| When talking about talent we must realize that every athlete has talent... some have it big and some not so big. This is the great gift given you by God. Theorectically, talent defines the potential of your athletic achievement. The idea is that if you are gifted, or a real "natural," you can be great. If you are not gifted then nothing special can happen athletically. I do not believe this theory. We've all seen great athletes with limited talent become great performers. We've also seen athletes with great talent never truly reaching their full potential. Why?
Next, we need to look at the nature of skill. Whereas talent is a gift, skills are learned. The mechanics of running, jumping, shooting, hitting, and kicking are skills. They are acquired through hard work, repetition and practice. Theoretically, skills affect achievement in athletics in as much the same way talent does. If your skills are strong, you can be great! If your skills are weak your potential is limited. Again, I think we've all seen some successful athletes with skills that were marginal-to-good at best. So how do athletes with no special talent and average-to-good mechanics become the best?
Talent and skill are important contributors to achievement in sport, but I don't think they are the most important factors. So many highly successful athletes exist today who are not gifted or have not achieved mechanical perfection. They are everywhere in every sport...golf, tennis, baseball, basketball, football, boxing, skating, soccer, hockey and wrestling. So what is the critical factor in athletic achievement" It's called TOUGHNESS!
What is toughness?
Toughness is the ability to consistently perform at a high level no matter what the competitive circumstance are. In other words, no matter what happens, no matter what is thrown at you, no matter what adversity you are faced with, you will still be able to bring all your talents and skills to life on demand.
Toughness is being able to perform at your ideal competitive state of mind and body. It is simply the optimal state of physiological and psychological arousal for performing at your peak. You are most likely to perform at your peak when you feel:
- Confident.
- Relaxed and calm.
- Energized with positive emotion.
- Challenged.
- Focused and alert.
- Automatic and instinctive.
- Ready for fun and enjoyment.
Toughness is learned. Make no mistake about it. Toughness has nothing to do with genetics. It is acquired the same way skills are. If you don't have it, it just means you haven't learned it yet. Anyone can learn it at any stage in their life.
Toughness is mental, physical and ultimately emotional. What you think and visualize, how you act, when and what you eat, the quantity and quality of your sleep and rest, and especially your physical conditioning level can all have a great effect on your emotional state. Tough thinking, tough acting, fitness, proper rest and diet are prerequisties for feeling tough.
Your emotions control your ideal competitive state of being. Some emotions are empowering...freeing your talent and skill. Other emotions are disempowering and lock your potential out. Empowering emotions are those associated with challenge, drive, confidence, determination, positive fight, energy, spirit, persistence and fun. Disempowering emotions are those associated with feelings of fatigue, helplessness, insecurity, low energy, weakness, fear and confusion.
Learning to access empowering emotions durning competition, especially in difficult situations, is the basis for learning to be a great competitor. That is what toughness is all about.
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