Sports are a great way to stay healthy and meet new people. They also teach teamwork and help develop leadership skills. They can be expensive, so it’s a good idea to pick a sport that you enjoy and stick with it.
Descriptive theories attempt to describe the central concepts of sports; normative theories seek to establish how sport should be practiced. Typically, these theories are classified as either externalist or internalist.
Externalist philosophers tend to see sport as a reflection of larger social practices and historical processes. They often use theories from social philosophy such as Marxism and structuralism to explain the nature of sport.
Internalist philosophers, on the other hand, understand sport as a practice that has its own distinctive value and purpose. They often draw upon the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Robert Butcher, who argued that sport is a form of’social practice’ with its own ‘intrinsic interests’.
Athletes and spectators must compete to achieve a specific result, and not to enjoy the aesthetic qualities of movement. The goal of sport is to clear a particular bar, not to be the most beautiful.
To learn to win, athletes must be disciplined and focus on what they need to improve. They should set aside one practice a week to work on what they think will make the most improvement in their competitive performance.