Never underestimate your opponent. I would hope that this would go without saying, but I feel it gets forgotten. There are many issues with underestimating your opponent so let’s jump right into it.

The first and biggest issue with underestimating an opponent would be ones tendency to not work as hard during a match. If you believe your opponents to be below you and you believe that it will be an easy win you will be more prone to not try as hard during the match. This could easily result in a loss due to you lack of effort and lack of interest.

Another issue would be lack of focus. Not paying attention to the match at hand and instead thinking about what you have to do later or the next match. Lack of focus could again result in a loss.

Underestimating your opponent can also result in one not working that hard at practice. This would be due to a person believing it will be an easy win so they don’t have to put in as much effort. As a result of this two things will happen. First, an individual will not be prepared to play the match at hand. Second, they will start to stagnate in their growth.

he big take away from underestimating your opponent would be an individual or team will be more likely to lose. This will be due to a combination of reasons resulting from lack of effort, lack of focus, lack of will, and not putting enough in during training sessions.