Pressure is such an important part of an athlete’s world. Often, it can be the pushing factor for improvement, yet can also be a burden that creates negative, unhelpful attitudes towards their sport. Athletes, individuals and teams alike, fight an internal battle against their own expectations and self-doubt as they compete. The mental component of team and individual sports is a huge part of success for both, which begs the question: are team sports more mental than individual ones, or is it the other way around?
In individual sports, without a team there to provide support, athletes experience a lot of self-imposed pressure. “There are internal pressures that I put on myself, and having to live up on those self-imposed expectations is pretty difficult,” Sophie Pham, a member of the swim team, said. “I’ve put more time and effort into the sport, and the idea of wanting your hard work to pay [off] adds to the pressure,” Pham added. All of this pressure can make people underperform and even destroy their sense of self-confidence. Pham said that, in individual sports, “if something were to go wrong, there’s no one else to blame but yourself.” Without teammates there to provide support, pressure can quickly become a burden instead of serving as motivation.
Despite needing to work in a group setting, athletes in team sports experience the same mental struggles that individual athletes experience along with new, team related ones. “There’s the additional pressure of like team sports that everyone is relying on you,” Pham said. Every person within a team has to pull their weight, and that responsibility can act as a stressor. “If someone was a great physical athlete, but they didn’t have the mental aspect, they would get crushed” Elijah King, a baseball player at Garfield High School, reflected. Denny Beaumon, an Ultimate Frisbee player at Garfield, agreed, “[frisbee is] definitely more mental … you have to mentally beat the other team.” Beaumon also believes that “if someone knows mentally how to conserve their energy, they’ll be able to beat you.” Someone’s best performance comes from being in shape physically, but also, as Beaumon said, “keeping your cool [and] staying calm and collected.” Though very mental, the team aspect of sports like frisbee and baseball provide support for every athlete within a team, alleviating some pressure.
Ultimately, there is no finite answer to the question– all athletes endure pressure in their own ways. Some sports like swimming, being an individual activity that places much importance on pre-competition preparation, can be very mentally taxing. While sports like ballet, an individual activity with a team aspect, can be equally mental and physical, requiring both strength and a positive mindset in order to succeed. “Ballet is a very taxing, both physical and mental, sport. It takes a lot out of your body … [but also] very mentally draining,” Jack Hindocha-Daniels, a former Garfield student and ballet dancer, said. Mentality and physicality are two sides of the same coin; both are crucial for success but the former can be very hard to master, in team and individual sports alike.
