Creativity And Sport: a mix?
Creativity
comes in many forms. You find it all around you in the world if you look for it.
Creativity can be the street performer you may want to give money to, but then
realise you are not exactly Donald Trump yourself. It can be the street artist
making a masterpiece on the sidewalk or even a guy who makes a good sandwich.
With Creativity comes inspiration. Inspiration for people can come from
anything and that is literally anything. For a lot it comes from nature, for
others it comes people. For me it comes from Sport.
Sport is a
magical thing, aside from the whole fitness side of it, there are easily some
of the most creative people that play sport. For example look at soccer, there
have been some absolute masterminds like Johann Cruyff, Diego Maradona and in
the modern day it’s Lionel Messi. Cruyff was a playmaker, ammunitions provider
and marksman rolled into one, with the ability to time a pass that has not been
equalled to this day. Some might argue Wesley Sneijder but he’s not as good as
him. I am not taking away from his ability, but there is no comparison. On the
other hand, there has been many comparisons between Lionel Messi and Diego
Maradona. They are both creative geniuses in their own right, both able to
weave through defences like they weren’t there at all. The only difference
between the two is that Messi is maybe a slightly more prolific goal scorer and
has so far has had a cleaner life than Maradona.
Golf is another game that requires so much creativity to be a top player. It is a game with so many skills to master that only a select few can actually master it. It’s popular with a lot of people around the world but as more of a social outlet which there is nothing wrong at all with, I’m one of those people myself. But if you break it down look at the amount of vital components that are needed to be good. You need a good technique, a good grip, stance and strong mental capabilities. Good technique is needed for your swing, short game and your putting and short game. Grip is essential or you can’t hit the ball right at all. Some very intelligent people have played the game. We have the modern examples of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, but there are some genuine legends of the game in the history of golf, like Harry Vardon. Vardon won seven majors, six British Opens and one US Open, between 1896 and 1914.Vardon was so good, he won 70 exhibition matches in 1900. His grip, the Vardon grip, is the main one used by golfers today. It is also called the overlapping grip. Not everyone uses it, but most do. It cannot be argued that you have to be creative to be able to develop your own grip and is still popular today over 100 years later.
As I mentioned earlier, mental conditioning is not only important for a golfer, but vital for anybody to succeed in all walks of life. Mental conditioning allows you to pick yourself up when you keep getting knocked down, to push yourself that inch farther when your body can barely take anymore or to ask that girl out that you’ve always wanted to, but never had the courage to do so. It is no different for a sportsman, whether he plays in front of hundreds of thousands, or dozens on a sleepy Sunday afternoon in your local sports field. To get the best out of yourself you need to be right upstairs. If not, no matter how much skill and talent you have, you won’t perform to your very best on the day. People are very creative in how they get themselves mentally prepared. Some go into a corner and focus, others need to be shouted at to get fired up, more listen to different kinds of music to prepare, from Opera to Heavy Metal. Some just need to show up and put on their gear and that’s it. We’re all different. I need to be shouted at and given the big inspirational speech to motivate myself. A good example is on Youtube and look up the “I am a champion” video. That’s what I’m talking about.
With all these creative and mental wonders that good sportsmen give us. There are many inspirational stories behind it all. A recent story is that of Kieran Behan. On January 10th last, he qualified for this year’s Olympic games with an astounding performance. While this is undoubtedly a proud achievement, it was not without many struggles. The 22-year-old has faced major setbacks on his road to the top, and was twice told he may never walk again let alone compete at an elite level of gymnastics. At age 10, Behan discovered a benign tumor in his leg. Complications during surgery to remove the tumor left him wheelchair bound. He made a full recovery and returned to gymnastics. Then, at the age of 12 an accident during training left him again unable to walk after he damaged his inner ear. However, Behan persevered and eventually returned to the sport he loved. This is one of those “to hell and back” stories we love. This is one of the many things that makes sport great but also we can easily forget, the hard work. The best way for me it has been put was when Muhammad Ali said “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights”.
That is what sport is all about, that is why we love creative people in sport, they have talent and are constantly innovative in improving their game. When you look at it, all the most popular sportspeople are also the most creative. People flock to see these people from around their country, maybe even the world. One of these men was Christy Ring. Many of you might not know who Christy Ring was, but where I come from he is a legendary figure. Christy Ring played the ancient Irish sport of hurling. For those of you who do not know what hurling is, it is one of the national pastimes of Ireland. To put into perspective for you, it is so old that when the Egyptians were building the pyramids, we were playing hurling. While you are on Youtube look up hurling and you’ll see. Christy was one of the best that ever played the game. He won 8 All Ireland hurling medal’s, 9 Munster hurling medal’s, 18 Inter-Provincial titles and 3 National Hurling League medals. He made it onto the team’s of the century and the millennium. He was a star. His skills and tenacity wowed crowds and people travelled from all over Ireland just to see him play. As he said himself: “I always liked to do the impossible”.
