By Lindsey Wilson on February 9, 2015
We’ve outlined below 20 quotes and the lessons behind them from athletes and coaches on different aspects of competition: from prepping for competition to how to finish one, we’ve pulled out and summarized what we feel are the most relevant points about this thing we love about sports.
1. SET THE BAR FOR YOURSELF.
It’s really easy to get wrapped up into thinking competition is about one game, one moment, one event that will summarize who you are as an athlete. While athletes revel in the passion and pain of making decisions in a single moment that will affect the rest of their lives, that moment actually rides on what is done every single day up until then.
When you train, you shouldn’t be training better than the competition: you should be training better than you. That time you got on your laps yesterday, today aim to better them. That weight you benched yesterday? Up it today. Know what your expectations are for you, whether its laps, reps, throws, spikes, or goals, and then live up to them.
You have competition every day because you set such high standards for yourself that you have to go out every day and live up to that.Michael Jordan, former professional basketball player
2. FIND AND STAY IN YOUR “ZONE”.
The “Zone”: that mysterious place of athletic ecstasy where effort turns to ease, you find your rhythm, and doing your best leaves you with more to give. Ursula Grobler has talked about how she was in her Zone as she achieved her 2010 Erg World Championship.
Part of the magic of finding and staying in your Zone during competition is that you’re no longer competing in your mind. That is, you’re not preoccupied with thinking about what you’re doing. You’ve trained enough; your body and muscles know what they’re supposed to do. Just let them do it and enjoy the ride, enjoy the game.
When I go out on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition.Katarina Witt, retired German figure skater
3. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.
No matter how hard you train, no matter how deep in the Zone you are, it’s almost inevitable that, somewhere along the line, you’ll be taken by surprise. Whether by weather, a teammate, an injury, or an opponent, there’s much that’s unpredictable about sports. But, admittedly, that’s one of the reasons why we love it so much.
Therefore, look forward to being caught off guard, train for it, expect the unexpected, and you’ll never be thrown off your game.
You’ve got to expect things are going to go wrong. And we always need to prepare ourselves for handling the unexpected.Neil Armstrong, American astronaut and first person to walk on the moon
4. COMPETITIVE TOUGHNESS IS A LEARNED SKILL, NOT AN INNATE GIFT.
Some of the most accomplished athletes were also some of the least expected. From horse racing (remember the unlikely horse, Seabiscuit?) to the Paralympics (Aimee Mullins), we learn over and over again that competitive toughness isn’t always about the best genes, the best coach, the best equipment, but about who has the best attitude for learning what it means to be a tough competitor.
Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift.Christine 'Chris' Evert, former World No. 1 professional tennis player
5. FEEL THE PRESSURE.
Nerves are telling and a great indicator of how well you’ve prepared. While you ought not go into a competition a jittery bundle, going in without any nervousness is a sign that you may be suffering from overconfidence, a trait that can be just as detrimental as a lack of confidence.
So, all in moderation, good athlete: be confident, but be on your toes, too, because if you’re not at least a little nervous, you’re not doing your part in expecting the unexpected (see quote #4).
If you’re not just a little bit nervous before a match, you probably don’t have the expectations of yourself that you should have.Hale Irwin, American Golfer
6. FOCUS!
In line with confidence is clarity. You’ll experience clarity of mind (i.e. thinking about “absolutely nothing”) when you find and play in your Zone.
Surely you’ve heard the saying “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Why does this adage ring true? Because, when you’re having fun, you’re not thinking about the time, not thinking about what you’re doing. You’re just focusing on the moment, on this thing that you love, whether it’s spending time with someone special or doing something you enjoy. And that’s precisely what you need to excel in your sport: a gratitude and love of the game.
In doing that, you’ll find your focus.
Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is absolutely necessary.Ray Knight, American former MLB in-fielder
7. DO IT FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME.
We can’t say it enough: love your sport and it’ll love you back. It’s rare, if not impossible, to meet an individual who is exceedingly successful who doesn’t absolutely love what they do, and there’s a good reason for it: when we have a strong passion for the task at hand, we tend to concentrate harder, focus more, and put every ounce of sweat and effort into doing that task the best we possibly can.
Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.Michael Jordan, former professional basketball player
8. SUMMING IT UP!
So, let’s summarize what we’ve covered so far: concentration/focus, confidence, and a love of the game that drives us to continuously improve. Yep – Arnold Palmer had his 4 C’s right.
Get your priorities straight and, while you may occasionally lose a game, you’ll never truly lose competing against the person who matters most: YOU.
Concentration, confidence, competitive urge, capacity for enjoyment.Arnold Palmer, American golfer
9. REMEMBER THE BIG PICTURE.
Losing stinks, but it’s an inevitable part of competition. Even the best athletes don’t win 100% of the time. If we’re only competing to stock our shelves full of medals, trophies, certificates, and titles, the disappointment of losing will be hard to swallow and our athletic careers will be nothing more than a disappointing struggle.
By looking at the big picture—on why you’re competing (because you love it!) and for who (YOU!)—you can move past those intermittent losses with a strong mental resilience and bounce back into the sport with a renewed and unrelenting fervor.
I think it’s really important to look at the big picture instead of just one competition.Shannon Miller, American gymnast
10. YOU ARE YOUR OWN POWER…
Part of realizing the Big Picture is recognizing that you are your most passionate fan, toughest coach, and hardest critic. You can have friends who encourage you, but they can’t make you want to do well. You can have a coach who pushes you, but they can’t force you to practice.
You are your greatest power and the only competitor you’ll face who really matters.
The best competition I have is against myself to become better.John Wooden, American Basketball Player and Coach
11. …AND YOUR ULTIMATE COMPETITOR.
As you spend more time with someone, you get to know their tiniest flaws and smallest successes, their greatest secrets and most hidden fears. It’s human nature to become critical of these things, causing us to either like or dislike these people more as time goes on.
We’re around ourselves all the time–you can’t escape you, after all–so, naturally, you’re your own biggest critic. Criticism doesn’t have to be followed by feelings of failure or offense. It can be the source of growth, improvement, and acceptance of ourselves as works in progress. Criticism can bring out the ultimate competitor in ourselves or the biggest loser; can cause us to fight harder or to back down; can make us see both how far we’ve come and how far we’ve yet got to go.
There’s great truth in the old saying “Better the criticism of a friend, than the kiss of an enemy.” You’re stuck being your greatest critic, no doubt. What really matters is the source of the criticism–does it come from a friend or a foe? Will you choose to be your greatest friend, or your greatest enemy?–and how you choose to react to it.
This ability to conquer oneself is no doubt the most precious of all things sports bestows.Olga Korbut, four-time Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast
12. DON’T EXAGGERATE THE PRESSURE YOU’RE UNDER.
Have you ever had trouble sleeping and, in an effort to sleep, told yourself you must go to sleep? If you’ve experienced that dilemma, you’ll know that, the harder you try, the more awake you feel! Maybe you think, “If I fall asleep now, I’ll get 8 hours rest,” then “If I fall asleep now, I’ll get 7 hours rest,” and so on and so forth into the night.
Why doesn’t putting more pressure on yourself work? Likely because, when you start counting the hours, you start thinking negatively about what will happen if you don’t fall asleep right now: sluggish practice, missed class, a groggy next day.
Letting our minds run away thinking about all the what-if’s and maybe’s and pressuring ourselves to “get it right” can, ironically, distract us from performing at our very best. Worrying about pressure leads to worrying about failure, and, as top performing athletes, we shouldn’t be wasting our time on negative thinking and anxiety.
Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it’s because you’ve started to think of failure.Tommy Lasorda, MLB player (former) and sports manager
13. SELF-WORTH MATTERS.
Low self-confidence is a performance killer and a barrier to a successful athletic career. It’s one of the many signs of depression, a serious condition that can suck you of energy, ambition, and purpose.
Winning and achieving goals requires that you must (1) believe you are capable of achieving those goals and (2) that you are worthy of achieving those goals. A simple mantra like “I deserve this” can propel you forward. Remember: the best competitors have an IDENTITY and they prepare in accordance to that identity. If you identify yourself as a less-than-deserving athlete, you’ll never make it.
If, on the other hand, you see yourself as an athlete worthy of success, well… you get the picture.
Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy.Mike Ditka, American football player and coach
14. HARD WORK IS IRREPLACEABLE.
Money does a lot of things, but it doesn’t do everything. It’ll buy you a new car, but it won’t take care of it for you. It’ll impress your neighbor, but you can’t buy love with it. Neither can money win you Olympic Gold or an NFL Championship or a World Cup trophy.
You can’t wish things into existence, either. You can’t sit back and wish for your lap time to get better, or for your muscles to get stronger, or for your lungs to breathe harder. For those things, only hard work will do, so you’d best get to it.
The Six W’s: Work will win when wishing won’t.Todd Blackledge, former American Football Quarterback
15. “LUCK” IS MADE, NOT OBTAINED.
Luck has little to do with success. Even lottery millionaires, as lucky as they are to have won it big, can fail miserably financially if they don’t learn and practice good money management skills. True success comes from hard training and from being diligent in working toward your set goal, not from luck.
The more I practice, the luckier I get.Carl Jerome 'Jerry' Barber, American Professional Golfer and 1961 PGA Champion
16. PAIN: IT’S GOOD FOR YOU.
Sports are no easy task. There’s a lot to remember, a lot of rules to follow and things to do. There’s a lot of information funneling through your body and brain to get you from start to finish. All that work is bound to hurt.
Pain, like losing, is part of the athletic game, so, if you’re going to go all the way, be prepared to suffer for it. But, trust us, it’s a good pain.
Ask any athlete: We all hurt at times. I’m asking my body to go through seven different tasks. To ask it not to ache would be too much.Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Joyner-Kersee, retired American athlete, one of the all-time greatest athletes in the women’s heptathlon
17. OH, THE BEAUTY OF IT!
Aimee Mullins is a unique example of what makes being an athlete so awesome: she is relentless, powerful, and strong in both body and mind. In one word, she’s beautiful.
Excelling in sports require that we be the best we can be, and that means we need to transform into our most complete selves, starting on the inside. It takes strong character to push through the physical and mental pain, the agonizing losses, and the dullness of repetitive practices. In that strength there is beauty and, in that beauty, we discover the true athlete within ourselves.
The power of the human will to compete and the drive to excel beyond the body’s normal capabilities is most beautifully demonstrated in the arena of sport.Aimee Mullins, American Paralympic athlete, model, and double amputee
18. ON THE NEVER-ENDING BATTLE
Even when an athlete “makes it”, the battle isn’t over. Self-improvement is a constant uphill struggle and the instant we slide off that mountain top another athlete will be there, ready to take our spot. Competition requires that an athlete be prepared constantly in body, spirit, and mind, and that means doing the drills—the physical ones and the mental ones—even when you’ve already mastered them.
Success isn’t owned – it’s leased. And rent is due every day. Every single day, someone’s coming for your job. Someone’s coming for your greatness. If you’re the greatest, someone wants to be the greatest, and so if you’re not constantly improving your game, somebody else is.J.J. Watt, Houston Texans All-Pro defensive end
19. THE GAME VS. THE WIN
If you could be handed a gold medal for your sport of choice today, without having to earn it, would you?For the true athlete, the answer is a resounding “no”.
True athletes we love the game, love the competition; we love the pain and the thrill of victory. That’s why winning, for us, isn’t everything. Sure, it’s something, but not everything. When the athlete plays the game, he plays to challenge himself, not necessarily to win.
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.Dale Earnhardt Sr., American race car driver
20. FEAR CAN’T BE BEAT, BUT IT CAN BE TAMED.
Even the greatest heroes feel fear, so for an athlete to rattle off that they’re not afraid of going up against a
worthy competitor is simply a show of hubris, perhaps even immaturity, not a sign of having “made it”.
Fear is a natural response and a completely normal (and healthy!) one. Fear can either drive us back, or push us forward to play harder and stronger. When you’re up against something that scares you, which path will you choose?
A pilot who says he has never been frightened in an airplane is, I’m afraid, lying.Louise Thaden, American aviation pioneer and holder of numerous aviation records; first woman to win Bendix (air racing) trophy
What lessons have you learned about competition that you’d like to share? Post them here for other readers to enjoy and benefit from!
