Win/Lose
by Nick-At-Will

Jahangir Khan wrote in his book: "You must not be afraid to lose...and you must not be afraid to win!" Perhaps that should come under the heading of: "Winning isn't everything, but losing is nothing! How about the old adage: "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game that counts." Maybe that should be changed to: "It's hot how you play the game, it's whether you win or lose that counts!? Jahangir also has some other interesting quotes...like: "You can't go on winning all the time!" And: "To be the best, I had to work harder than anyone else!"

What is it...that on the competitive field (squash in this case) there are those who find a way and keep winning, while others never find a way to win...and continue to lose!?

Has it ever been considered that those athletes who continue to win, are those who are afraid and cannot tolerate losing!? Well...sports psychologists have a few things to say about that! Regarding the fear of losing, they say things like: "You've failed in the past; You were criticized or been punished for making mistakes; You're a perfectionist; Your self-worth is attached to your accomplishments and performance; You feel inferior; A narrow, fixed definition of failure is success; You doubt your ability and aren't sure you can do this."

So...is becoming a winning quash-player more about working harder than anyone else and being afraid to lose, than actually doing all that it takes to be a winner!?

Or...is it like Martina Navratilova once said in an interview: "I figure I was blessed with a certain amount of talent, and if I work harder than anyone else, I'll be tough to beat!" And: Whoever said, "It's not whether you win or lose that counts,"...probably lost!

And...in a recently broadcast-ed question and answer interview regarding being the world's #1 squash-player for nine straight years and winning eight World Open Squash Championship titles, Nicol David said: "You have to do whatever it takes to be world #1; You have to be patient; You have to be open to learn and open to change."

Lessons learned!!