Golf is another game that requires so much creativity to be a top player. It is a game with so many skills to master that only a select few can actually master it. It’s popular with a lot of people around the world but as more of a social outlet which there is nothing wrong at all with, I’m one of those people myself. But if you break it down look at the amount of vital components that are needed to be good. You need a good technique, a good grip, stance and strong mental capabilities. Good technique is needed for your swing, short game and your putting and short game. Grip is essential or you can’t hit the ball right at all. Some very intelligent people have played the game. We have the modern examples of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, but there are some genuine legends of the game in the history of golf, like Harry Vardon. Vardon won seven majors, six British Opens and one US Open, between 1896 and 1914.Vardon was so good, he won 70 exhibition matches in 1900. His grip, the Vardon grip, is the main one used by golfers today. It is also called the overlapping grip. Not everyone uses it, but most do. It cannot be argued that you have to be creative to be able to develop your own grip and is still popular today over 100 years later.
As I mentioned earlier, mental conditioning is not only important for a golfer, but vital for anybody to succeed in all walks of life. Mental conditioning allows you to pick yourself up when you keep getting knocked down, to push yourself that inch farther when your body can barely take anymore or to ask that girl out that you’ve always wanted to, but never had the courage to do so. It is no different for a sportsman, whether he plays in front of hundreds of thousands, or dozens on a sleepy Sunday afternoon in your local sports field. To get the best out of yourself you need to be right upstairs. If not, no matter how much skill and talent you have, you won’t perform to your very best on the day. People are very creative in how they get themselves mentally prepared. Some go into a corner and focus, others need to be shouted at to get fired up, more listen to different kinds of music to prepare, from Opera to Heavy Metal. Some just need to show up and put on their gear and that’s it. We’re all different. I need to be shouted at and given the big inspirational speech to motivate myself. A good example is on Youtube and look up the “I am a champion” video. That’s what I’m talking about.
With all these creative and mental wonders that good sportsmen give us. There are many inspirational stories behind it all. A recent story is that of Kieran Behan. On January 10th last, he qualified for this year’s Olympic games with an astounding performance. While this is undoubtedly a proud achievement, it was not without many struggles. The 22-year-old has faced major setbacks on his road to the top, and was twice told he may never walk again let alone compete at an elite level of gymnastics. At age 10, Behan discovered a benign tumor in his leg. Complications during surgery to remove the tumor left him wheelchair bound. He made a full recovery and returned to gymnastics. Then, at the age of 12 an accident during training left him again unable to walk after he damaged his inner ear. However, Behan persevered and eventually returned to the sport he loved. This is one of those “to hell and back” stories we love. This is one of the many things that makes sport great but also we can easily forget, the hard work. The best way for me it has been put was when Muhammad Ali said “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights”.
That is what sport is all about, that is why we love creative people in sport, they have talent and are constantly innovative in improving their game. When you look at it, all the most popular sportspeople are also the most creative. People flock to see these people from around their country, maybe even the world. One of these men was Christy Ring. Many of you might not know who Christy Ring was, but where I come from he is a legendary figure. Christy Ring played the ancient Irish sport of hurling. For those of you who do not know what hurling is, it is one of the national pastimes of Ireland. To put into perspective for you, it is so old that when the Egyptians were building the pyramids, we were playing hurling. While you are on Youtube look up hurling and you’ll see. Christy was one of the best that ever played the game. He won 8 All Ireland hurling medal’s, 9 Munster hurling medal’s, 18 Inter-Provincial titles and 3 National Hurling League medals. He made it onto the team’s of the century and the millennium. He was a star. His skills and tenacity wowed crowds and people travelled from all over Ireland just to see him play. As he said himself: “I always liked to do the impossible”.
This is why
sport inspires me and so many others around the world. It has drama on and off
the rings, fields and tracks. Everybody has a story and many of them are interesting.
We love, we laugh, we fight, we celebrate and we cry over sport. It brings
people of all races, colours, religions and social circumstances together in
unity over one thing, our love of sport. Sport has instilled in me a discipline
for life. I have friends until I die from sport.
So yes, sport and creativity do mix, that is why it inspires me.
So, what inspires you???
So yes, sport and creativity do mix, that is why it inspires me.
So, what inspires you???
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