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Gamesmanship is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport. It has been described as "Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods possible to achieve the desired end". It may be inferred that the term derives from the idea of playing for the game (i.e., to win at any cost) as opposed to
sportsmanship Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport, or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake. This is with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. A "sore loser" refers to on ...
, which derives from the idea of playing for sport. The term was popularized by Stephen Potter's humorous 1947 book, ''The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating)''. It had, however, been used before by Ian Coster in his autobiographic book ''Friends in Aspic'', published in 1939, where it was attributed to
Francis Meynell Sir Francis Meredith Wilfrid Meynell (12 May 1891 – 10 July 1975) was a British poet and printer at The Nonesuch Press. Early career He was the son of the journalist and publisher Wilfrid Meynell and the poet Alice Meynell, a suffragist a ...
.


Alleged origins

Potter cites the origin of gamesmanship to be a
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
match"The Timelessness of Stephen Potter's Gamesmanship" by Burling Lowrey. ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' Autumn 1993 pp.718-726
in which he and the philosopher C. E. M. Joad competed against two younger and fitter men who were outplaying them fairly comfortably. On returning a serve, Joad hit the ball straight into the back-netting twelve feet behind the back-line. While the opponents were preparing for the next serve, Joad 'called across the net, in an even tone: "Kindly state clearly, please, whether the ball was in or out"'. Being young, polite university students, their opponents offered to replay the point, but Joad declined. Because they were young and polite, the slight suggestion by Joad that their etiquette and sportsmanship were in question was extremely off-putting, and distracted them for the rest of the contest. Potter and Joad went on to win the match.


Techniques

Common techniques of gamesmanship include: # Breaking the flow of an opponent's play (Potter insisted 'There is only one rule; BREAK THE FLOW.') # Causing an opponent to take the game less seriously or to overthink their position # Intentionally making a "mistake" which gains an advantage over an opponent While the first method is more common at higher levels of sports, the last two are more powerful in amateur games.


Breaking the flow

Examples of "flow-breaking" methods include: * In
darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
, a player intentionally taking a long time to take their darts out of the dartboard * Feigning injury to delay the game, or reduce advertised ability. The skilled gamesman can counter this tactic by waiting until the game has been in play for some time, before revealing that they suffer from a far more serious condition, such as a
heart defect A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at childbirth, birth. A congenital heart defect is classed as a car ...
. * In
billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...
or
snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
, intentionally standing in the opponent's line of sight, and then suddenly moving when the opponent is about to shoot under the guise of getting out of their sight line. "More or less at the last moment, leaping into the correct position with exaggerated agility, and stand rigidly with head bowed." * Distracting the opposing player by complaining about other people who might be (but were not) distracting the opposing player. Potter, who always insisted that the good gamesman must give the appearance of being a good sportsman, recommended this approach. For example, if an opponent is about to take a shot at billiards, it is bad gamesmanship to fidget and whistle but good gamesmanship to distract him by loudly requesting silence from spectators: 'Simulate annoyance, ''on the opponent's behalf'', with the onlookers'. * When winning a point maintain direct eye contact with opponent, but when losing one always avoid direct eye contact. * In
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, coming out to bat with two right-handed gloves and then wasting time sorting out the problem. *In
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, a batter disrupting a
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
's flow by calling a time-out just before he delivers the pitch. * When losing an outdoor game, feigning a deep, informed and more than amateur interest in e.g.
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
or
ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
, in order to convey a breadth of interests and suggest to the opponent that losing is not of concern. This can cause the opponent to relax their attention, or at any rate rob them of the satisfaction of winning. Potter termed this 'the ''natural hampette''...See ''Gardens for Gamesmen'', or ''When to be Fond of Flowers''(15s.)'. * In
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
, when serving, taking a long time between serves and making the receiver wait; or when receiving, getting into position in such a way that the server is distracted, or taking a medical time out when your opponent is experiencing a successful run. * In rugby league: ** Taking too long to pack down in a scrum, thus wasting time; ** Taking too long to take to the field before a match or after half-time, thus forcing the opposition team to wait for a prolonged period before the match starts or resumes. * In
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
, calling a time out the instant before a game-winning or game-tying
field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
or PAT to break the normal flow of play. This is known as "icing" or "freezing" the kicker. * In sprint running events, taking too long to settle in the starting-blocks, inducing other competitors to commit a false start


