Be it on a playing field or court, using legs, sticks or rackets, the story most of the time is the same. Very often we have teams and individuals winning some games but when it comes to that which matter, they falter.
Its kind of sad seeing this happening over and over with no remedy in sight. Often we see a particular team playing well against a strong opponent but at the end of it the players run all over, fall all over and do everything else except score. Somehow - whether on a playing field, court or ring - the staying power is not there, the will to complete is not there.
This, I believe is an attitude problem. The attitude here is not doing enough to improve oneself. A player can run all over but cannot score and cannot contribute a good pass to his team mates, and we will see this thing happening in all games. The player is happy he ran all over the fiend, the officials maybe happy that he is running faster than the opponents. But. that does not bring victory and without victory, there is nothing to shout about.
The attitude here is that we do not have athletes who will work harder than ever to improve. We have officials who put the blame on some one else and we have a system that cannot correct this attitude of not taking the initiative to work harder.
We see players playing against same opponents and still unable to think and come up with a game plan to overcome his opponents strong points. Even after years and years of meeting the same opponent . This is another "good enough" attitude, not willing to go the extra mile or having the passion to beat him and overtake him once and for all.
Often we are unable to match the opponents on field, courts and with sticks, legs or rackets or even a machine, even though in a level playing field - where size does not matter. Again its is sad to see our sportsmen fail. Why? Well, after a good and healthy meal at the training center, it is common to see the sports people having the customary teh-tarik, roti canai and so on.
They are not professional enough to look after themselves without having some one to keep an eye over them. This is a "tidak apa" attitude which science have not been able to correct.
Some may argue that there a exceptions. They may mention names like Nicol David. Good for her and I hope she will continue to win when more than 100 countries begin to play squash. The rest who are supposed to be at the top don not display the consistency expected of a top notch team or player.
This again has got to do with right frame of mind, being focused and most of all know that you are a pro a have a pro's attitude. A pro or a group of pro's need to have this attitude that he/she/they must get better in every tournament they go into. Losing is acceptable if the performance is better than previously.
The state of sport, if we are looking at performance level, is a reflection of attitudes in our society which were not checked and corrected along he way. The junior and school coaches, for some reasons. did not deal with it. The mid-level trainers also let it go on and the top trainers, some are aware and blame the down lines, while others have concluded that those attitudes cannot be changed.
These are human factors that can be changed with proper guidelines and strict implementations. This should would also involve parents and families because they also have a part to play to encourage to be a true professional not just in name but in attitude.
This would also mean the other stake holders have to change their attitudes towards athletes. Start treating them like pro's. That's your contribution.
As for science, I think this would involve plenty of psychological programs at all levels. Then again, the "tidak apa" and "tidak payah" attitude would halt it. And we are back to square one.
Is there hope? Let's hope so.
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