--- title: Losing well and winning well — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Losing well and winning well», a lesson of the medicine course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Straight after a match your body is still full of adrenaline, and anger can fire in a split second while the thinking «brake» part of the br --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/) / Losing well and winning well # Losing well and winning well Lesson 67 of the medicine course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/0/) — Straight after a match your body is still full of adrenaline, and anger can fire in a split second while the thinking «brake» part of the brain catches up more slowly, which is why Mason in Texas smashed his racket after losing 6–2 and yelled «Bro, that line judge is sus!» («sus» is young slang for suspicious, dodgy). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/1/) — Hitting things doesn't let the anger out; studies suggest it tends to keep you angry, while slow breathing out calms the body down, so the trick is to breathe, shake hands, and be cross later in private. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/2/) — After a loss almost everyone's brain hunts for an excuse that isn't «they were better» (blaming the ref, the shuttle, a teammate); scientists call it a self-serving bias, and noticing it is the first step to learning from the game. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/3/) — Winning well matters just as much: Ellie's team in Newcastle won 5–0 and she shouted «Yous were rubbish!» at the losers, but Sienna in Melbourne won her race and swam over to the last girl, «Good on ya, ripper effort» («ripper» is Aussie for excellent). - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/4/) — The handshake line is a signal to body and brain that the battle is over: you respect the game and the effort, win or lose, and you celebrate with your own team, never at the other one. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/5/) — After a match adrenaline stays high and anger can flare before the thinking part of the brain catches up. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/6/) — Studies suggest that hitting or smashing things tends to keep people angry rather than calm them; slow breathing out helps the body settle. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/7/) — Blaming the referee, the equipment or a teammate after losing is a common habit called a self-serving bias. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/8/) — A match is made of many mistakes and good moves by everybody, so one player never loses a game alone. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/9/) — In a single game luck, bounces and goalkeepers can decide the score, so the scoreboard doesn't always show who played better. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/10/) — Crying after a big loss is the body letting off pressure, and top players often cry after finals, win or lose. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/11/) — The handshake line respects the game and the effort; it doesn't mean you are glad you lost. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/12/) — Walking off without shaking hands feels like relief for seconds, but people remember it for weeks, and many coaches bench players for it. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/13/) — Rubbing it in after a win upsets the losers, who remember it, and next week you might be the one losing. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/14/) — When a kids' game is already won by a lot, passing more and trying new positions keeps it fun for both teams; piling on more and more goals makes the losers feel humiliated (small and ashamed), and some may quit. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/67-losing-well-and-winning-well/15/) — After losing, it helps to learn one thing from the game and then let it go; replaying a mistake over and over is just worry and can keep you awake. - ← previous: [Picking teams and being picked last](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/66-picking-teams-and-being-picked-last/) - next →: [The coach who shouts and parents on the touchline](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/68-the-coach-who-shouts-and-parents-on-the-touchline/) - ↑ back to [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/)