Qualities of an All-around Athlete

You’re a pretty decent athlete that truly loves your sport, and that’s how most athletes can be qualified. So what makes a spectacular athlete, and what can move you from being a good athlete in your sport to being an outstanding athlete all around?

Dedicated

All-around athletes are devoted to their sport. It’s not just something to do to pass the time. And while they have many obligations, they manage their time so they can honor their commitments to the sport. You can ask how often they practice, but you would do better to find out how often they spend time on their sport.

These athletes are thinking about their sport when they are in school and when they are at a party, meeting, or on vacation. They are constantly working out ways to be stronger, faster, and more creative.

In fact, if you ask about their social calendar, you may learn that they sacrifice a lot of activities to spend time at practice, games, and tournaments. You likely won’t hear them call it a sacrifice though because it doesn’t feel like one to them.

Aware

All-around athletes may be full of talent, but they recognize that being successful will take a lot of work on top of that. These athletes will usually look up to and trust their coaches. And if they are also eager to learn and try new things, they will be exceptionally coachable.

You might notice that they can focus on a game even though they are particularly stressed about something else. Athletes who are aware of themselves can learn to compartmentalize the different emotions they are experiencing. This also makes them a great teammate to work with, showing they can accept mistakes and stressful situations without letting it affect their game.

Great athletes have to be confident in who they are and their abilities in the sport, despite having tough competitors. You may have every other quality of a great athlete, but if you aren’t sure of your ability to measure up against the competition, it will be easy to fall behind.

Physically Smart

There’s more to being a great athlete than being perfectly fit, though it is important to build up strength, endurance, flexibility, and fast-twitch muscles so they’re ready for anything.

Relying on their primed mental capabilities, they know how to give training everything they’ve got. So if you haven’t already, learn to keep going even when you’re tired. Don’t quit when it’s hard. It’s easier to push yourself when you’re measuring your progress, too. With a set of goals in mind, great athletes are able to stay motivated to do a little extra work every day to keep improving.

But don’t forget, in the midst of this drive forward, you can still get injured. All-around athletes are smart about taking care of injuries. They might visit a sports medicine specialist, and if they need time to recover, they take that time. If not, it could result in further injuries that prevent them from participating in the sport again, and we know that’s just not an option.