3 Keys to Success in Sports

The three (must have) important factors to achievements in any type of sport or activity are excellent instructions, practice and repetition, and most of all – belief in in your abilities.

You must have a good instructor or coach. Many people have a incorrect outlook about teaching a new strategy and setting unrealistic expectations for that athlete. Some coaches think that once they show an athlete a new strategy the person should be able to utilize it right away. Furthermore, some athletes believe that they should be able to make improvements in their activity, and have it pay off right away. Change does not occur instantaneously.

Practice makes perfect. Athletes must practice what they have been taught to be able to put it into into practice. Why? Old routines are hard to alter. So any time you learn something new (or shown something new), it requires a lot of repeating to alter or change.

Learning, practice, and repeating alone sometimes are unsuccessful. The third and most important key to achievements (which is more about the psychological game) is when an athletes truly believes in and understands their abilities and what they have learned. You or your teammates might have excellent skill or strategy, but you must believe in what you have learned in practice through repetition to be able to utilize it against competitors. A deficit of belief in in one's abilities is the top reason athletes cannot do it again during a game, like they do during practice.

What’s the cause for lack of mental toughness and awareness? Several psychological activity limitations can get in the way:

•Fear of failure
•Perfectionism
•Unrealistic expectations
•Focusing on outcomes, rather than the process
•Pressure of being in the big game

So get out of your own way and quit over controlling your body or over-coaching yourself! Keep in mind that change does not occur instantaneously. It requires excellent instructions, exercise and repetition, and belief in in your abilities to have success in sports. Give it time and you will have the ability to reach your goals. This quote by Michael Jordan puts this all into perspective:

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." ~Michael Jordan~