Psychodynamic Observations of a Sport

In competitive sports men compete physically with each other. In its primitive form, competition was a fight for survival, with death the fate of the loser. Such fighting was pervasive, and for primitive man this law of the jungle was dominant. The process of civilization has greatly limited the opportunities for such overt competition. As a society has become more highly organized and complex, the physical fight has had more restrictions placed on it. The restrictions are personal and intrapsychic as well as social. Competition has become more subtle and symbolic. The present day psychiatric patient reveals conflict over competition and aggression in his mental life. In psychoanalysis the nature of the conflict is explored through the verbal retrospective accounts in a setting which purposely limits physical action as much as possible. This is the source of most psychodynamic observations. In competitive athletics, the rules allow physical competition to occur within limits. The sports arena affords a rich opportunity to observe psychodynamic interaction, for the player can actually be seen in competitive struggle. He can be watched as on a stage as he enacts his personal drama. In this setting the athlete can act out some conflicts with a personal and social acceptance which in other situations would be unacceptable. What might be considered “sick” in ordinary behavior, is often seen as “color” in sports. Fans, in fact, often place a premium on the deviant behavior of a competitor.

Little use has been made of sports in obtaining psychodynamic observations. Helene Deutsch described the psychoanalysis of a patient in whom an infantile ball phobia had led to a special interest and ability in sports. 1 Stokes has described some psychoanalytic reflections on the development of ball games, particularly cricket. 3 No study was found which attempted to deal primarily with direct observations of the behavior of the individuals competing in sport.