Successful athletes possess many traits. Their skill, technique, and overall ability are usually extraordinary. The perfection of these traits evidently shows why they perform at the elite levels of their sport.
However, a powerful underlying tool, is what drives the success of these athletes.
This is their mentality. The mentality is what separates good athletes from elite athletes.
The mentality is the mechanism that motivates and drives athletes to perform at their best.
Successful athletes are disciplined, committed, and persistent.
Hours are spent, honing their skills and enhancing their abilities to become the best they can be. A strong mindset is required to consistently persevere through the strenuous physical activity athletes endure.
This article explores the willpower of Olympic and professional athletes, to truly understand the power of a strong mind.
Confidence is a trait that almost all high-level athletes possess. An athlete’s continuous repetition of a movement leads to a strong self-belief in their ability to succeed in executing the movement in a competitive match.
A great example is “Steph Curry” NBA Basketball superstar, Steph Curry is known for his superb shooting percentages. In 2021 Curry set the record for the highest 3-point record with a total of 2,977 3-point shots scored.
Curry stated that “every time I rise, I have confidence I am going to make it”. This quote is unsurprising. Curry has perfected his shooting abilities, through decades of dedication.
Consequently, Curry has great self-confidence, Curry trusts his ability to shoot a basketball correctly. Curry’s strong self-belief has culminated him into the phenomenal player he is today.
In Several sports, the best athletes possess this strong degree of confidence in their skills. They understand that they are talented individuals, and they never stop improving their skills, which breeds this self-confidence.
Athletes undergo adversity and turmoil throughout their careers. These setbacks can be humiliating and embarrassing.
The athlete experiences a significant failure in achieving their goal. However, it is these setbacks that cause an athlete to develop a resilient mindset.
In a mindset whereby they become insensitive to failure, the athlete develops a stronger character and becomes more focused on achieving their goal.
An example of an Athlete who has faced countless tribulations throughout their career is the football icon “Lionel Messi”.
Messi’s international career has seen him being scrutinized for being a “lazy player”, to a national hero.
The Argentina national team lost 3 consecutive tournaments, those being the 2014 World cup final to Germany, the 2015 Copa America to Chile, and the 2016 Copa America final to Chile yet again.
In the 2016 World cup final, the Argentine superstar missed a penalty, this aggravated the fans which contributed to his poor national team reputation.
After this event, Messi insisted on him leaving the national team, as he was deeply upset with his personal and team performances.