"X" Characteristics of Elite Athletes

The "X" factor of elite athletes. Do the elite have an X factor that other athletes don't have? I think they do, if they didn't there would be a whole lot more athletes doing extraordinary things. What then is this X factor and how does one attain it. I believe that the X factor is not one single thing but a unique combination of characteristics that when put together bring about elite performances. What are some of the characteristics? At the top of the list I would put the ability to perform extremely difficult work more intensely and longer than others, another trait that seems to be evident across the board is the ability to be relaxed under the most intense pressure. It seems that the old saying about falling to our training or rising to our expectations seems right on. The elite seem to be able train at such a high level that when the pressure is at its highest they know that their training was enough to sustain their effort and allow them to be relaxed. The elite have the ability to make very difficult things look easy while lesser athletes can sometimes make easy things look very hard. So to recap, the X factor is not one single trait but different traits in differing proportions depending on the athlete, but one thing is for sure the elite most certainly have what it takes to be the best of the best.

"W" Characteristictics of Elite Athletes

In this blog we have talked almost from the start about work and work ethic and how the elite have the ability to get an enormous of work done in a deliberate, concentrated, and disciplined fashion. And with all the topics discussed throughout the year, in all reality deliberate practice, the ability to do the work is the most important trait the elite possess. The quality and quantity of the work is what separates hard workers from the elite. In order to practice with the intensity that gives the elite the results that yield success it requires the athlete to endure frustration and pain that the average or even world class athlete is not capable of doing. The elite athlete leaves clues as to their success, unfortunately we don't get to see the day in day out work that the elite do, which sometimes misleads us into thinking that the elite are just more talented than the rest,while they really do possess traits that the average athlete does not, it really is the trait that allows them to do work in a very specific way.

"V" Characteristics of Elite Athletes

V for victorious, V for vicious, no, how about V for visual and vestibular? While those last two may not sound as sexy as victorious or vicious, the elite have better skills than most in the areas of visual and vestibular expertise. The amount of information that is gathered through the eyes is staggering, and what is even more amazing is how it all gets processed, organized and put to use to make the elite what they are. Most people assume that you are born with great visual skills or you are not. Science is now showing that not only don't you have to be born with great physical skills you don't have to be born with great visual skills either. Training is not just for the physical anymore. There are many different types of skills that relate to visual excellence. Most people just think of the obvious ones, eye or foot coordination or tracking, but there are a multitude of others, ranging from looming and peripheral awareness to vergence and dynamic visual acuity, all of which can be trained to the levels of the elite. What about the vestibular? What are vestibular skills anyway? Why balance of course. The elite all have an incredible ability to know which way they are going and which way is up. In the hierarchy of the nervous system the visual system reigns supreme followed by the vestibular system and then ultimately the proprioceptive system. The vestibular is really quite remarkable for it can detect the slightest amounts of movement in any direction and on any plane and have the body make an adjustment in order to maintain balance. Just like with the visual system most people think you must be born with great balance, not so, the vestibular system is capable of getting better and better with training. If you want to have more victories or seem a little more vicious on the field then you might want start training the V's, the visual and vestibular systems.

"U" Characteristics of Elite Athletes

The elite athlete is the is the ultimate competitor. And by ultimate I mean that they love being in the competitive arena, the rushes of adrenalin, the ups and downs of the battle, the challenge of testing their skills against another who is at their best and when the stakes are the highest. The elite have an unshakable belief in their own abilities and have an unfailing work ethic that allows them to perfect their craft as very few others can.

"T" Characteristics of Elite Athletes

Well coincidentally today is Tax day here in the USA, and while that is one thing that most elite athletes do have in common, that they pay alot in taxes, it is however not one of the characteristics I'm going to talk about. I'm going to talk about Talent, first and foremost. There is this presumption that all elite are elite only because of talent. While it is true that all of the elite are blessed with some rather freakish genetics athletically, it is not this talent that puts them in the stratosphere of athletics. There are plenty of very talented athletes who are bagging groceries rather than bagging gold medals or world championships. What makes the elite different is that they actually have the ability to withstand great amounts of pain and frustration in order to practice the necessary skills. Which puts that athletic talent to use to make them successful. That follows along right into the second trait which is toughness, it is not how tough you are, it is how long you can be tough that sets them apart. I know that mental toughness gets alot of play these days especially in the people who are looking for a short cut to the actual job of doing the work. It is really about physical toughness that is where you learn to become mentally tough. A great ball coach in the 60's had a great quote that went something like this " Fatigue makes cowards of us all" that says about all that is necessary about being tough, you become resilient and tough through the amount of hard physical training you can endure.

"S" Characteristics of Elite Athletes

The SAID principle is something the elite athlete does so well but may know nothing about. SAID stands for "specific adaptation to imposed demands." Dr.Eric Cobb, of Z-Health adds "exactly and always" to the meaning of the SAID principle. Our bodies will adapt to exactly and always to what we're doing. A huge part of that adaptation is the speed at which it happens in the nervous system. Signals are being sent at 300miles per hour. Giving almost immediate feedback to the brain. The elite athlete is able to take that information and use it to adapt to improving one's performance. Athletes earn the bodies and level of skill that they have because of the SAID principle, they get what they have because of what they repeatedly do. So if you want greatness you must practice greatness with precision and focus.

"R" Characteristics of Elite Athletes

Repetition repetition repetition did I say repetition? Once again it comes down to the elite having the ability to reliably repeat their motor patterns in practice so that under the pressure of competition the skill is performed properly. The 3 stages of motor learning are 1) cognitive, in which the skill must be thought out each repetition this phase takes anywhere from 1 to 1,000 repetitions. 2) associative. this stages starts to combine the elements of the cognitive stage with the more relaxed and less thought about parts of other skills, this phase is 1,000 to 10,000 repetitions in length. 3) Autonomous, this is the premiere stage where skills are performed in near automatic like fashion, this stage takes between 100,000 to 300,000 repetitions. The caveat to all this repetition is that they must be done exactly the same manner, precision is everything. The perfect rep principle states that you have earned the skill that you currently have by the precision of the practice you have previously done. Practice does not make perfect but a lot of precision practice can make you elite!