How can I become a great athlete?
Learning how to become a successful athlete is easier than doing the necessary work. Greatness is more about doing the right actions daily versus what or who you know.
The big question many athletes and parents ask is how can my son or daughter become a top athlete? How can you develop elite level athleticism and reach the highest levels of competitive sports? The process and work needed are not as complicated as people think. But staying the course through all the ups and downs of life is what causes people to stop long before they should.
I have a close friend that has spent the last ten years taking his son across the country to various AAU basketball tournaments. Additionally, he has visited colleges, invested resources on mental development, training, and expensive private schooling. His son just recently graduated high school and, sadly, but in what has become a common occurrence, he was left without any Div 1 offers. His father said he is only going to focus on school and leave the basketball playing behind.
I believe this family and the child have what it takes to get more out of athletics. But you must be willing to stick in there when you don’t see anything. Faith! And work!
How long does it take to become a great athlete?
There is nothing wrong with focusing on school, but this is what most people do. They tell themselves a story that sounds good and one that is palatable to others. But in my opinion, this is a mistake. After spending all of your youth development years focusing on a sport only to stop at 17 is a huge mistake, not to mention a waste of resources.
Those resources could have been spent on another endeavor or game, especially in the current economic environment. So my first tip is don’t stop because things didn’t go as planned, especially early on in the sports development phase. At 17 years, a young man or woman has yet to fully develop, physically, mentally, spiritually, or emotionally. When a person matures and all of these aspects come into harmony, great things can happen. But the athlete must stay the course in order to realize his or her sports goals.
It doesn’t take long to become an athlete, but to become an elite professional athlete takes time. A good time frame is 25 – 28 years of age or 15 – 20 years of training.
- Choose a sport that you are passionate about – An athlete must be excited about the game they choose. Passion is the fuel, fire, and foundation that will produce sustained effort over a long period. Anything less than a passion for the sport most likely ends up in the athlete burning out or, even worse, quitting the sport unexpectedly. Passion is the fire behind the success! Much like us here at Souletics, we have a passion for supporting those that want to experience athletic and life success. So much so we have been on this journey for more than 15 years. This was before the popularity of mind and body connection. In 2004, when I spoke of mind, body, and soul, I seemed way out there. Sixteen years later, we now know that is the right approach to everything.
- Decide to study the sport diligently by watching film, games, and interviews about the sport – To develop at your specific sport, you must put in mental reps. These mental reps can be video, visualization, watching live games, reading books on strategy, or just meditating on your sport daily. This type of “student of the game attitude” will give you a mental advantage compared to your competitors.
- Make your chosen sport your focus – To be a top athlete, you must make your sport a priority. This does not mean you cannot participate in other sports. But what it does mean is you will need to sacrifice something to reach the elite levels of competition. Doing what ordinary youth do will most likely not be part of your schedule. Of course, you can take time to enjoy life, but you must understand that your program will be different from most of your peers unless they are on the same path as you.
- Train, evaluate, and test yourself – To be a top athlete, you will need to test yourself against elite competition consistently. Without this testing stick, it will not be straightforward to develop to your full potential, as the game is often the best teacher. An excellent training program combined with an adequate competition schedule is the right formula. For example, a year-long AAU basketball schedule is too much on the body, but playing AAU combined with rest and training is what you want to do.
- Cross-train – You must train your body in multiple disciplines or sports. This type of training will allow you to develop all range of motion, major and minor muscles in addition to understanding body mechanics. The best athletes have athletic range and an ability to play multiple sports.
- Ignore the Critics – The critics are always there. With the growth in social media, there is now an abundance of noise from folks that like talking, shaming, and criticizing others rather than focusing on their own goals and dreams. Learn to let it slide. Don’t engage in it at all.
- Push through the Pain – Adversity and difficulty are part of the process. It is tough! Adversity can and will come at you in many ways. Possibly a relationship has gone sour, an unforeseen tragedy, coach not playing you, transferring schools, lack of opportunity. The key is how you choose to push through this pain.
- Set your goals high – Remember the saying, “aim for the galaxy and land on the moon.” Well, this mindset that anything is possible through faith in God, hard work, discipline, integrity, and consistency is what you must live by.
- Associate with others that have similar sports goals, life interests, and personality similarities. This is critically important for your life and athletic success, as others will often misinterpret or not understand your method of doing things. This does not mean you cannot talk to others or have a friend that is not an athlete, but instead, you must align yourself with people that have the same goals as you.
- Stay away from negativity and those that will minimize your progress. Stay far away from those that reduce your efforts and seek to discourage you, if even in subtle ways. If you are on a positive track, if you are kind and respectful, there is no reason to receive such negativity. So when you experience it, you must identify that it is most likely coming from people that do not have your best interest.
- Build meaningful relationships with athletic evaluators and sports recruiters – Relationships can be the bridge to opportunity. This is not everything, because you still must meet the standard and qualifications. Don’t seek to build a relationship for the sake of using people to get ahead, but rather build relationships to add value to people and build a community.
- Stay faithful and consistent even when you don’t see anything. Success is an illusion as people usually only see the success. They don’t see all the sweat, tears, anxiety, work, and consistency that produces success. Stay faithful and committed to your training program even when you do not see anything.
- Handle adversity with grace – So tough, so tough, but it’s so important to learn to handle adversity and failure with grace. Look at each experience as an education and a chance to grow as a player and person.
- If you truly desire to know “how to become a successful athlete,” one of the most important decisions is choosing the right life partner. One of the most essential choices you can make is who you choose as a husband, wife, or who to date. You must select a person that is for you, supports you, who loves you for you. This is very hard now in this world of social media and promotion as everyone is looking for something. You must identify a person’s values. We discuss this in-depth in our Athlete’s Guide. Choose someone that you are willing to sacrifice for, as well.
Can I become a successful athlete at 25?
Yes, you absolutely can be an athlete at 25. For one, it depends on what success in the sport is to you. How you will define success? Is it learning how to play the sport? Competing at the club level? Or reaching the professional level of the sport and earning a living?
A better question is can anyone start a sports career at 25 when they have no previous experience or background in athletics? Without pure dedication, consistent training, a reasonable athletic background in sport and an elite recovery regime, it will be extremely difficult. But anything is possible. You must look to peak at about 33, which is prime age in some sports. But you will need to train with superior intelligence so as to not to cause injury during the process.
More Articles on Becoming a Great Athlete
Is it too late to become an athlete?
No its never to late to start moving your body. You can start training even in your 70s. But, if you desire to be a professional athlete you will need to start early, preferably in your youth, possibly in you 20s and on rare occasions in your 30s
How do you become a serious athlete?
Find a sport you are passionate about, and dedicate your life towards becoming the best you can be in that sport.
What makes a top athlete?
1. Work Ethic 2. Dedication 3. confidence 4. Ability to ignore Criticism 5. Inner Desire 6. Mental Fortitude 7. Ability to focus