Sport-the Ways of to Improve the Standard free essay sample

The Ways of to improve the standard of SPORT in our country. Sports can be defined as physical activities in which people compete against each other to win. In some countries, sports arena seemed to be dull and extremely limited when most of the athletes or sportspersons failed to show the true colors of theirs in most of the championships. That’s why we need to follow a few reachable steps in order to revive Malaysian sports. In this manner, our sports can be enhanced gradually and be better than ever. Mental toughness is a quality that is highly valued in sport.It is considered essential in those athletes who aspire to success in world-class sport. At present there is much debate on what it is and how to develop it. In this paper mental toughness is discussed in detail from a philosophical and practical perspective. The conclusion is that mental toughness is related to that degree of motivation a player possesses and is developed by good coaching, a well designed programme of preparation and appropriate competitive experiences. We will write a custom essay sample on Sport-the Ways of to Improve the Standard or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is commonly assumed, owing to the nature of sport, that mental toughness is a quality that all serious competitive players should possess.It appears to be a concept that most people are familiar with and use about peoples behaviour in various contexts. It is a complex concept, particularly with respect to why some people appear to have it to varying degrees or not to have it. It will be of interest to coaches and players therefore to identify the specific characteristics of mental toughness and the different situations in which it is manifested. With this information it may become possible to provide some guidelines on how to develop mental toughness in players. The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of mental toughness, to consider whether or not mental toughness can be developed in players and, if so, how might this be done. All players must acquire a knowledge of the sport, technical and tactical skill, fitness and develop appropriate attitudes in order to improve their performances and so become competent players of their sport. Mental toughness falls within that aspect of performance known as attitude. Attitude is used here to refer to players behaviour with the purpose of making clear what is entailed in mental toughness behaviour.It is assumed that mental toughness is not only an appropriate attitude to adopt in certain situations but is also highly desirable. Appropriate attitudes in sport derive from several sources. As one normally takes up a sport voluntarily as being worthwhile to play such attitudes arise as love of the sport, care about how one plays it, pride in how one plays and a commitment to the standards inhe rent in the sport. From the notion that sport is a social construct initially played for peoples enjoyment and satisfaction derive such moral attitudes such as fairness and consideration of others interests.Mental toughness falls into that group of attitudes that derive from sport as competition to engage in it is to engage in a contest. As stated above the point of a contest is to try to win. It is assumed therefore, that if the players seriously engage in a contest they will be committedto the task of trying to win. Presupposed in such a commitment is the belief that the goal of winning is realistic and can be achieved. It is unlikely that any player of a sport will make a serious commitment to try to win if he did not believe that he could do so.Such a belief presupposes that the player is confident to sufficient extent that he can achieve the goal. The effort of trying to win is expressed in determination behaviour that the player should persevere with until the contest is ended. To apply oneself in this way requires concentration, the focus of attention, on the task of winning. These four attitudes: commitment, determination, perseverance and concentration are necessary in any activity in which individuals want to achieve a successful outcome. They are fundamental to mental toughness behaviour in sport or any other activity.If players of a sport do not manifest such attitudes in competition it would be quite valid to ask them if they understand the point of the contest and if they do then perhaps some thought might be given as to what their actual purpose is. Though these four attitudes are necessary to mental toughness they are not sufficient. Mental toughness behaviour requires rather more. Reference to the Eskimo may help to make this clear. The Eskimo who knows how to cope to achieve his goal and adopts the appropriate attitudes to do so may find that under very extreme conditions even he has to drive himself beyond his known limits to survive.He has to dig deep into his mental and physical reserves to the full extent that he is capable of and hang on simply to endure the hardship until he achieves his goal. If he cannot he will not survive. In such a situation it is quite reasonable to assume that he may experience an unacceptable degree of mental stress, e. g. a state of panic. If so he may require that degree of self control necessary to keep calm in order to make decisions about what actions to take to achieve the goal regardless of the adversity. To keep cool under pressure.Failure to do so may result in poor decisions about what actions to take; so increasing the chances of failure to achieve the goal. This is when either stoicism or strength of will, the two means of self-control, may be required. The stoic will maintain his self control by disregarding or acting indifferently to any suffering that he may be experiencing. He will not complain about it or feel sorry for himself . The practised stoic will adopt such an attitude as a matter of habit when faced with adversity. The question does arise as to whether the stoic would experience a state of panic but being human I assume that it is possible.Alternatively, or in conjunction with the stoical attitude, a person may apply strength of will to control his emotions, to keep calm and try to make decisions about what action to take to face up to and cope with the adversity in order to achieve his goal. Strength of will would be more likely with those people who have not learned to adopt a stoical attitude. It is a feature of the stoic that his disregard of the adversity allows him to get on calmly with the job. It is a feature of the person who requires a strong will that they will try hard to face up to, and get on with, the task at hand.In addition, relative to the difficulties presented