The Fear of Winning
Date 12-06-2005 22:18:25 | Sujet : Divers
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During a recent youth championships I observed many situations during bouts where what psychologists call "fear of winning" was quite evident.
Let me first state that what we are talking about here are still very young athletes, not older than 14; therefore, the experience and the emotional stability is not so well entrenched as one could expect to find in more mature athletes.
This status of emotional instability is often compensated by the coach's presence near the strip who, beside advice and technical suggestions which he can give to his students, by his mere presence by the strip he provides his student with a pseudo emotional stability which the young person can't often find in himself, at least under certain circumstances.
To understand all this, one just needs to look at the eyes of the young athletes when, before a bout, they scan the room in search of their coach who is still far away from the strip.
But this is not all there is.
The fear of winning is there, lurking in the folds of their brain.
I saw fencers losing bouts which were considered already in the bag, having to stand the joy of the opponent's parents, and the consternation of his own fans. I saw coaches shaking their head incapable to explain the unexpected and abrupt below par performance of their pupils.
What makes the stress of fear of winning even greater are the frequent and useless protests by the coaches against the referee's calls. I noticed that these interruptions, which obviously can never produce anything useful, actually severely ruin the concentration of many young athletes who, because of all the commotion, cannot find again their rhythm in fencing.
Giacomo Paleni says that the fear of winning can be found in all athletes at any level: this becomes the dominant feeling before and during the bout. Obviously the fear of winning is an oxymoron and a paradox: the purpose of competitive sport is first and foremost to win. So, why many athletes, when they are almost there, trigger a subconscious mechanism for not winning? One cannot rationally explain the fear of winning and yet it clearly exists. We can even estimate that between 20 to 30% of all athletes are suffering from it in a more or less evident fashion.
HOW DOES IT MANIFEST ITSELF
As soon as the athlete thinks that he can win, fear blocks him and he cannot win any more. He can win only if he is not aware or does not realize that he is winning.
Often we can see great performances in pools, with consequent easy victories, while the athlete is aware that he can even lose a single bout without severely affecting the second part (direct elimintion) of the competition. Then in DE you see him losing either the first or second bout, often after having had a lead up to a certain point, until the fear of winning blocks our young athlete.
POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR THIS PHENOMENON
1. Some well known sport psychologists (Antonelli) give us a Freudian explanation. In order to win one must have a certain dose of aggression. However, if the athlete is raised in an environment which does not condone aggression, and even more if one of the parents has always frustrated any aggressive tendency in the child athlete, it's probable that the adult athlete (but in the subconscious we are all children terrified by the paternal authority) perceives his own competitive success as an act of disobedience, just because of the aggression which he must now find in himself. Winning equates disobeying the father/mother and this would provoke guilt.
2. The athlete may be perceived as a great fencer by the coach, other experts, but he does not feel this way about himself. He lives in the illusion that the great performance will come one day, but because of one excuse or another, he always delays the big moment of truth. If/when he wins the big one he could taste this moment of truth: but what if he fails? Better gain some time and postpone the moment of truth. Meanwhile, time goes by and the big hope remains just this for the rest of his life.
3. This is also the case of an athlete who wins big once, against everyone's expectation, which surprises everyone, himself included in the first place. After the big achievement he gives up, does not want to test himself any more for fear of disappointing himself and the others. The opponents will always be too strong, insurmountable.
The fear of winning therefore, seen as the fear to have to repeat the ability to win in front of one's coach and parents, usually happens more often with those athletes who have the potential to win, but aren't yet fully conscious of their own real abilities.
The coach, in this case, is fundamental to instill in his students the ability to handle victory or loss, to build confidence in one's capabilities, and most important than anything else to not penalize the losses with disappointment or even worse make him feel guilty.
This very important aspect of the life of an athlete, the "fear of winning" is just as important and fundamental as technique and physical training. It should be one of the kernels on which to work so that the capabilities of our athletes can be fully realized.
The role of the coach therefore, is not only to produce champions, but to succeed in realizing the full potential of each athlete inculcating in each one trust and confidence in the realization of the athletes full potential.
Sergio Brusca
Club Scherma Roma
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