Causing the opponent to overthink

Examples of methods designed to cause the opponent to overthink or to not take the game seriously enough include: * Giving intentionally vague advice in the hope of making the opponent focus on their play. In such "Advicemanship", 'the advice ''must be vague'', to make certain it is not helpful', although Potter also noted that 'according to some authorities the advice should be quite genuine and perfectly practical'. * Asking one's opponent's advice for a (fictitious) match the following day, against an implied stronger opponent. * Claiming that the game being played "just isn't my sport", or claiming less expertise than the player actually possesses (a mild form of
hustling Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling (or gambling for higher than current stakes) with the hustler, as a form of both a confidence tri ...
). * In
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
, the very common practice of taking one or more timeouts to give an opposing kicker an excessive amount of time to think about a critical kick; most often a field goal or extra point but sometimes a potential on-side kick. The intent is to cause the kicker to get overly stressed about making a mistake and hopefully create a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is commonly referred to as "
icing the kicker In the sports of American football or Canadian football, the act of icing the kicker or freezing the kicker is the act of calling a timeout immediately prior to the snap in order to disrupt the process of kicking a field goal. The intent is to thro ...
." A common variant of this strategy is to attempt to call the timeout right before the ball is snapped, so that there is not enough time to stop the play and the opposing kicker has to attempt the same kick twice. * "Icing" is also used, albeit less frequently, in
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
. In late-game situations with a player shooting free throws, it is not uncommon for the opposing team to take a timeout. This is commonly referred to as "icing the shooter". * The converse approach, suggesting a level of expertise far higher than the player actually possesses, can also be effective. For example, although gamesmanship frowns on simple distractions like whistling loudly while an opponent takes a shot, it is good gamesmanship to do so when taking a shot oneself, suggesting as it does a level of carefree detachment which the opponent does not possess.


Other

*If the players personally know and/or have experience with each other, lies and other conversation topics can be used. In
wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
or many combat sports, it could be targeting a limb which the opponent has been carrying an injury.


Intentional "mistakes"

Examples of intentional "mistakes" designed to gain an advantage: * In
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
, intentionally misdealing and then engaging in chaotic bidding, knowing that the hand will be void anyway, in the hope that 'opponents will…be unable to form a working judgement of the opponents' bidding form'. * In
poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
, intentionally raising out of turn, to induce players to give a free card. * In
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, intentionally dropping a caught ball, to create a
force play In baseball, a force is a situation when a baserunner is compelled (or ''forced'') to vacate their starting base (time-of-pitch base) and try to advance to the next base. When a runner is forced to advance to a base, they are forced out if an o ...
on the baserunners (hence the infield fly rule). All of the above are considered very close to
cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...
, and the abuser of gamesmanship techniques will find himself penalized in most serious sports and games tournaments, as well as being deemed (if caught) a "bad sport". The rules of the
International Defensive Pistol Association The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA), founded in 1996, is an organization based in Bogata, Texas, that has created a shooting sport based on defensive pistol techniques, using equipment including full-charge service ammunition to ...
for its
practical shooting Practical shooting, also known as dynamic shooting or action shooting, is a set of shooting sports where the competitors try to unite the three principles of precision, power, and speed, by using a firearm of a certain minimum power factor to scor ...
matches specifically state that any illegal action taken with the intent of gaining a competitive advantage is penalized as a " Failure to Do Right", adding 20 seconds to the competitor's time. This penalty is rarely given, partly because of its highly subjective nature.


Association football

In
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, it is considered good sportsmanship to kick the ball out of play if a player on the opposing side is injured; when the ball is to be thrown in, it is also considered to be good sportsmanship in this situation to kick it (or throw it) back to the other team who had intentionally kicked it out. Gamesmanship arises in this situation when, rather than passing the ball back to the side who kicked the ball out, the injured player's teammates keep the ball after the throw-in. Whilst not illegal or against the rules of the sport, it is heavily frowned upon. A high-profile example occurred during the game between Portugal and the Netherlands in round of 16 of the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
, where the game, already marred by numerous cautions and even 4 red cards, further deteriorated because of such an incident. Also, in a 1998–99 FA Cup fifth round tie between
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
, Arsenal's winning goal scored under these circumstances (although as a result of a misunderstanding rather than a deliberate action) was so contentious the Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...
offered to replay the match. Sheffield United accepted, though Arsenal went on to win the second game by the same score, 2-1. Feigning injury to cause the ball to be kicked out is another example of gamesmanship intended to break the flow of play, though if detected, it may be regarded as ungentlemanly conduct, which is a breach of the laws and hence is no longer gamesmanship. In response to claims of feigned injuries during the 2006 World Cup, the Premier League has asked players, managers and referees to end the custom as of the 06/07 season, instead preferring a referee alone to determine whether a break in play is needed. When a free kick is awarded, members of the defending team will often pick up the ball and drop it back behind them as they retreat. Whilst not throwing the ball away, which would be an infringement, the purpose is to prevent a swiftly taken free kick.


