Why Play Sport?

General footbag-related topics that don't fit elsewhere go in here.
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Jeremy
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Why Play Sport?

Post by Jeremy » 24 Jul 2010 16:52

I've tried to start a lot of topics about this, but I always end up deleting them because I can't really say what I want. So I'm going to be a lot shorter on this one and mainly just ask questions.

I've been asking myself this question a lot lately, partly because a lot of other people have been asking me, which is related to the other reason, that I've broken 6 bones in the last 4 years playing sport, and played 2 games of Australian Rules Football in 2 seasons. Despite these injuries, I *really* want to play, and they haven't diminished my passion at all. Many non-sporting people I know question the rationality and intelligence of this.

It's easy to think of lots of reasons why people play sport, but I wonder how many of those are true. Would you keep playing footbag if you were the only person left alive in the world (assuming you had time and equipment)? Would you keep playing if you completely stopped improving and had no chance of improving more? Would you keep playing if a drug was invented that made your body fit and healthy regardless of exercise? If I went through all the reasons for playing sport and constructed these kinds of scenarios of removing them, what kind of combination of reasons would need to be taken away before you stopped playing?

I guess this topic is about sport generally, including but not specifically focusing on footbag. Do you play other sports? If so, do you play them all for the same reasons, or do you play different sports for different reasons?

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Post by pips » 24 Jul 2010 20:38

I think the driving force in any of the sports or activities I do is the pleasure resulting from them. It is all in my head and like any other addiction.

Because of that, if I injure myself, I will more than likely deny it and ignore it to continue to play to the point that I have to stop. Then I will heal and get right back to it, because I enjoy it. It would take a lot of injuries and physical limitations to stop me, as long as it is not a crazy dangerous activity. I am totally into something like kickboxing but skeptical at the same time, because I don't want to be demented at an early age from too many blows to the head.

There is always room for improvement, but even when I feel like I've hit a plateau, if I enjoy something enough, I will still continue to do it. And the feeling I get once I overcome a plateau and begin to improve again is awesome.

If I could be healthy by other means, I would still do what I enjoy. Even weightlifting. I could see how lots of people would skip that if there was something else to keep them healthy and built, but I really enjoy deltoid or ab exercises. And I love the sore feeling as a result of working out, like it is a drug to me.

Take away the pleasure of any sport or activity, and I'd quit, or I would find it hard to keep it a habit.
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Post by PoisonTaffy » 24 Jul 2010 22:32

For me, it's a combination of the satisfaction of achieving small goals with hard work, and then showing these goals off when I get the chance.

So, in answers to your questions: If I were the only one left alive: I'd quit. If I couldn't improve anymore, I'd quit. If I had drugs that replaced exercise I'd still play, but would drop gym.

I asked myself if I could go back in time, would I start playing footbag at an early age. The answer, to my surprise was not an automatic "yes". I might have done other things, like martial arts, guitar, and electronics or whatever I always wanted to be really good at. Makes me feel strange for playing footbag now.
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Post by SlashC » 24 Jul 2010 23:38

Haha, I don't know why, but when I opened up this thread I expected to see a gatorade commercial.

I play footbag because I find it challenging and it gives me a medium for self-expression and improvement.
Would you keep playing footbag if you were the only person left alive in the world (assuming you had time and equipment)?
Yes. I am mainly motivated intrinsically. I play elbowbag even though nobody else really plays it.
Would you keep playing if you completely stopped improving and had no chance of improving more?
I would be more likely to stop since the self-improvement aspect of the activity would be removed.
Would you keep playing if a drug was invented that made your body fit and healthy regardless of exercise?
Yes.
If I went through all the reasons for playing sport and constructed these kinds of scenarios of removing them, what kind of combination of reasons would need to be taken away before you stopped playing?
I would stop playing completely if I found footbag unchallenging, static, and ill-suited for expressing myself (all criteria must be deleted). I might also stop if I found an activity that better meets my criteria.
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Post by Pattycakes » 25 Jul 2010 07:08

Playing a sport is all about team effort. It would be tough to practice any other sport besides individual sports like footbag or swimming or like javelin or something because you dont have the ability to improve without help and experience the game with other players (like you said) and that would be pretty discouraging because i do play sports to have fun but also to push myself to my physical and mental limits to improve and to be able to see that improvement in my game

If you were really passionate and were the last person on earth i guess you could pretend like you were running through a bunch of defensemen if you wanted but how quickly will that get old?

Lastly I have broken a couple bones skateboarding and i never stopped until recently when I had to get knee surgery for a torn miniscus from skating. Other than skateboarding I love Hockey and I dont think that will ever change. I dislocated my shoulder, messed up my hip and my back from playing hockey but im never going to quit. Its just too much fun to stop because even though im injured im still itching to get on the ice and play.

All in all it depends how devoted to the sport you are, with footbag il always kick it around and have fun with it no matter what injury occurs its just tough to feel motivated when you feel like your at a dead end. Which even if you are the last person on earth, your probably still not at a dead end... I mean look at this beautiful forum, someone had to have learned something from the footbag community.
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Post by Reid » 25 Jul 2010 15:57

I like to look good in my speedo.




