point, closer to the target than the previous one.
Recorded by Ekaterina Shcherbakova
In life and business, not everything goes smoothly. In general, everything never goes smoothly. But sometimes in life something happens that is, in general, a complete failure. Well, that's complete. This is when you want to fall underground. And it seems like you tried to do everything, tried as hard as you could, but it didn’t work out. You tried to fix everything and prevent failure, you strived for the goal - but it didn’t work out. And not only did it not work, it failed miserably. What I hoped for and strived for turned out to be exactly the opposite - it was a defeat.
This is one of the most serious tests for a person it is a test of defeat. It is at these moments that a person’s personality reveals itself most in a bright way. From shades of gray it becomes black and white. How to survive defeat and make the most of it while remaining on the bright side of life - some tips on what to do during this very difficult time for you.
Take a break so as not to mess things up
If a failure occurs and nothing can be fixed, you need to pause. Eat Twix. The train left, the cast was removed - the Client left. Everything happened. There is no point in twitching and fussing. Take a breath and calm down. One breath doesn't help, take several. The blood is still boiling, you are going through the events in your head last days, hours, minutes, trying to understand why. Who is to blame, why did this happen. At these moments, images of what will happen next arise in my head. What a shame and all that. It doesn't matter now. What happened is what happened. And you can't get this back. This doesn't mean you don't care. If you don't care - it's a big problem in future. But now we need to calm down, otherwise we might get into trouble. People make the biggest mistakes right after they realize that everything is a failure.
Tomorrow will come tomorrow. And today's problems will no longer seem so terrible. There will be horror, horror. Not horror, horror, horror :)
So take a break. All the worst is in the past. And this is so - the very beauty of defeat, that it can’t get any worse. And this is good.
Show some dignity
Ooooh. How I love watching people in such situations. This is such a litmus test. In these moments yours worst traits character and nature are trying to break all shackles, break all restrictions. And if this happens, this is a real defeat. This is a total scam. Therefore, at such moments, simply crush it within yourself with an effort of will. Show your dignity. This also includes respect for the one whose fault you are in trouble with - an opponent, a competitor, a boss. This is also respect for those around you who were involved in this matter.
It is much easier to show dignity if you pause and calm down. It's just a lot easier. But even if you couldn’t calm down and everything is boiling, show dignity. Otherwise, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
Those who show dignity in such situations are remembered and then it is much easier for them to move on. And this is good.
Support others
The people around you, the people who were with you in this project, business, game - it’s very difficult for them now. They, your team members, are now more vulnerable than ever. It is at these moments that teams are truly formed or completely fall apart. In moments of experiencing defeat. Support your own people, support them with words, jokes and your behavior. It's incredibly difficult. But this is how real leaders emerge and this is how real teams are formed. It is very difficult. But as soon as you overcome this barrier and start doing it at this difficult moment, you will like it. I know it from myself. And you will like how many of those who are next to you - together with you and with your help - are experiencing this defeat. There will be those who cannot overcome themselves. They will be rude, fight in hysterics, and do things that they will greatly regret later. But this is a great litmus test for you. You will never know this in ordinary life. And this is good.
Learn the lessons
Drawing conclusions immediately after a defeat is a thankless task. Therefore, after time has passed, when everything has calmed down, emotions have subsided, everyone has spoken out - we need to start analyzing what actually happened. Be sure to conduct an internal analysis of why this happened. Without self-flagellation and all that. With myself. And learn the lessons. Believe me, the most best lessons you will learn precisely from defeats. Own defeats. And try not to forget them. Because if you make the same mistake twice, it already looks like a clinical case. And such cases are very difficult to treat.
So learn from this unique experience. They will make you wiser, much more protected from future defeats and mistakes.
And this is good.
Enjoy
In the end you have to understand. That defeat, so bitter at the moment of its experience, is one of the most best moments in your life. The best in terms of your growth, the best in terms of how much it protects you from further even louder defeats. For one beaten, they give two unbeaten. And this is a medical fact. For example, I am always afraid to hire people who have not had any defeats and everything was smooth. They are either lying, or everything was fine with them before. This means it is a big risk. Because people who have experienced defeat acquire something that cannot be obtained otherwise. Some kind of immunity. So enjoy it all - you have been given a painful vaccination. It is painful or even very painful - but it will protect you from real illness. And this is good.
The sooner you begin to move on, with lessons learned and a positive mood, the sooner you will overcome the bitterness of defeat and the closer you will be to new successes. Therefore, do not delay the process of experiencing defeat. And move forward. And remember - for one beaten they give two unbeaten. Now you're beaten. And this is good.
