Competitive Practice

So, the previous post- quote- extolls the virtues of 'having fun' in sport.  This post extolls the virtues of competitiveness.  I recall Michael Jordan saying that one of the best things about his college coach, Dean Smith, was that he made practices competitive.  Under Smith as an assistant, current UNC head Coach, Roy Williams, used to track the performance of each player in practices. Here is an article that touches on this aspect of Coach Smith.
"Much of practice was competitive, and often the losing team in drills and scrimmages had to run."
Read more at http://www.wralsportsfan.com/respect-discipline-among-lessons-from-the-dean-s-office/13132307/#f5vGu8mW1QUcxK4l.99

In another article, UNC's legendary women's soccer coach, Anson Dorrance, winner of 20 NCAA titles, talks of the influence of Coach Smith.

"Coach Dorrance measures and tracks everything his players do in practice, and calls this atmosphere the “Competitive Cauldron”." 

For some, there is a tension between competition and fun.  Some dislike competition and perform better when the stakes are low.  Michael Jordan thrived on competition.  It seemed to make him focus and excel all the more.  This was clearly an asset on the basketball court, but can be destructive in daily life, if, say, you need to gamble to enjoy a round of golf .  Jordan was motivated to prove every detractor wrong, and seems to have the memory of an elephant when it comes to slights received, as his hall of fame speech attests to.

So, how can 'fun' and competition co-exist in a health balance?  Can the competitive mindset be let go of when the context calls for humility, graciousness, and gratefulness?  The post baseball life of Pete Rose might indicate no, but maybe someone like Magic Johnson might indicate something else.

Tiger Woods on Earl Woods,

Don't force your kids into sports. I never was. To this day, my dad has never asked me to go play golf. I ask him. It's the child's desire to play that matters, not the parent's desire to have the child play. Fun. Keep it fun.

Tiger Woods

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/tiger_woods.html#2QMHZjM3qpaUT36x.99


Regardless of what you think of Woods the younger, he dominated golf for a long time.  This quote (and I've heard other similar ones) points to role of fun in sports and in instilling a sense of intrinsic motivation in athletes.

Hello World!

This blog is an inquiry into performance - most especially, how the human mind can be used or trained or manipulated to one's advantage or disadvantage.  It is founded by a former athlete and hobbyist photographer who was maddeningly inconsistent, and, more frustratingly for him, acutely aware of his inconsistency.  We hope to draw from  the world of sports, of brain science, of art, of literature, of psychology and of all sorts of human endeavor to explore what makes humans perform well, and perhaps more importantly, take satisfaction in their life's work.  We are skeptical of cliches, tips, new age-y, stuff, but not above it.  We hope this blog will be of relevance to athletes, coaches, teachers, managers, artists, creators, researchers and to the curious.  We acknowledge the tension between the intellectual dissection and classification of performance and its attendant anxieties, and the 'flow' of actually just 'doing it', so, we'll search for sustainable practices and processes rather than just observations.  This tension is the thrust behind the moniker of the blog, 'The Smart Play Dumb'.  Please do let us know what you think.