Sports
Personality
Type
Scientists and sports psychologists haven’t yet concluded just how much of an athlete’s success is talent and ability, and how much is psychological. And yet, there doesn’t seem to be an athlete or coach on Earth who would argue that the latter is unimportant. One sports scientist, Daniel Brown, even asserts that a lack of certain personality traits could help to explain “why some individuals gifted at sport don’t thrive at elite level.” Below, we’ve listed 20 distinguishing personality traits that seem to set apart the most successful high-performing athletes.
|| Self Confidence
“Self-Confidence” isn’t just a phrase for cheesy motivational posters. For high-performing athletes, it’s an entire way of life. The best athletes are self-confident by nature. They believe they can make it to the top step of the podium, even if that self-confidence is sometimes propped up by blood, sweat, tears, and a ton of sacrifice.
|| Strong Sense of Motivation
It takes more than a shiny medal or hefty check to motivate the world’s best athletes. Rather, high-performing athletes are motivated by the desire to beat their competition, crush their current personal best, and prove to themselves their hard work wasn’t for nothing.
|| Inner Desire to Succeed
An athlete’s biggest competition is himself. Like the above personality trait, an inner desire to succeed drives an athlete to his or her best effort each and every time. No matter what it is that spurs on the drive — the roar of the crowd, the glint of the gold medal, the trip to the White House for the winners — the need to succeed must first come from within.
|| Natural Goal Setter
No beginning athlete is ready for the Olympics, the World Series, the Grand Prix, the Tour de France, or the Super Bowl. The athletes who get to the world-class events do so by setting realistic, achievable goals, then working hard to attain those goals one step at a time. For high-performing athletes, the ability to set and achieve goals tends to come naturally.
|| Self-Discipline
There is a famous saying that goes something like, “To become an overnight success, it takes 10 years of hard work.” No one knows this truth better than the high-performing athlete. Early mornings, sore muscles, broken bones, sacrifices. The self discipline that comes with putting the sport first is another distinguishable trait of high-performing athletes.
|| Optimism
An intrinsic sense of optimism goes hand-in-hand with self-confidence, and is yet another distinguishable personality trait of high-performing athletes. To be the best, an athlete must believe that she can beat the best (and anything else that gets in her way). An athlete who doubts herself will never cross the finish line in front.
|| Sense of Belonging
High-performing athletes all share a sense of belonging. For successful team players, this means feeling part of the team and knowing they play a valuable role. For individual athletes, this means knowing they belong amongst the best in the world — and maybe even the history books.
|| Natural Leader
High-performing athletes tend to be natural leaders both on and off the field. Leaders are known for their focus, sense of motivation, and innate ability to bring out the best in both themselves and those around them — traits shared with top-tiered athletes.
|| Willingness to Take Criticism
No athlete makes it to the top on their own. Top-tier athletes understand the importance of remaining coachable - that is, taking criticism at every opportunity and learning from it.
|| Humility
A humble athlete neither underestimates nor overestimates his abilities. By doing so, he is able to keep lit an internal flame of motivation. There is always room for improvement, and that improvement will come only with more training, more coaching, more sweat, and more heart.
|| Ability to Manage Stress
Stress has the power to debilitate just about anyone, but athletes have to deal with it on the daily. The stress of losing, the stress of injury, the stress of embarrassing themselves, their coaches, their families — the list never ends. High-performing athletes are unique in that they have the ability to manage their stress. Whether that ability comes naturally or has been learned over many years, these athletes are able to compartmentalize their worries to focus on the task at hand.
|| Low Anxiety
Instead of allowing anxiety to take all of their energy and attention, top-tier athletes have a tendency to be low anxiety. They go with the flow. They’re are adaptable enough to change strategy or come up against a challenge without feeling the debilitating nerves that have ruined the dreams of so many other talented people. For some, this is natural. For others, it’s the result of years of hard work spent learning to compartmentalize their greatest fears.
|| Strong Sense of Focus
An athlete cannot find herself amongst the best unless she possesses a strong sense of focus. This focus allows the top athlete to remain in the moment, regardless of who is in the stands or what occurred that morning. It also means staying focused on achieving each goal as it comes, without ever forgetting the big picture.
|| Trust in the Process
The journey to the top is a long one, but high-performing athletes have the unique psychological trait of trusting in the system. They understand that success isn’t going to come without setbacks — probably a lot of them. But they also understand that with each setback comes a learning opportunity. The process may be long, but no one becomes the best by taking the shortcut.
|| Resiliency and the Ability to Learn from Setbacks
Loss is inevitable. Even the best athletes in the world have faced defeat on the world’s biggest stages. It’s resiliency that sets the good athletes apart from the great ones. The latter have the distinguishable personality trait to continue moving forward, regardless of whatever setbacks (read: learning experiences) they face.
|| Vulnerability
Vulnerability may seem like the last thing that should be on a list of distinguishing personality traits of high-performance athletes, and yet it’s extremely important. Vulnerable athletes realize that failure is inevitable, and that they can learn more from that failure than they do success. Each time a vulnerable athlete falls, or loses, or makes a game-ending mistake, their resolve to get stronger and better grows.
|| Perfectionism
In sports, as with anything else, perfectionism can be both a positive or negative psychological trait. True perfection is unattainable, so many athletes become overwhelmed by the idea they are anything but. However, for high-performing athletes, it’s more about the quest for perfection than the actual achievement of it. It’s about the journey, not the destination. When properly harnessed, the strive for perfection leads to a training mindset and ultimately, unflappable consistency.