Summary
As you already understand, defeat, if you do everything correctly at this moment, is the best thing that can happen to you and this is truly good.
Well, the last piece of advice for today. When you realize that everything is a defeat, remember this post and move strictly according to the instructions outlined here. And all will be well.
So that everything goes well with you
Everyone has faced personal and professional defeats and major failures in their lives. Those who are considered chronic losers do not get out of this state for years; for others, defeat is an extraordinary event. Some experience such situations extremely painfully, others quickly recover and move on. The ability to accept and competently use a failure, drawing from it experience and lessons for the future, is very useful skill, psychologists say. But this also needs to be learned.
“And now - disco”
A fresh example of the collapse of hopes, illusions and expectations is the World Cup that ended in Russia. The winners are rejoicing, the losing Croats and their fans are trying to come to terms with the facts. However, the latter’s tears due to the loss quickly gave way to tears of happiness: the very next day after the championship, July 16, Zagreb welcomed silver medalists, as victors and heroes, and they themselves behaved exactly like that. Croatia even organized a new competition with France - on the topic of who rejoices more, and tried to at least outdo the enemy in this. The pages of Croatian fans are filled with photographs of celebrations from France and Croatia, designed to show how sadly the French are celebrating and how fun the Croats are.
But in the first minutes after the end of the final match, the Croats were overcome by very contradictory feelings, which they shared with the MIR 24 observer.
“We were unlucky with the first two goals, although it’s hard to say that our team played poorly. They played great, and, I think, better than the French. But we didn't have enough luck. A little more and we would have defeated them. But, in any case, I am very glad that I am in Russia. This is a great experience for me. We also visited Nizhny Novgorod, everything is fine,” said Marco (looking saddened, to say the least).
“We are very pleased with this spectacle and the results of our team. We think that we were better than the French and lost undeservedly (one penalty is worth it). But the French turned out to be more effective, they used their chance, but we did not. That's all. The French are younger, but our team is better. And for a small country like we are, this is in any case an excellent result. And we don’t look happy because we are tired - many flew in on the morning of July 15 specifically for the final match, didn’t sleep for 24 hours, and now we have to fly home. Some of our compatriots spent almost a month in Russia, but not everyone could afford it - some had to work. Therefore, in Russia we saw nothing except a bus, an airport and a stadium, which we really liked. I hope that on our next visit – which, no doubt, will take place soon – we will see more,” Damir hopes.
“It was the greatest match for Croatia. Our team played very emotionally, but we were really unlucky. I think there shouldn't have been a penalty. But I am very proud of my country, although I, like everyone else, expected our team to win. One way or another, we saw wonderful football, our team is the best, and the French simply used all their chances wisely,” Davor is sure.
“I don’t want to talk to anyone right now, but I want to cry. I want and I will, don’t take me off,” Jacob was upset. – Some played terribly, but don’t print that. And the weather was terrible, and when we lost, it started to rain. Heaven cried with us. This is true".
“You know what...We lost, yes. I can’t say that we won, no matter what – it didn’t happen. This is terrible, just a nightmare. But personally I am very happy! How is this why! Because I flew to Moscow, because the Croats danced today,” Kreshemin rejoiced with a huge (and obviously not the first) glass of beer in his hand.
Domagoj, the namesake of one of the Croatian national team players, was also both upset and happy at the same time. “But the game was good anyway! We lost - ok, it's over. Now I can’t hang myself on Red Square! Now we're going to have a drink. Where is your club with beer and punk rock?” - he asked.
Luka didn’t know what to say at all. “What can I say! I came for a group of friends, I’m not a fan at all. Well, ours lost, it’s sad, but not the end of the world,” the guest from Croatia noted gloomily.
The “independent referee” – Russian football fan Vladimir – was objective. “The game was interesting, I feel sorry for the Croats, although the French won with dignity. The goals were scored beautifully and very competently, the fight was fair. The French are a serious team, and the Croats are young, let them train further,” he advises.
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
It all depends on the person’s personal perception of loss, a psychotherapist and coach is sure Alexander Polishchuk: the attitude towards what happened will determine both feelings and further actions. “Either the attitude “I’m bad, I’m a loser, I’ll never succeed, this is not mine” will be reinforced, psychotrauma, or the person will realize: yes, it’s unpleasant, sad, offensive, but this is experience, and experience makes us stronger . Therefore, it is important to learn how to turn any loss into experience. Defeat is not a collapse, not a crime, it is a mistake, and a mistake is equivalent to experience. Therefore, it is already possible to take some positives out of the experience,” he says.
Hence the first rule: find the positives even in defeat, without diminishing the negatives. Defeat must be recognized as a fact, but further analyzed: what useful things can be learned from this situation in terms of further self-improvement.
