Desire

i think it's innate. and everybody has this desire. when u're in a competition you'd probably have it too much. when you're playing a recreational game you'd have it not enough. when you're playing someone 10 times better, you'll prolly not have it at all. i tihnk that explains it.haha

 

True champions are born not made.

Just think about the weeks and months of effort that go into preparing for one major competition, if you havent got the will to win at an early age you simply wont put in the time or effort (or if your forced too you will be prone too weakness).

 

you can't "learn" somebody to want to win...If it's there (however small) it can be stimulated though...
it's not just the american-dream pure blood winners that have a desire to win...good coaches can drag it out of you...if you want it...

 

I can see it in my three kids ( the fourth is too young yet).

My oldest has very little competetive spirit.

My little girl declared just past her third birthday that she was going to Olympics for swimming ( and having made the swim team this year at 5 years old, appears to be able to back up that claim)

My second son is alreasy showing the same drive his old man has. Dunno it it's for badminton, but has hand eye co-ordination and temperment already one up on his oldest brother.

 

Im always very pumped up on court. Off-court is a different thing. Sometimes I feel like I need to train till I fall from exhaustion, other times I just swing a bit and do something else...

 

We're all born with that desire all right.. how do you think mankind got so far?

But of course, in everyone the desire 'level' varies. Take myself for example. I love the game, and sure, winning is fun, but sometimes I enjoy slowing games down.. clearing more often... I mean, in social games, I don't mind losing, unless it's to a complete beginner.. and if I do lose to a beginner I know I'll have made that person's day.

Of course, I'm talking about social games/training time. In a competition.. well, my mix partner's dad once told me, "Either you go in with the aim to take the title, or don't sign up at all." To which I realised, 'Wow man, he's dead serious!' Of course, we won the title for that tournament.. with those kind of words in my head who could possibly give anything below their best? Lol.

But the important factor for this inborn desire to be realised is support. Friends, coaches, family, all these people are vital. Unless you're some kind of machine that doesn't need support from others.. well, when I know I have people supporting me, watching my game, I sort of feel, you know, pressured. And you don't want to let these people down..

Of course, from a different perspective.. if you know there are people out there who want you to lose.. that works fine too, to bring your desire to win even higher. Perhaps even better than positive support. Once a guy heard I was against this girl.. he just smiled mockingly, sorta smirked, and on top of it all, said, "You're gonna die man!" Well, I lost the first game 4-11, then won the 2nd game 13-10.. and won the 3rd match 11-4. Looking back, perhaps it was his words which spurred me on to win. No one expected me to win the 2nd game, with me down about 7-10, but something snapped into place within me and I somehow won that game.

Of course, the pep talk my coach gave me after I won the 2nd game during the 5 min break was extremely encouraging too.. nothing better than hearing your very own coach, probably the person who knows your game best tell you you can win the 3rd game with no problem.

Thus, it can be concluded that each one of us just needs someone to drag that desire to win out from us.. perhaps even through negative means. =D

2nd conclusion: I'm longwinded.

 

fully concur with 2nd conclusion!


and yeah, i think 'dragging the desire' outta different people has to come by different means.
for instance, i have a friend who likes to be abused, ie calling him useless or bad-mouthing his game to work him up till he sees it as a challenge and then plays better.
however, that didn't work with another friend, in fact it made things worse.
we later discovered that you have to be more encouraging with him by telling him that it was just a small mistake and that we're sure he could do better before he improved.

again, different strokes for different folks ... hmmmm ... that's twice i've used that now in this forum.