Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Monday, June 25, 2007 Confidence versus experienceI listened to a discussion about confidence versus experience on the local sports-talk radio while I drove to the grocery store evening. The discussion centered on the question of whether or not to bring a relatively young baseball player to the major leagues. The player might be able to help the team. But, he didn't have much experience. So the risk was that he'd come up too soon, have bad results, and lose his confidence. It remained unstated, but the idea was that a player who lost confidence was hurt so much that it'd be better to remain at a lower level and gain experience and confidence.The same question comes up in orienteering. How much does help to get experience by running a WOC or World Cup race given the real possibility that you're results will be lousy? I think the answer is obvious...it depends. It depends on the individual. Some people will perform really well despite little experience. Others will perform poorly, but gain experience that will help them in the future (maybe gaining motivation to train harder and an idea of just how well the best perform). But some will lose confidence and might lose motivation. I guess the value of listening to sports-talk radio is that you hear amusing arguments that don't ever really get to an answer. That's also the reason listening to sports-talk radio can be a complete waste of time. Back to okansas.blogspot.com. posted by Michael | 7:09 PM 
Comments:
Since I know you read them, you might want to go back and look up an article called "Rushing Them" in the Bill James Baseball Abstract from somewhere in the 1986-1988 timeframe (don't remember which and mine are packed away somewhere). Addresses the same question with much more clarity than you'll ever hear on talk radio - sports or otherwise.
# posted by
 : 9:57 PM
I am a firm believer in getting in way over my head. It can be embarrassing but it won't kill you and the lessons you learn are set in stone. It is a little different when you look at a sport like baseball where you may only get one shot at the big leagues. Orienteering and adventure racing don't hold that over me. I still see myself as a rookie navigator so I'm willing to go out and look like a fool every once in a while just to gain experience. Some times the best way to see how someone is kicking your arse is to go out and get it kicked.
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# posted by
: 8:55 AM |
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