Learning and Competition             

As teachers, coaches and parents we all want what’s best for our students and children. My questions to you are: Does putting students into competition before they are prepared for the battle help them accomplish this goal? Might the premature introduction of competition into the learning process inhibit performance, sow the seeds of stress, performance anxiety and self-doubt, limit long-term potential, and also increase the possibility of developing unhealthy behaviors such as overly aggressive behavior, fear, choking, making excuses, cheating, or quitting?

Competition is an advanced aspect of any subject, sport, or activity, not something to be engaged in by beginners or people who don’t possess the fundamental skills. Introducing competition before students are confident in their skills, no matter how “low key”, “innocent”, or “friendly” it seems, creates physical and psychological issues that will follow them the rest of their lives. It’s been accepted wisdom by competitive people that the best way to prepare children for the “real world” is to make them compete against each other as soon as possible, but for a vast majority of participants, the research proves the contrary.

Until students can demonstrate competence in the physical, mental, and emotional fundamentals, there’s no good reason for introducing competition into academics, sports, or any other activity. From my nearly five decades of research as a teacher, the premature introduction of competition does far more harm than good. Even for the ones who do well, there are long-term psychological consequences. I know this is blasphemy to many, but the evidence can no longer be ignored or suppressed. Too few people truly excel in a competitive learning system.

I grew up as a competitive athlete, being quite successful in the high skill, fine motor coordination sport of tennis. I have been a professional tennis teacher and coach for forty-seven years, with 30,000 hours of teaching and coaching experience. Twenty-nine years ago I removed all competition from my Effortless Tennis program, the results have been phenomenal and prompted me to write, Evolutionary Education: Beyond Competition. The competitive system that we all live in and many worship has too many negative side effects.

So few achieve excellence in the competitive system, 10%? We’ve been conditioned to compete in almost every thing we do, in a “trial by fire” or as I call it, the “throw-the-baby-into-the-deep-end of-the-pool” theory of learning. We rush people into competition, assuming that this approach results in peak performance, but for a vast majority, this approach is a recipe for mediocrity and/or failure.

The reason why putting people into competition prematurely is so problematic is that once competition is introduced into the equation, the goal shifts from learning skills to trying to win, or at least trying not to lose. We all know how important it is to be seen as a winner in this society. With their egos and self-esteem on the line, the need to win distracts students from mastering the essential skills required for success. This approach is shortsighted.

To all teachers and coaches, no matter how noble your motives and good your heart, if you are having your students compete before they “own” the basic skills of your particular subject, sport, or activity, you are limiting their performance and potential, diminishing their enjoyment of the learning process, undermining their self-confidence and psychological health, and denying them the chance to discover the importance and value of intrinsic motivation.

Parents too are complicit in this damaging process, if they encourage their children to be competitive or throw them into competition before they’ve learned the basic skills. If you really want to help your students and children become their best, remove all competition from the learning process—until competence in the physical, mental, and emotional fundamentals can be demonstrated. It is a longer term process, but it is much more rewarding.

What I'm saying is not radical. It's common sense!         

Brent Zeller—2021
www.effortlesstennis.com