The second point: a person hopes for the best, strives for the ideal, but in a specific situation he does only what he can. Therefore, there is no point in reproaching yourself after the fact for not being up to the mark: you did exactly what was “best” in this situation. More effectively, having analyzed mistakes, it will be possible to act tomorrow, but not “yesterday”. “Yesterday a person could jump a meter, today or tomorrow – ten. This means that yesterday the limit of his capabilities was exactly this, and no other - he simply could not jump ten meters,” says the expert. So, you shouldn’t blame yourself for this.
The third point is reconciliation with loss. “To be reconciled means to be at peace. Don’t resist, don’t be angry at your loss and yourself, but come to terms with it. Let the couple get out, scream, get angry, and then just accept the fact. It happened, period. But you shouldn’t leave this in limbo - next you need to work on mistakes, think about how to act in such a situation next time, play out the ideal option in your head in order to do better next time,” says Alexander Polishchuk.
But the most important thing is the understanding that life always consists of a series of victories and losses. “Winning is good, but so is losing, in terms of experience and lessons learned. You need to develop stress resistance, the right attitude to the situation, which will help and support, and not kill. The more experienced a person is, the easier it is for him to accept defeat. If a person loses in the first game, it is, of course, difficult for him. If he has hundreds of games and hasn’t always won, then losing should be easier to accept,” the expert believes.
This begs the question: when should you stop? For example, if a person loses 3 times out of a conditional 200 games, this is one situation. If 100 – different. But does it make sense to fight if he has never won?
“Let’s imagine two boxers, one of whom won 20 out of 20 fights, and the second - 20 out of 50. But the second has much more experience, his body is trained to various surprises, and, accordingly, he also has more chances of winning. In terms of experience, the amount more important than quality. If out of 10 fights all 10 are lost, either it is not yours, or, on the contrary, it is a signal to continue, but only if the person himself likes it. The world knows stories of success that came to a person only after long years hard work, this happens - although this is rather an exception to the rule. But these people did what they liked, they did not force themselves. Such people, even if they lose 10 times out of 10, perceive everything differently because they are playing their favorite game. It helps a lot to love what you do. In this case, the loss is interpreted not as a reason to give up everything, but as an incentive to develop further,” emphasizes the MIR 24 interlocutor.
One way or another, you need to learn to lose from childhood.
“Some people are not used to losing, and it really bothers them. They do not know how to accept loss, they give up every time, they avoid difficulties, look for easy ways, and crave constant approval. Such people will be neither successful nor happy. Or, on the contrary, if a person is a perfectionist, he will demand the maximum from himself and from others, which is also too much. And the reason is common: in childhood they were not taught to lose, to shake hands with an opponent, to go deal with their emotions so that they come out, “dissipate”, and, finally, start working on mistakes,” says the expert.
Athletes in this sense are the standard: they constantly play, experience both victories and defeats, because they enjoy the process itself. " Good athletes often go into business and management - discipline helps, the ability to take yourself “by the scruff of the neck” and move towards the goal, through defeat, through “I don’t want to.” They see the meaning in this - it is necessary, therefore it is necessary. Therefore it is important to early years to accustom children to sports, so that, falling and rising, they learn to achieve their goals,” says Alexander Polishchuk.
"I didn't have enough luck"
As for the notorious luck, you shouldn’t rely heavily on this ephemeral phenomenon - nor should you attribute all the events of your life to it.
“Luck or chance may exist, but they are dictated by some cause-and-effect relationships. A person can say that he was unlucky - he didn’t have time for one minute, went the wrong way, turned the wrong way, and so on. But, in fact, the person himself made the decision to delay, to choose a different path, his brain calculated this action based on experience. It happens that a player - a true professional in his field - gets nervous or loses his temper emotional condition, instead of concentrating, he became emotionally involved in some other process. I missed, I didn’t do something, I couldn’t. From the outside it seems that, being a pro, he should have managed it - he was just unlucky, but the reason is that he was shot down emotional mood. That's why professionals train to win in any situation. Even if they are shooting around, they must do their job clearly and evenly. The essence of training is to calculate possible force majeure, to be prepared for endless surprises and options. If a person has played, including training, not 20 times, but a hundred thousand times, his body is more experienced, his brain has a more extensive repertoire of options. So, behind what is commonly called luck and fortune, in fact, hides a colossal amount of work,” the expert noted.
