A serious competitor is no different than a serious sport pilot. Well, I think on second thought that the only difference is that he competes at contests while the sport pilot doesn't compete per se. That doesn't make him less serious about his flying and the equipment surrounding his activity. He strives to learn as much as he can about all aspects of his hobby to make his experience better.

The serious competitor tries to control every aspect of his task, to learn as much as he can, leaving nothing to chance. If something can go wrong, Murphy guarantees that it will go wrong on contest day.

The reverse is also true that there are competitors who are not as serious about it just as there are sport pilots. Because the number differential is so vastly different between sport vs comp it seems that no sport pilot cares enough about his hobby to be on top of all aspects of it. That of course is false.

Conversely it takes so much energy, knowledge and discipline to be competitive that only the most driven stay competitors for more than a few contests. Staying competitive for years can be an all consuming endeavor for most of us.