Usage outside of games

The term "gamesmanship" is also used for similar techniques used in non-game situations, such as
negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement c ...
s and
election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
s. Each form is frequently used as a means of describing dubious methods of winning and/or psychological tricks used to intimidate or confuse one's opponent. Technically speaking, these tactics are one-upmanship, defined in a later book by Potter as the art of being one-up on somebody else. The term also appears in art theory to mean playfulness, as in "literary gamesmanship".


The gamesman versus the pure player

Potter's double-edged ironies did not spare the gamesman himself (he slyly named one prominent protagonist 'Bzo, U., holder (1947) Yugo-Slav Gamesmanship Championship', for example). Potter acknowledged repeatedly that 'the way of the gamesman is hard, his training strict, his progress slow, his disappointments many', and recognised that as a result 'the assiduous student of gamesmanship has little time for the ''minutiae'' of the game itself - little opportunity for learning how to play the shots, for instance'. Yet one of his "correspondents" owlishly admits, 'there is no doubt that a knowledge of the game itself sometimes helps the gamesman'.Potter, p. 117 Hence 'perhaps the most difficult type for the gamesman to play is the man who indulges in pure play. He gets down to it, he gets on with it, he plays each shot according to its merits, and his own powers, without a trace of exhibitionism, and no by-play whatever'.Potter, p. 41 The book gloomily concludes, 'we amateurs have to fight against the growing menace of young people who insist on playing their various games for the fun of the thing...indulging rather too freely, if the truth were known, in pure play'.


See also

*
Brinkmanship Brinkmanship (or brinksmanship) is the practice of trying to achieve an advantageous outcome by pushing dangerous events to the brink of active conflict. The maneuver of pushing a situation with the opponent to the brink succeeds by forcing the op ...
*
Cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...
* Gaming the system *
Malicious compliance Malicious compliance (also known as malicious obedience) is the behavior of strictly following the orders of a superior despite knowing that compliance with the orders will have an unintended or negative result. The term usually implies following ...
*
Sportsmanship Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport, or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake. This is with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. A "sore loser" refers to on ...
*
Diving (association football) In association football, diving is an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by falling to the ground and, often, feigning injury to give the impression that a foul has been committed. Dives are often used to exaggerate the amount of ...
*
Flop (basketball) In basketball, a flop is an intentional fall or stagger by a player after little or no physical contact by an opposing player in order to draw a personal foul call by an official against the opponent. The move is sometimes called ''acting'', as in ...
*
Match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...
* One-upmanship *
Unsportsmanlike conduct Unsportsmanlike conduct (also called untrustworthy behaviour or ungentlemanly fraudulent or bad sportsmanship or poor sportsmanship or anti fair-play) is a foul or offense in many sports that violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sport ...
* ''
School for Scoundrels School for Scoundrels may refer to: * ''School for Scoundrels'' (1960 film), a British comedy film starring Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas and Alistair Sim * ''School for Scoundrels'' (2006 film), an American film based on the above, featuring Bil ...
'' *
Supermac The SuperMac was a line of Macintosh clones produced by UMAX Technologies from 1996 to 1998. Their models included the SuperMac S900/S910, J700, C500 and C500e/i/LT, C600e/v/LT/x and Aegis 200. The C500 was marketed as the Apus 2000 in Europe. T ...
* Infield fly rule * ''
The League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...
'' *
Rules lawyer A rules lawyer is a participant in a rules-based environment who attempts to use the letter of the law without reference to the spirit, usually in order to gain an advantage within that environment. The term is commonly used in wargaming and table ...
*
Sledging (cricket) In the sport of cricket, sledging is the practice of deliberately insulting or verbally intimidating an opposing player. The purpose is to try to weaken the opponent's concentration, thereby causing them to underperform or be more prone to err ...


Notes

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References

* ''The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating'' is a book by Stephen Potter, from which most of the above derives, although it must be emphasized that Potter was being humorous, and always suggested that one should be a good sportsman first and foremost. Sportsmanship Ethically disputed practices