Many of us think that to be a great athlete you have to have a lot of athleticism.  That is true, by all accounts.  But, to truly be a great athlete you have to want to be great.  You have to have that competitive drive that helps you take your great athleticism and do something with it.

We’ve heard the story.  This athlete had all the talent in the world, but just didn’t do anything with it.  Why wasn’t that individual successful.  He/she could have wrote their ticket to an awesome legacy.  They probably just didn’t have the drive.

Anna Kournikova was one of the best female junior players in the world.  She had a promising future in tennis.  But, for one reason or another she didn’t really leave a mark in the world of tennis.  She didn’t come close to winning a major.  Don’t feel too bad for her.  She capitalized on her beauty and fame and has become successful and famous in her own right.

Was her drive not on the level of say a Serena Williams?  Very possible.

Making sacrifices to be great.

For the sake of this post, we’re going to assume that an athlete already has the talent.  What will make that athlete great?  You have to make sacrifices.  You have to make the decision and say, “I’ve got the opportunity to be great and I’m going to do everything possible to get there.”

I’ve read articles in our local paper of some area high school swimmers who get up and start training at 5:30am every day.  Then do sessions in the evening time.  While their friends are staying up to watch Gossip Girl, they’ve made the sacrifice to get their homework done and be in bed by 9pm.

A track athlete I read about mentioned how he lifts weights and does extra sessions beyond track practice to be great.  He stated during the summer when he has big meets, he is in bed by 10pm and he doesn’t know many of his high school friends that are doing that.  Is that arrogant, pretentious, or willing to sacrifice to be great?

Some would argue that if they don’t make it to the highest level, then this was all a waste of time.  That athlete could have been enjoying their teen years having fun with their friends etc.  My argument would be friends will come and go, but the chance to pursue a dream when you might have the talent to do that comes by only once.  You may fail at this dream, but it won’t be for lack of trying.

Can that drive can go too far?

Then there are the stories of Michael Jordan punching teammates for not working hard enough.  Or take this year with the Lakers and Kobe’s fierce competitiveness driving Dwight Howard’s supposed lack of athletic drive bonkers.  Kobe just wants to win, win, win at all costs.  That’s all he wants to do.

Dwight on the other hand wants to have fun, but really enjoy the game he’s playing.  Dwight doesn’t not want to win, he just wants to win his way.  Kobe isn’t having fun if he isn’t winning and even if he is winning, he might still be obsessed about one thing or another.

I think it is very tough for athletes who are truly successful to shut that drive off all the time and be friendly while wanting to win.  Larry Bird could care less about being your friend.  If you weren’t holding your end up on the court, he was going to let you have it.  Magic has a very likeable gregarious personality, but when he was playing he was all business.  He was driving those people to be the best.

Normal people just don’t get their drive.

I remember Armand Robinson talking to me after he got cut by the Steelers.  He said one of his parent’s friends asked him if he was going to go find a job now.  He responded, “no, I’m going to try and make another team.”

For an athlete, that drive just can’t be shut off.  For normal people who don’t have that type of drive, we see it as a simple flip of the switch.  Well, I had a stumbling block in my playing career, let’s move on.  For the athlete, that is just another hurdle to get over.  Nothing more nothing less.  Keep pushing until you reach your goal.

Why don’t athletes retire when they should?  Even though their body is failing them and everybody else knows it, their drive is telling them, work a little harder and you can get back to where you were.  That is the drive that has separated them for years from the athletes who have always been “good potential, but..”  They can’t shut that drive off.

Any coach can see athletes with talent.  Give them a few hours working with the kid and they can also tell you if they will have a chance at greatness.  Talent alone usually doesn’t get you to be great.  What is in the inside of the athlete?  What type of heart does that athlete have to push him/herself to be great?  That and only that will determine the greatness of an athlete.

Agree or disagree.  Comment in the box below.

Photo courtesy of arnold | inuyaki on Flickr