Though that is true, I feel sports is also a productive way to escape from the day. Instead of watching tv in my freetime, I can get fit and gain a sense of accomplishment. Also there is a nice social aspect to most sports.
In addition to footbag I also play water polo for the same reasons.
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Post by landon palmer » 25 Jul 2010 16:16

if footbags were made of poison i wouldn't play.
Would you keep playing footbag if you were the only person left alive in the world (assuming you had time and equipment)?


haha Ive thought a couple times when i left the house without a bag "what if an apocalypse happened I DON'T HAVE MY BAG"

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Post by Jeremy » 25 Jul 2010 19:52

@Reid - Escape. I think that's probably my main reason. The others are just bonuses. I think it's more than escape though. There's a feeling you get before really big games of sport, not so much in footbag. I find it very hard to define, but I guess it's a mix of excitement and destiny - like you're in control of your life. Of course you aren't always, but you need that kind of confidence at a high level I think.

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Post by Dat » 26 Jul 2010 09:54

I had been thinking about this question since you started this thread, and was going to say the same thing: escape. I have issues with escapism for sure. I find it a lot easier to be happy within sport microcosms. I think it's because those are generally the only times I'm fully engaged and my brain is off, ie not worrying about other things.

There's also a lot of satisfaction from being good/getting better in a specific domain. Definitely developed a decent amount of self-efficacy from participating in sports.

For team sports, it's a great feeling to play well as a team and have everyone working together in concert. That hive mind effect is cool.

If I didn't need sports to keep my body fit, I'd still participate because it keeps my mind fit. At one point, rock climbing was my only exercise for over a year, and I distinctly noticed my reaction time was slower than it used to be. I was in good shape, but my mind was not up to snuff for dynamic situations. I then decided to play hockey again, which forces you to think fast, and my ability to quickly make decisions vastly improved.

I probably would not play footbag if I were the last person on earth, definitely not many years. I'd probably get bored without anyone else to inspire me or to witness me play, and decide that playing well isn't worth the commitment of work/abuse on body (no one around to help me if I get injured). I imagine I'd get into hunting and fishing in that situation, so that I still got some sense of competition, and also get a direct, tangible benefit.
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Post by dyalander » 26 Jul 2010 18:48

I can relate to the feeling of control - although I get it more when I'm on the field than before a game (less so as I get a bit weaker but it's still there). This is why I'd answer yes to the "would you keep playing if you completely stopped improving and had no chance of improving" and the would you keep playing if you didn't need it to keep healthy questions. But, I guess this would only apply for people good at sport.

There's an element of escape to this - escape from the rest of life where there are infinitely more variables at play and its more difficult to feel the same level of control without breaking things down into bits.

I personally like doing things I'm good at - not because other people will see, but just because of the pleasure derived from the mastery of a skill. If I wasn't any good at any sports and had no chance of being good, than I wouldn't play sport.

I like being presented with a finite problem to solve physically and (perhaps to a lesser extent) mentally by employing exisitng skills, learning new skills, and practicing. I think sport is quite unique in what it offers in this regard.

Given this attitude to sport, up to a certain age, and depending on its specific nature, an injury can be rationalised as another challange to be overcome. As you get older though its more difficult to recover and so the risk that it won't be a challange at will simply result in a lasting disability becomes too high.

That said, injury and the increasing potential for injury will probably be what eventually stops me from playing comp sport and physical inability will be what eventually stops from participating in any sporting activity.
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Post by max » 27 Jul 2010 01:20

I had a quick think about this. I came up with the following:

in the first stages of playing a sport (or game) there is such a huge area of improvement that really drives me to push on. Hitting your first clipper to clipper is awesome and you start thinking that *one day* you might even be able to hit infinity x2 [sorry about all the old terminology] or something like that. That opens up new areas of the sport etc.

At that stage of the game you're pretty much self-sufficient and don't really need others to keep going on.

At much later stages when you reach the upper echelons of a sport or game, you're highly skilled, the areas of possible improvement are much narrower and any marginal improvement will come at a great cost (in work) ... on the other hand you're very good and that feels good in itself. At this point in time it becomes important (at least for me) to have others to play with. Bah maybe I'm just competitive..

Anyway this pretty much applies to my current hobbies: squash, golf, cooking and pretty much covered my experience with footbag also.
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Re: Why Play Sport?

Post by sqig » 22 Sep 2016 20:53

Thread Nekro!

I was hunting for a thread like this because the topic has been of great interest to me recently. I think engaging in iterative learning loops is one of the most rewarding ways a person can spend their time. Strategy games are a great source these loops, where the player gradually comes to understand an abstract system through interacting with it. Sports also provide these loops, where the player gradually learns how to make their body do new things that get them closer to their goal.

My concern is that the loops in footbag (or any dexterity sport i'm aware of) might not be efficient enough. In order to get to each juicy bit of learning you have to do a ton of consistency drilling that doesn't really teach you much that's fundamentally new, it just makes small refinements on what you already knew. I wonder if all the drilling is worth it when I could be spending my time learning something else or pursuing some other goal. I wish there was some sort of single player dexterity sport that had uncontrollable events that made drilling impossible by constantly forcing you to react to unique situations.

Anyways, why do the rest of you play?
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