Five Things You Need to Become a Great Athlete

As people watch the Olympics, Baseball games, Football games, and other sports related activities, most people think that the main aspect of an athletes body is the physical strength. This observation and thought is not true. It is as if you are reading a book by its cover. In fact there are many aspects to a great athletes body besides the physical strength part. The five things you need to become a great athlete are physical strength, mental strength, concentration, commitment, and competition.

Physical Strength

When you watch an athlete, you can see the physical strength very clearly. This part of the athlete is very important, but it takes a very long time to acquire the increase in strength, with long hours of practicing and working out certain muscles. As you gain strength overtime, you can easily see a difference in your performance.

Mental Strength

Mental strength is very hard to obtain because you must be able to block out pain and at the same time be able to know what is going on around you. With experience as a runner, I have learned that 90% of all pain that is felt is cause by the brain saying “STOP DO NOT GO FARTHER” and only 10% of the pain is actual pain in your muscles. You must overcome the pain and stop listening to your brain. Your brain thinks that what you are doing is to overwhelming for the body, but you must understand that the body can handle much more then it feels like it can handle. This is why the term “you can do anything, as long as you set your mind to it” is correct, because you can achieve very high standards, as long as you do not let your mind interfere with what your goals are.

At the same time as blocking out the pain, you much know what is going on around you. For instance as a runner, during races, you must know who is in front of you and who is around you, and you much use them to your advantage. If they speed up a hill, speed up with them, if they fall behind, go faster and think to yourself that they are still going up the hill while you are going down.

Concentration

At a race, before a race, and during a race (or game), you must be able to concentrate.

Before a race, in order to be fully ready for it, you should stay very calm, but at the same time know what your teem is doing, and stay as part of what they are doing. This may be taking a nap if you are not playing or racing for a long time, meditating, or quietly sitting away from other people.

During a race, as mentioned above, you must know what is going on around you. While you are doing this, you MUST stay relaxed. If you are tense and your muscles are tight then first of all you are wasting a lot of energy, secondly, you do not have the amount of flexibility, which causes smaller strides and not being able to think straight.

Commitment

Stay committed to what you are doing. You no not have to pick only one sport. In high school it is much better for you to do more then one sport. As long as you stay committed to the team, to the sports you play, and your physical and mental abilities then you should be fine.

Competition

Through out the writing, I have been explaining what you need for competition. In order to become a great athlete though, you must be very accustomed to how competition works. You should be used to pushing your body to the limit during a race or a game, and you should know what it feels like to be in front of a crowd who is cheering for you. As people cheer you should know how it feels to get an adrenaline rush through your body, and you should know how to use people who cheer to your advantage. If you know competition, you are a step closer to becoming a great athlete.

Thank You very much for reading.