Discuss: Copy your competitor when you’ve lost at every turn

Daniel is a 22-year-old ex-state squash player. He’s also a co-founder of SkootJobs.com, a job site in Malaysia. I’m a 41-year-old ex-university level squash player.

For the last six years, Daniel and I have had an intense rivalry on the squash court.

He’s faster than me, his forehand is better, his drops are perfect, and his power shots are the best in the business. But every year, he says he’ll beat me only to get his ass kicked (we tally every match over the year).

How? Daniel’s backhand is weak and I’ve exploited the hell out of it. And when the shit hits the fan, I deliver and he doesn’t. I win around 70 percent of matches that go to five sets.

There are business lessons here: Exploit your competitor’s weaknesses and make sure you deliver when it counts.

This year is a fairly typical one. Daniel started by telling me how this was his year. But I’m 24-14 up.

So what did Daniel do today after years of getting his ass kicked? He copied his competitor. He bought the exact same racket as me—even the grip is exactly the same. What a desperate guy.

Today was another tight match. Daniel won the first two sets, but I battled and won the next two. In the fifth, Daniel held his nerve and crushed me.

A good time to copy your competitor is when they’ve beaten you at every turn, you’ve tried everything, and you have nothing else left to try. Sometimes, copying works. But as I’ll show Daniel over the next few matches, it usually doesn’t.

This was first posted on Quora.

Let’s discuss:

• Is copying your competitor a good strategy?
• What advice would you give the person asking this question?
• Have you experienced copying a competitor? How did it turn out?