|| Killer Instinct
How many exciting wins have come down to a corner cut, a gutsy pass, a risk taken? High-performing athletes have the killer instinct. They also have the courage to make tough, spur-of-the-moment decisions that often mean the difference between winning and losing.
|| Willingness to Fight
Top athletes know well how important it is to fight to the end. A final push of effort, even when the tank is empty, often separates the winner from the losers. High-performing athletes have an innate sense of aggression and fight, to ensure that they always cross the finish line having given their all.
|| Appreciation
Finally, high-performing athletes exhibit appreciation. Through the shedding of blood, sweat, and tears, they appreciate the early mornings, the relentless travel, the devoted friends and teammates, and every single other challenge. They appreciate the experiences because they get to continue chasing the goals and the dreams which consume them.
Possible Occupations
As modern day’s sports require lot of physical energy and stamina, hence sports persons are supposed to be energetic, enthusiastic and physically fit. Besides possessing ability Patience, perseverance and a sporting spirit, they must also be committed to their games.
Sports as a profession offers a plethora of career opportunities, some of them are given below.
Sports Persons
Once a person decides to take up playing a particular sport or athletic activity as a profession, then the training for it takes precedence over everything else. A strict training regimen under the expert guidance of a coach, coupled with a wholesome and nutritious diet program (again under expert guidance) needs to be followed.
The country encourages and supports those who excel in their fields and bring the country's name into limelight in international sports meets.
Actual performance on field may be short-lived, but a successful stint opens many other avenues for a sportsperson who retires from active sports due to age.
Positions in state level and national level sports organizations are often offered to sports persons after they retire from active sports.
Coaching
This option has now assumed a greater significance with more and more schools and parents realizing the importance of physical activity. Many parents prefer educational institutions that offer their children a wholesome curriculum covering activities like swimming, horse riding and yoga etc.
As more and more Indian sports persons gain fame and recognition in the international scene, many a parent is willing to let his ward have a chance at proving his mettle in sports. Educational institutions are expected to provide opportunities for students to determine where their aptitude lies.
Therefore job openings in this area have increased manifold. This can be a rewarding and satisfying job for a person who enjoys outdoor activities and mingling with youngsters.
Besides educational institutions, many private clubs employ coaches for teaching groups of youngsters. These may be special vacation batches or even regular evening batches. Upcoming sports persons sometimes employ personal coaches to enhance and optimize their performance.
In this situation, it is the responsibility of a coach to chalk out numerous training programs that will help keep the trainee in perfect mental and physical shape. One star prodigy can help shoot the coach also into limelight.
Sports Journalism/Sports Commentating
Those endowed with communication skills can easily become popular like a Harsha Bhogle or Ravi Shastri. With rapid growth in television, newspapers/ magazines and other media, sports journalism has surely surfaced as a highly paid profession.
Now there are numerous television channels like Star Sports, ESPN, Ten Sports, Zee Sports and DD Sports which dedicated to sports programs only.
Sports Photographer
Besides having an aesthetic sense, an sports photographer should have through knowledge about the sports. Sports photographers are always in demand, mainly when major sports events are held.
Consultants(Sports Medicine)
The current awareness about health and fitness has created a need for experts who can advise individuals about their health needs and suggest a personalized fitness program taking into account lifestyle, time constraints and other relevant factors.
Such professionals may be employed in an advisory capacity by leading health clubs. Hospitals and rehabilitation centres also utilize the services of such specialists to provide sound advice on the best course of action for patients who need structured physical activity.
Such specialists also attend to the maladies of the sports persons during action e.g. sprains, muscle pulls, torn ligaments, fractures etc. Physiotherapists are also required in the field of sports to provide continuous and sustained treatment to the injured individuals.
Umpire / Referee
This is a tough job as it requires thorough knowledge of the rules of the game one is refereeing. Their job is to carry out the games and sports in accordance with rules and regulations as set by the concerned governing body various recognized State and national sports organizations employ umpires and referees.
They also reward certification of expertise for the game to qualified umpires and referees. The other tasks which an umpire/referee performs include scrutinizing sports equipment, the ground and enforcing fulfillment of schedules and rules.
Opportunities with Private Sector
The increasing awareness about physical fitness and the popularity enjoyed by many games has led to the mushrooming of sports clubs all over the country. From simple ones that offer coaching to ones that are fully equipped to cater to the elites and upper classes.
Such clubs are privately owned and the owners prefer persons with exposure in relevant sporting fields to operate sports and leisure clubs. Such jobs carry many administrative responsibilities alongside.
Persons working in such places need to have excellent interpersonal skills, as they will need to interact with many people who come to use the facilities offered by the club, with various sports persons to be appointed as instructors, equipment suppliers and so on.
Manufacturing Sports Equipment
Innovation and experience is an excellent combination and works well in many areas including that of sports equipment manufacture. This is a very specialized field and has new products aimed at enhancing the innate abilities of sports persons and enabling them to do their best.
Big sporting events like the Olympics/Asian/Commonwealth games regularly showcase such innovative equipment, of which many go on to become standard equipment. Sports goods and equipment has an increasing market. So specialists are engaged to help in market research and development.