The point of a contest is to see how one can raise one's level of performance. Some don't see it that way, however; they see competition as a means of dividing the people into winners and losers.
An important distinction is that competition is not so much with the opponent as with oneself. It's basically true that if one plays well enough, it doesn't make any difference what the opponent does. It's also true that figuring out how to outwit an opponent, especially one with superior ability, is a lot of fun.
Any discussion of winning begins with the subject of desire. Certainly, desire is a greater gift than physical ability. For some people there is a need to win-losing is a blow to their self-esteem; most of us, however, would prefer to win.
Eventually, each athlete discovers that others are better. Contrary to how it sounds, this is helpful-it allows him to focus on his own development, and not continually compare himself to others.
When asked about his level of play, the player responds by describing his best wins. To protect his self-esteem, he offers contrived excuses for poor performance. An honest self-evaluation is more than a reality check; it's essential for learning the basics of the sport.
Tennis is not a test of pretty strokes but of attitude and effort. It's easy to get discouraged, especially when one thinks he's losing to a less talented player. Confused and disrespectful, he asks; "How can I be losing to this guy?" Consider the plight of the tournament's #1 seed: Supposedly the best player, he should win, and then what does he have to gain?
Confidence. One gets it from a variety of sources, but mostly from winning.
When the #1 seed wins the tournament, he walks away with the trophy and, most importantly, with the belief that he can succeed. He knows that there may be better players in other tournaments, and that this victory will assist him in defeating one.
In every match there are problems to solve; naturally, we prefer it easy, but when it's a struggle, we gain more. Look at it this way: with each failure we're one step closer to success, and the most useful lessons take the longest to learn. Learning how to win is easier than learning how to handle winning. There's a celebrated phrase from Kipling that suggests success and failure should each solicit the same response. (It's painted above a locker room at the entrance at Wimbledon.) For most of us, though, that's tough to do-we allow defeat to depress us, and we celebrate too much winning.
A loss can be motivating-it gives you a clear picture of what you need to work on. Winning may be the greater problem. A victory can deceive you into believing that you've arrived. By the time you finish congratulating yourself, your next opponent has you down match point. The student must learn that even with his trophy there ís still lots to learn. By doing so, he'll be able to win bigger trophies.