Underestimating The Opponent

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with organized sports and I don't know how many people do this professionally, but when I was playing sports in high school and we had a game, I can remember always sizing up the other team. At first you do it mentally, I would talk to my team and my coach about their knowledge of the other team and of the players. We would look at stats of their games and prepare for plays and moves that they might try to use against us. Then it would become visual, seeing the other players and looking for their physical disadvantages, are they shorter, thinner, heavier, or perhaps clumsy as they warm up for the game.

What I have learned, and hopefully have taught many others by the way that I carry myself, is that all the mental and physical preparation can be very helpful but you can never really tell what you are up against until you are actually experiencing it. Furthermore, more often than not, I personally have underestimated my opponent, but more so they have almost always underestimated me.

 I have never been a small person, always a little huskier than the other girls, not very tall and just decent at every sport I played. I knew the moves and I had the heart but I was never the star player. What I did have was deception, by which I mean my opponent would see me and think hey that girl is bigger and probably slower, I bet I won't have to worry about her. WRONG! I am not the fastest but I can move quickly, probably not the strongest but I can hold my own and definitely more graceful when I move or when I fall than some girls I have seen only half my size.

I don't say these things to boast myself or to try and hurt other people's feelings, so I hope that it doesn't come across like that, my only point with this post is to bring to your attention that people are more than they seem on the outside. It is true that sometimes people are what they show to the world, but so many times you will find that this is not so. But no matter what situation you are in, whether it be sports or just everyday life, try your hardest to not underestimate your opponent. You may never know how low they may drag you or how hard they may hit you or even how sly they may be. Prepare yourself to the best of your abilities, work hard and try your best, but never think for one minute that your opponent hasn't trained and prepared just as hard as you have.