The Meaning of Dreams with Sports

By J Jones

An article published online on this topic challenged me to comment on it as well. Because the meaning of the dreams in which we do/play sports is totally wrongly explained, at least from the point of view of psychoanalysis. For example, for the author of the article, the meaning of these dreams is the dreamer's wish to compete, say in the office, with colleagues, bosses, etc. Competition would be the subject of such dreams.

These dreams may also express fear of being rejected by others or reflect the ambition to succeed. From the point of view of these approaches, there is also a need for stability in life, for the exploration of unknown parts of us, and so forth. All these suggest a very wide range of explanations that seemingly apply to the analysis of these dreams.

After all, it is perfectly normal for people to engage in competition with their peers, to aspire to balance, to a career, and on this background to be anxious and unbalanced.

Psychoanalytic Approach

Psychoanalysis defines the dream as a distorted fulfill of a repressed wish. Therefore, the analysis of dreams is not a simple puzzle but a method of access to repression, that is, to our unconscious life.

In our case, the dream with sports elements can be the product of a childhood repression, practically a fulfillment of the child's wishes to play freely, to run and to do all kinds of tricks. I know very well that parents are often not tolerant of their children's initiatives and prevent them from going free, on the grounds that it is unhealthy, that they could get injured or dirty.

This is the origin of repression or more precisely of reproof.

These wishes, rejected in childhood, return today, in the dreams of the adult, in specific living conditions. I will not insist here on this far too technical aspect.

There are two other situations when we can have such dreams.

Here's the story of George, a 30-year-old man, who suffers from a motor disability since birth. He dreams of playing football with friends, and he does it very well - in his dream there is no sign of disability. The dream thus fulfills his wish to be a healthy person.

The third situation is that of the man who was once a sportsman or dreamed of being one and for one reason or another had to give up. He too can dream sports dreams.

Finally, physical activity is a source of pleasure (autoeroticism). In the terminal stages of psycho-sexual development, the source of pleasure is related to the sexual life. So dreams with sports themes could appear in people who for one reason or another have not reached this final stage of sexual maturation. More commonly, they do not have a satisfying sex life. I will not dwell on this very technical aspect either.

I would like to draw attention to the major differences between the analysis of dreams made by layman and the psychoanalyst.

Resources:

• Repression and such psychoanalytic terms are explained in our online dictionary of terms here.
   
• More about dreams interpretation (including many examples) may be found here. Check also our course on how to use Freud's method of approaching dreams here.

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