Healthy Competitiveness in Sports

It is just amazing what humans can achieve once they put their minds to it. There is a drive within us to excel and succeed in the things we invest our time and money in. One of the strongest driving forces that pushes us forward is our ‘Competitive Human Nature’. As humans we have a natural urge to be better than others and push ourselves to the limit to prove our skill and capacity. 

However, this natural drive can have a positive and negative effect on us. Every coin has two sides and so does human competitiveness. Competition taken with a healthy and positive attitude can push us to reach new heights. On the other hand if competition is handled with a negative and obsessive attitude it can be the burden that pushes you off the edge. 

As athletes we are constantly put in situations loaded with competitive tension. This is why adapting to it and taking up a positive perspective towards it is vital. If we don’t monitor it properly, our competitive streak can instantly become more dangerous than beneficial to our professional and personal success. But what is Healthy Competitiveness or Unhealthy Competitiveness? We will be discussing this in detail now. 

What is Healthy Competitiveness?

If we talk of healthy competition the first thing that most people think of is ‘Team Spirit’. This is a valid point but only for Team Sports. What about Individual Sports? Contrary to popular belief, ‘Team Spirit’ isn’t something you can only develop if you work with a team. It can be fostered by those playing individual sports as well. Shooters tend to be seen as lone wolves, who enter the range solo, shoot their shot and then exit just as swiftly. 

However, shooters can also build up team spirit despite being involved in a solo sport. We should think of the people around us as our team, like our coaches or shooters we train with. Instead of competing with fellow shooters just to win a medal and surpass them, helping them train and feeling joy in their success and achievements can help foster healthy competition.

Fostering healthy competitiveness will ensure you have a mindset that is rooted in growth and not only winning. It will help you understand that the journey towards winning is much more important than winning a medal. Such a mindset always favors natural success that is rooted in hard work. As one adopts healthy competitiveness as their way of life they never undermine their own achievement, even if they do not win, or their competitors’ achievements.

Taking part in healthy competition will not only help you at the range but also in life. Life can have its ups and downs just like shooting and this is why if we have a positive and healthy perspective on the downs, getting back up will be much easier. By engaging in healthy competition and influencing others to do so as well, athletes can push each other to perform better and excel as a unit. All of this can happen without developing bitter or negative feelings towards your competitors. 

What is Unhealthy Competitiveness?

When one puts the success of their hard work solely on winning or defeating a competitor, they are participating in unhealthy competitiveness. This is because when we compete we are often drawn to our competitors outcome more than our own. As a result we undermine our own result and end up giving too much importance towards beating one’s competitors. 

When we focus only on winning a competition or scoring better then others, we are throwing away all our hard work down the drain. We end up devaluing or overlooking the growth we achieved through our journey. Athletes need to focus on how they themselves performed and not on how their competitors performed. They need to learn from their own journey first and then also try and learn from their co-athletes as well.

Another disadvantage of indulging in unhealthy competitiveness is losing the opportunity to learn from every competition. Even though you don’t win a competition there is still a lot you can learn from it. However, you will lose this opportunity if you are preoccupied with your competitors result. Figuring out how much you have grown and improved, as compared to previous competitions, is the right way to measure your success. 

If winning or losing determines your personal satisfaction then you are not participating in true sportsmanship. If you have a negative force pushing you to success, know that this force will soon run out. There will always be someone better than you and so comparing yourself to others will never have a positive outcome. 

Tips to Encourage Healthy Competitiveness

As we have discussed, indulging in healthy competition pushes us to excel and helps us aim higher. It helps us look beyond the material nature of winning a medal and encourages us to develop healthy sportsmanship. There are many ways one can incorporate healthy competition in their lives, especially when they are at the range. Here are some ways we can all adapt a positive attitude towards competition –

1. YOU ARE YOUR OWN COMPETITION – When we are competing it is natural to want to win and be number one However, comparing yourself to others and commenting just for the sake of winning is not the correct way to handle competition. We should only be focusing on ourselves and our growth. Everytime we step out to compete we need to only try and better ourselves. This is one way we can truly enjoy our success and accept our failures. 
2. JOURNEY >>>>> DESTINATION!!! – No matter how good you are at it, you can never be certain about winning a gold when it comes to sports. There can be infinite reasons for your momentary failure and that is the way of life. It is when we let failure overshadow the hard work we did, that we truly fail. The process of growing as a sports person and bettering yourself everyday that matters most. One day of competition cannot give you lasting personal satisfaction. So always look at the journey and not the result.
3. ENJOY EVERYONE’S SUCCESS – There will always come a time when someone better comes along. No one can stay number one forever. This is why a true sportsperson is happy even when they don’t take home the prize. They can accept the achievements of their competitors and even enjoy their happiness. Bitterness towards competitors can never result in anything good. 

When we encourage healthy competition, we allow ourselves to be more than just the number of medals we have won. It is true that every sportsperson has a special relationship with their sport and this is why it is very important for this relationship to stay positive. When we indulge in healthy competitiveness we do not let winning or losing affect our love for our sport. If we let a small medal affect our attitude towards our sport, we will never be able to truly succeed. 

If you liked our thoughts on Healthy Competitiveness and how a shooter can deal with it, let us know in the comments section below. Tell us how you deal with winning and losing, or how you encourage healthy competition at your shooting range. Help others improve!!! Keep Aiming High Shooters!!!