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I have a question about the differences in meaning, if any, between writing the following sentence as:

"In other words, I have personal experience with some of the anxieties many tennis players go through when having to decide between products."

versus:

"In other words, I have personal experience with some of the anxieties many tennis players go through when deciding between products."

Do both sentences say the same thing? Is one better than the other?

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    have to do something is not do something.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 3, 2021 at 20:12
  • See e.g. this question
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jun 12 at 10:36

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The meaning is slightly different.

“having to decide” emphasizes the players’ anxiety about the requirement to make a decision versus someone else making it.

“deciding” emphasizes their anxiety about the decision itself.

When the Berlin Wall came down, I read stories about East Berliners flooding into West Berlin to see the wonders available in the stores there but unable to buy anything because they didn’t know how to deal with having choices. Compare to a West Berliner who visited the same store expecting to (and knowing how to) make a choice between several options.

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