"E" Characteristics of Elite Athletes

This weeks post brings on a hot topic word, Expectation. Is it better to have high or low expectations? Most elite level athletes seem to have very real expectations about themselves and their performances. They know what their training has been like they know what they can and cannot do and then have the confidence or humility to judge how well they might do in competition. How about excellence? Because most of the greats don't base their performance on others but on their ability to live up to their own version of self imposed excellence. One trait that you might not think of as readily, is that the best are efficient and make it look easy. The hours and hours of practice honing their skills makes the best become very efficient in their movement and mechanics. The last trait in the "E" post is that the best make no excuses for a loss or poor performance, they take complete responsibility for for their actions.

"D" Characteristics of Elite Athletes

In thinking about "D" words to describe elite athletes many come to mind, determined, detail oriented, diligent, decisive but three really stand out for me. Deliberate, now some might think of some athletes that seem to be the lackadaisical, free wheeler type who just seems to have natural talent and doesn't have to work for it, this is really not the case. If you look at how motor learning works, deliberate practice is one of the cornerstones of all skill acquisition. Great performers have deliberately practiced their skills. In order to be so deliberate in practice an athlete must be disciplined or each movement or skill would be different and thus no real motor pattern would develop. Having the discipline to do each movement requires the elite athlete to be exceedingly driven. There must be a hunger a burning desire in order to continue on in the face of extraordinary pain and frustration. If you really want to be an elite athlete you might want to spend some time with the characteristics that start with the letter "D".