Losing is one of the worst feelings in the world. But losing is a normal part of the game. So how do you deal with the pain? Why does losing feel so bad? These are just the few questions that come to my mind when dealing with a loss even on the smallest of levels. Losing has to be the last resort in any situation when you are competing. To be a true winner in sports losing has to be absolutely terrifying.
A loss starts inwardly. As athletes, we look to blame ourselves. In addition to losing the match or training game, we lose sleep, we lose peace, and we lose joy. Then you look around at the others on your team. Teammates could start talking behind other teammates backs, unfortunately. Fingers are pointed all over the place. A soft voice of encouragement becomes a thundering thrashing of swear words, anger, and disappointment. You question your ability to be on the field. The coach questions his starting 11. The world is ending, and you don’t want to speak with or see anyone.
I would treat losing as a lesson. What am I doing wrong? Am I doing enough? These are the question I would ask myself and reflect on the match or training game that just happened. I used losing as a starting point to rebuild myself and come back stronger and smarter. In professional sports if you lose to many times you can count on it that you won't be competing at a professional level anymore. This is the harsh realities to the game and players have to understand this to build a winning mentality and attitude. "If I lose to many times I may not have a chance to be a winner where I want to be."
This was what fueled me through out my career. Training matches in the week leading to the match on the weekend became really intense because true pros understand if your team that you are apart of is not winning during the week your probably not going to be selected on the weekend. Winning is everything and is contagious but losing is also contagious. But it is contagious if you let losing define you while letting it spread like a plaque to your fellow teammates. Be brave when handling losing, look at it dead in the eyes and work harder to change a losing attitude. Thats the reason why coaches say keep your head up after a lose.
"A lesson is always learned from a defeat, find that lesson"