There is an experience that is shared by all former athletes after they step out of a competitive world. At some point, we find ourselves as a spectator for the first time, sitting in the stands or watching on the TV focused primarily on the entertainment value. Yet, the experience goes deeper than that, as all of those years of training and detail start creeping back into our minds. I’m sure I’m not the only former player who has unknowingly barked out strength calls or adjustments at a television. For us, watching our sport is a different experience. While some see only the larger movements of the game, we see tactics, nuances, and details that have come from our experiences. We become more active and engaged in the observation – even feeling our bodies reacting, or verbalizations rising up in our throat in response to key moments in the game, match, or meet we are watching. Each of us has our own reaction. Can we sit and truly enjoy the sport without our feet in the action?
This is one of those questions that, at first glance appears to be an easy one. Of course we can be ‘just fans’ when we have that opportunity. Then, the emotions start creeping in and the gears in our head start spinning. Yes, we love our sport. We had to in order to commit ourselves to it to the degree required of competition at a higher level. The higher of a level we experience, the more we know about the tactical side, the preparation, and the adjustments. And then, there is the emotion. We have a fuel and a mechanism for burning it that many others don’t have. It is highly understandable that the experience of spectating might be different for us.
Most sports fans find enjoyment in the games of their choosing because they develop an emotional connection to their favorite team or athletes. They engage in the drama of competition. They become involved in the outcome of the moment at hand by living vicariously through the ups and downs of their favorites, and the connection they experience has a very real impact on their frame of mind. If our team, or our favorite player, pulls off a big win, we ride the highs of victory right along with them. The same is true, of course, with the lows. Any true fan knows just how emotionally attached we can be just watching a game. It’s part of the fun, and it’s why sports are such a dominant part of our entertainment experiences.
How, then, will this level of emotion impact a person who has actually been IN one of those games, matches, or races? For us, the experience is more than just a vicarious one. It is a reconnection to a significant part of our lives – a source of affirmation, a framework under which we grew up and became fully formed human beings. Our experiences will certainly differ from one another as widely as do we as people, and yet we can count on the fact that there will be an emotional impact once we do sit down to spectate.
The range of possibilities extends from the unremarkable to the overwhelming. Our transition from doing to watching will most likely be formed by two factors. First, our personalities in the broader sense have an impact. Are you a ‘hands on’ kind of person in all things in your life? Are you always the first to volunteer to jump in on things as pivotal as a lead on a project at work, or as mundane as taking out the garbage? Obviously, if your personality propels you to be actively involved in other things, the prospects of sitting down and watching passively is something that probably fills you with dread. That goes without saying. If, on the other hand, you are either a more passive person by nature, the idea of watching other people grind out the game while you relax and participate only between your ears is probably a slice of heaven to you.
The other factor in the way in which we’ll experience spectatorship will be determined by the manner in which our competitive experiences ended. This is the subject of other posts here at Competitor Shift, and it’s back here as well. The nature of our relationship toward our sport is often dictated by how that relationship ended; simply put, we’ll miss it if it ended well, and we’ll avoid it if it didn’t. Regrets and resentment color our view of our sport when we are done – that’s only human nature, and completely understandable. While even that changes over time, it does set the frame for the transition. Who wants to sit and watch something with which we have a negative connotation?
Obviously, there are other factors and a broader range of possibilities that play into the experience of watching our sport when we’re done. Let’s dive in here, and see what other kinds of things we either have in common, or not. Do you enjoy watching your former sport, or is it stressful for you? Are there regrets or fond memories? Even more importantly, what strategies do we bring to the experience to maintain a healthy outlook on something that is such an integral part of who we are?