Sports Psychology – Rob's blog https://www.topendsports.com/rob from Topend Sports Wed, 02 Sep 2020 10:36:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.6 39014565 What Makes a Champion? https://www.topendsports.com/rob/fitness/what-makes-a-champion/ Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:39:57 +0000 http://www.topendsports.com/rob/?p=425 Shirley Barbara StricklandThere is a huge range of components that contribute to successful sports performance, mainly physical and mental. In addition, there are  many more minor factors including supply of equipment, opportunity for training, expertise in coaching and skill teaching, nutritional status, a good support network, funding (and probably many more).  Success also requires these factors to come together and interact in the right way.

Our challenge was to list these factors, and ultimately rate and rank them for a range of sports. After much discussion, it has been narrowed down to the following 15 factors. The physical components predominate here, as sport is mostly a physical endeavour, but it is the role of the other factors that can make the difference in a champion. I do not expect all of these to be factors for all sports, and the importance of each will vary between sports.  See more on these factors.

  • Body Composition
  • Cardiovascular Endurance
  • Muscular Endurance
  • Muscle Strength
  • Explosive Power
  • Speed / Quickness
  • Anaerobic Capacity
  • Flexibility
  • Agility
  • Balance and Coordination
  • Reaction Time
  • Analytic and Tactical Ability
  • Motivation and Self Confidence
  • Coping with Pressure
  • Skill and Technique

Why don’t you have a go at rating the importance of these factors. See this page and select your sport.

]]> 425 Automatic Role Models https://www.topendsports.com/rob/sports-psychology/automatic-role-models/ Tue, 15 Aug 2006 00:53:37 +0000 http://topendsports.com/rob/2006/08/14/automatic-role-models/ It seems like just about every day we see in the news some high profile sports person who has been up to no good. When athletes are in the public eye they need to accept that they are role models, whether they want to be or not. Some say they don’t ask to be role models, while other people defend them by saying that they are just human and occasionally make mistakes. However, some of them seem to make too many mistakes, and when you are a high profile athlete, you have to work extra hard not to make mistakes in public. If they don’t want to be a role model, they can stop playing their sport at a high level and get away from the public eye. While they continue to play sport and entertain people, and for many get paid very well for it, they have to accept their position in society. The way they are idolized and paid excessive amounts of money only makes them further removed for normal society. That is not an excuse, just more reason that they need to work harder to maintain their standards.

Related Pages: sport psychology

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