by an extremely adverse situation, both stoic and non-stoic may also need certain other qualities to achieve their goal. It is unlikely that the going will be smooth; there may be setbacks and failures as is the case in sport when confronted with an opponent who is both an obstacle and a creator of obstacles in the contest. Consequently the qualities of tenacity and resilience may be necessary in negotiating obstacles and recovering from any setbacks. Because of the nature of a contest in sport a player may need to be adventurous, to take a isk in trying to seize those opportunities that may arise which further the possibility of winning. These three qualities and others, e. g. being obstinate and unyielding, derive from the attitudes of determination and perseverance in that they are ways of describing players determination and perseverance behaviour. In sport the non-stoic may also need courage if he perceives the situation as fear making in some way, if he is scared of being hurt, to overcome the fear and to maintain his efforts to win. If the non-stoic is not scared then obviously courage will not be required. The mention of fear suggests that the need for mental toughness may also be required in situations involving mental hardship. For example, a player in competition can experience self doubt, a loss of confidence, fear of losing and suffer mentally at the thought of the possible consequences of losing, a loss of status at failing to meet others expectations that he ought to win. Such players may also require courage and strength of will to overcome their doubts and to fight through. It would appear therefore that self-control is a necessary condition of mental toughness and this is obtained by stoicism or strength of will.Where a person must apply strength of will, courage may or may not be a necessary feature of mental toughness depending on whether or not a person perceives the situation as fear making. It is a necessary feature of competitive sport that players must compete. Competitive sport at the highest levels provides a context in which players are often confronted with degrees of adversity that demands from them not only high level skill and fitness but also the mental attitudes which are inherent in mental toughness. To increase the possibility of winning when confronted with such adversity players would benefit from being mentally tough. The government must get kids involved in sports at early age to improve our country sports. According to Jay Marciano (2006) he stated that â€Å"sports in the country have stagnated over the years due to an apparent lack of participation from the younger generation because too much emphasis is being placed on academic excellence†. nowadays, the mentality of our society focuses on the academic brilliance and neglect the sports development in our country.It is important to bear in mind that people can succeed in both academic and sports. The youngsters can be excellent in both fields if they are given a chance by the parents to prove their abilities in sports. Therefore, parents must play a big role in encouraging their children to get involved in sports. Besides, the ministry should concentrate on discovering young talents by providing and hiring eligible coaches to train the kids at primary and secondary schools. If it is necessary, the foreign coaches should be imported to our country due to lack of professional and skilled coaches.Furthermore, the monarch of the high jumping world, Javier Sotomayor from Cuba stated that his country has developed a detailed system to identify and select talented youngsters. As a result, Cuba has won many gold medals at the Olympic and world level since 1959. Next, the government should launch more big sports events in our country to create a sporting culture and as platforms to find new talents. The Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman Said said that it was decided that any party can held sporting events that could help the government in finding champions to represent our country.It is indeed a brilliant idea to allow all parties in our country to plan and organize sports even ts to the citizens. When sports competitions are widely held, there will be no difficulties in finding the creme de la creme in the country sports arena to represent the country at the international level. Besides, the Ministry of Youth and Sports must encourage the society to take part in sports events and make sports as one enjoyable occasion for everyone. With that, they will know the importance and benefits their generation can gain for joining sports at the higher level.Totally, our sports will be so much better than before as the citizens become appreciative in the sports pitch. Finally, the government must upgrade the sports facilities in the sports complexes in all states. In order to do so, they must also allocate funds with higher amount to the sports councils in the country. The standard of sports can definitely be augmented gradually by instigating these steps because of our country’s condition now. As we can clearly see, the country sports level is beyond our satisfaction.It is about time to change via implementing new prompt innovative suggestions that I have mentioned above. Actually, the steps of upgrading and increasing the sports complexes in our country should be done long time ago as there is nothing to worry about in terms of the impact to the Malaysian’s sports future. The athletes would be more inspired to achieve the goals when there are supports and contributions from the government with the building of the proper amenities that give conveniences to them.In conclusion, there are many incentives that we may stumble on to improve the standard of our country’s sports. All we have to do is to select the best ones and execute the chosen ones. Sports are something that contributes a lot to our country. Thus, we must give our utmost to launch the best efforts to developing this arena. It is apparent from the foregoing discussion that the steps taken to develop mental toughness differ little, if at all, from those taken by good positive, caring coaches when coaching any player.Ultimately, mental toughness is a quality required and expressed by those players to whom the goal is all important and who want to achieve it to the extent that they will make an extra effort, i. e. dig deeper and if necessary endure extreme adversity to do so. The coach can play a significant role stimulating and encouraging the desire to achieve intrinsic goals in a sport, by praising the player when he does achieve, and by providing the appropriate skill, knowledge and experiences that enable the player to develop the mental toughness to do so.