In this sense, the principles are the same in sports, business and personal life. “It doesn’t matter where the loss happened - on the football field, in a career or in personal relationships, you need to recognize the fact and not resist it. Yes, it happened, but it doesn’t mean that I’m bad, worthless and weak. You cannot automatically attribute all these qualities to yourself in case of loss. You need to let yourself cool down, as they say, spend the night with these thoughts, and then mobilize and analyze your mistakes. Understand what advantages there were in this situation, thank yourself for these advantages, for trying, and then, having understood what is necessary for victory, tune in specifically to it,” summed up Alexander Polishchuk.
Fascinated by the beauty of stadiums and rings, the sounds of fanfare and the crackle of fireworks, we watch the Olympics, competitions, championships, matches. The plasticity of perfection, excitement, luck - all this is created by sports people. What value do their victories achieve? Exorbitant loads, fatal breakdowns, fortitude, fear of defeat... The price of victory is life and fate.
Each of us has encountered defeat and failure along the way, because we, regardless of the chosen field of activity, overcome a life-long distance. Essentially, everyone has their own treadmill, ring, ice arena and chess game.
How to survive defeat, how not to lose motivation, where to get it from internal forces to get up, be able to see mistakes and start working on them? What to do when you are overwhelmed with feelings of pain, disappointment, anger, fear and guilt? Guilt for the unjustified expectations of those for whom you are an idol, those who invested energy and time in you, preparing you for the next fight. Trainer of the mixed martial arts club "Styag" Alexey Goremykin believes that defeat is a turning point, but not a decisive moment for an athlete.
“For any athlete, not only in the field of martial arts, defeat is always turning point in a career. When entering the ring or cage, you must be mentally prepared for any outcome; of course, you only need to tune in to victory, but, unfortunately, defeat is also part of any sport. How the fighter’s career will develop further will depend only on him. It is wrong to decide that this was all you were capable of and you did everything you could. The correct perception of loss is to return to the gym, study mistakes, highlight weak sides and work three times harder.”
The ability to effectively cope with defeat is the key to an athlete’s success. Unfortunately, very often people surrounding the athlete downplay the significance of the current situation. One of the few ways to provide support is to say: “Don’t worry, it’s just an experience, everything will be fine” . But in this way, the feelings of a person who has suffered a sports failure are devalued. This attitude reflects negatively on the athlete’s personality, especially if he is a child, and the chances of coping with this situation are reduced to a minimum. In the event of a sports defeat, it is important to give yourself the opportunity to emotionally experience the situation, in other words, to grieve, because any defeat is a loss, the loss of something important and valuable. On average, this period lasts from several hours to 2-3 days. At this moment, it is very important that a person significant to him is next to the athlete - a parent, coach, psychologist. Next, it is very important to consciously analyze the situation from the perspective of what was done well, despite the negative result. Finding good times and positive moments provides a source of motivation and strength to overcome.
Trainer Alexey Goremykin also believes that there is no need to deny the fact of defeat, but placing emphasis on it is also wrong.
“I would advise you not to focus on this. Understand and accept that this happens and there is no escape from it. In any case, you need to have a good rest and go to the gym with renewed vigor. Carefully analyze the fight with the coach and team. Work on mistakes and tune in new fight. Index correct attitude to a loss - a victory in the next fight.”
It is necessary to rely on real action and facts. Afterwards, you should highlight one or two specific problems who prevented us from achieving positive result. These problems are points of application of forces in the upcoming preparation; one task will be a priority, the second will be additional, in case there is a failure in work on the first. It is important to realize the fact that there are always mistakes, it is important to see them and find resources to correct them. A mistake does not mean the fact that you are not capable! It is very important to exclude the concept of “unlucky”, because a person who is unlucky will not change anything about himself, this closes the possibility of analysis, and this is the first step to the next loss. A paradoxical, but justified step is to develop a constructive action plan in case of defeat: “What will I do if I lose again?” For example: what will I try to change in my behavior and my preparation. Uncertainty (fear of the unknown) is removed, which reduces the possible fear of failure and increases confidence in the possibility of solving the problem. To avoid defeat, in some cases you must first accept the fact of its possibility. In order for this task not to be a setup for defeat, you need to develop a plan not for the defeat itself, but for actions after a possible loss. This is enough in-depth analysis, which is best done together with a psychologist, since effectively experiencing a defeat requires time and special skills.
In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of one of the most successful athletes of our time Michael Jordan:
“I've lost almost 300 games in my career... 26 times I've been called upon to make the game-winning shot and missed. I have failed in my life over and over again. And this is exactly what made me successful. You are not a loser until you give up!”
This is how champions are born!
Article prepared by: Head of Department sports psychology Mixed martial arts club "Styag" Alena Samarina
Special thanks to the coach of KSE “Styag” Alexey Goremykin
