The Vexed Question of Winning

The Alexander Technique helps us to work and play without damaging ourselves. It brings a new ease and confidence into our lives. We can use it to work at the computer, sing better, dance better, play a better game of golf, tennis, cricket…

Can it help us win?

Ah, there we enter a different sphere altogether.

Of course, this is a very legitimate question, because a lot of the people who come for lessons are into competitive sport, or face keen competition in their fields. So it is crucial for them to have an answer to this question. And a lot of the time, they’re looking not just for something that will help repair the damage that has happened, but also something that will help them come out on top. Absolutely understandable.

But as Alexander teachers, we need to be very sure of what our answer is going to be.

This was brought home to me very forcibly when I conducted a workshop for sportspeople. One of the activities was to get a ball into a basket that was placed on the floor some distance away. The idea was that the first time they’d just do it, and fail miserably; then they inhibit and direct, and voila! Success!

The first time, one person from the group got the ball into the basket. Then we had the second round where they tried again with inhibition and direction.

This time no one got it in.

Oops.

Serves me right. I hadn’t thought through what I wanted to communicate.

Establishing a new habit also means unlearning an old one, and that can lead to a period of intense confusion and a temporary slide into incompetence.

So of course, in my workshop, when we tried the game differently, they got worse, not better!

This was good for me because it made me sit down and think. Did I want to tell people that AT will help them to win at competitive sport? Would it help them to win at competitive sport? Did I want to teach something that would just help them win i.e. help them get better than the rest of the group?

Did I agree with the viewpoint that anything is allowed if the end result is victory?

The answer was – No, not necessarily, NO and NO, I didn’t.

So what do I tell people who ask me this question – Will the Alexander Technique help me to win?

I tell them, I don’t know, and I don’t care.

I tell them, the Alexander Technique gives you the skills you need to do all the things you want to do. If you are into competitive sport, or competitive anything, you will acquire the skills you need to push yourself to the limit to win, if you want to do that.

At some point in the race you might want to just push for the win, and throw use out of the window.

That’s up to you. But after you’ve done it, you also have the ability to go right back to good use.

The Alexander Technique gives you the option. You make the choice.