Sence

I play squash two times a week, one day it’s practice with a trainer, and the other it’s games with whoever’s at the court that day. I love squash, it’s fun and I’ve been playing for almost a year now. I’d say I’m okay at squash, I make a few silly mistakes here and there but overall I’d say I’m decent.

The thing about becoming better at squash though is, that you get more and more opportunities to take squash more seriously by way of tournaments and, if you’re really good, getting into the sporting club’s team. And as I’ve gotten better I’ve gotten more opportunities like those. I however try to actively avoid such opportunities.

For many reasons including being a professional athlete isn’t what I want to be doing in life. But another reason would be that I have a slight belief that taking things (in a way) seriously like that ruins said thing by changing your perspective and your approach to said thing. Now, notice I said “slight” belief, that’s because I do believe that while yes, taking things in such a way might change your perspective and your approach to said thing, is that ruining it? Is it necessarily taking the “fun” out of it?

I mean, you can still join a tournament with the intent of being here just to enjoy yourself in a more competitive environment. Maybe that extra bit of competitiveness is even more fun for you. I believe this question boils down to a few points, many of which just point back to personal preference. As I said, one can enjoy the more competitive nature of a tournament or a competition rather than the normal circumstances of whatever activity they’re doing. One can prefer for things to stay the same way they have been, which is what I’d say I prefer regarding squash. Squash for me has always been a chillax way to just get some exercise while having a lot of fun. And I just don’t think tournaments or competitions would provide that same experience for me.

You’d have so much on the line, all of that practice and hard work you put in, all the hopes and dreams of your inner circle and your coach and possibly even your fans if you’re a famous professional athlete. It’s just fundamentally not the same experience. In one you’re competing to win. On the other, you’re competing to have fun, with nothing at stake. Overall, it’s an interesting topic. With many questions and points that I haven’t brought up (or have brought up indirectly but haven’t talked about them much). At the end of the day, I think it’s a very subjective topic. In general, I think you should do whatever makes you happy and whatever you feel like doing. I find comfort and fun in playing squash non-professionally, so I play squash non-professionally. Thank you for reading.