The longer that you go in sports, there are very little physical traits that separates the very good from the great. I hear golf analysts say all the time that there isn’t much difference physically between good and great golfers. The difference is from the neck up.

If we look at high school athletes, what separates these kids from very good to great? There are a lot of good high school athletes who are athletically gifted, but why do some kids continue on to college and others don’t?

I’ve worked with my fair share of athletes who have been champions. Champions that have competed individually and champions that are part of a team. I’ve noticed a few traits that they seem to share beyond just being great athletes physically.

Since an individual could be a great athlete on a team and still not have “team” success, I’m going to focus on individual sports such as wrestling, track, or tennis. Here are a few of those traits:

  • They put in the work, no matter what. I’ve worked with a track and wrestling individual champion. Both of them were three sport athletes. Even though they might have been in another sport, they were still making time to lift, do plyos, or little things to continue and build towards their main sport.  

    Since January of this year, Aziza Ayoub (who won not only the state 800M title in Ohio for her division, but the junior Olympic national meet for her age group) has trained with us every week of the year except for the 3 weeks leading up to states in both track and cross country. She trained with us during basketball, during track, during summer, during cross country, and continues to train with us as we finish up this year.

    NO EXCUSES!! She makes the time even if she has had a practice for another sport, a game the next day, or a vacation coming up.  Do you have that commitment to yourself to be great?
  • They are confident, but realistic.  I asked one of our track athletes one time how she felt going into the league meet.  She replied with one word, confident.  I followed it up by asking if she was going to get a PR.  She said we will see.  That is okay.  She had the confidence that she was going to run well, but knew it might not be a PR (personal record).  That is knowing your body and abilities well.
  • They have an inner drive that is different than most. This inner drive might make them uber-competitive, but it is also what makes them great. This inner drive is a reason why they do what it takes to be great. Why they practice when they could be lounging. Why they pay attention to all the little details. Why they study their opponents and formulate a gameplan to beat them. You try not to control the inner drive of a great athlete, but make sure it is focused correctly.
  • They are focused on their sport. This doesn’t mean that they just play one sport, but whatever sport they are playing at that particular time, they are focused on it. What does that mean? It could mean different things. Maybe they have a certain routine they do for their warmup. Maybe they focus in on a certain song that gets them ready to play. Whatever it may be, once they find it they focus in on it and they are ready to rock and roll.
  • They have fun. They enjoy the moment. They can still be upset if they don’t do well, but they have fun playing their sport. And that is ultimately what this is all about right? You should have fun. You should enjoy wanting to play each and every game. You only do this once. There are lots of people that have great talent, but can’t stand playing the sport. They probably aren’t as great as they could be. If you aren’t having fun, then you need to re-examine why you are doing this.

There are probably some other items that could be discussed, but these are the ones that I see as a common thread. If you feel I missed some big ones then please share them in the comment’s box below. I’d love to hear what you think.

Photo courtesy of Oscar Rethwill on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rethwill/