Individual Sports versus Team Sports
Organised sport can be broadly classed into two categories – individual sport versus team sport. Both types of sport have their advantages and disadvantages and there are plenty of reasons for taking up a sport in either class. However, most people find that from an early age, they tend to be drawn towards one or the other. That is not to say that someone who enjoys playing football cannot enjoy running, but it does means that most people have skills which translate more towards working alone or in a team.
Advantages Of Individual Sport
The advantages of playing an individual sport are, as you would expect, numerous and manifold. Individual sports can often be more appealing to people who are new to sport thanks to the ease with which you can start to take part in them. As this is one of the biggest advantages of individual sport – that you can just go out and do it whenever you want, without having to wait for others. If you are a runner and want to go running, you can just pull on your trainers and get going.Likewise, if you are a swimmer, you can head to the pool. You do not have to wait for a training session or worry about getting a team together to play with.
The other big advantage of individual sport which draws people in is that in competition, there is no one to blame but yourself. This particular aspect appeals to people who work better alone because they know that success is entirely dependent on themselves and there are no teammates to hold responsible if things do not go according to plan.
Advantages Of Team Sport
The advantages of team sport are, as would be expected, in many ways, the opposites of those for individual sport. One of the biggest draws of team sports is that the responsibility for success is equally shared out between all members of the team. That way, if one player is having an off day then failure is not inevitable – although all team members are, of course, expected to do their best at all times.Another advantage is the community aspect of team sport. This means that you have people to train with and measure yourself against. This can help you to push yourself further as you have a measure of what other people are achieving. This community aspect helps to spur people on, as within a team there is always a sense of camaraderie and teammates tend to encourage one another to achieve their absolute best.
The physical skills, such as being fast or strong, of sport can cross over between sports, such as the example above with running and football. But it is those social skills such as teamwork and leadership which can determine whether you are a team sport or an individual sport kind of person.
This will not prevent you from taking part in the other type, but as well as being better at one or the other, you will also find you enjoy one type more than the other, and as it is enjoyment which determines how much time we spend on something, this often tends to be the deciding factor in whether we take on a team sport or an individual sport as our primary pastime.
