What
is the Formula for Success in Your Sport?
by Marie Dalloway, Ph.D.
Every athlete has one. For most sports warriors, the formula
for success in sports is implied, never articulated. One
runner might follow a regular running schedule with peak
cycling variations added close to major meets. An eye
on dietary guidelines and faith in particular equipment,
such as the style and brand of running shoes, might constitute
other considerations.
Everyone in sports from world-class athletes to weekend
warriors holds beliefs about how to increase performance.
The key question is: At your current level in your
sport, and given your talent and ability, how do you get
the most out of the time you put into your sport? How
do you achieve the greatest performance payoff given your
investment in training? Once you frame these questions,
then ask: What help can you expect from sports programs
and athletic associations?
National athletic associations hold the responsibility
for pulling together and for disseminating information
concerning the steps and the means for achieving full
development of athletic potential in a specific sport.
But few American sports associations have taken this mandate
seriously. Other countries have assumed leadership in
asking the question about the "formula" for maximizing
athletic potential and in establishing systems designed
for this goal.
Eastern European countries, in particular, demonstrate
impressive results with their programs for athletes. Their
intelligent application of sports science information
pushes the boundaries of human performance. Programs in
East Germany produce sports champions significantly beyond
the numbers expected based on the country's population.
Two European prototypes who emerged through the East German
system are Boris Becker and Steffi Graf.
Consider Boris Becker, the German wunderkind, who was
a Wimbledon champion at 17 and again at 18. Becker started
tennis at age six. Because he showed talent, he received
free lessons at a tennis clinic in Heidelberg from the
regional coach, who held a doctorate in biomechanics.
By 9, his practice schedule changed from biweekly to daily.
All his lessons continued to be free.
By 11, he was selected to train at a national center.
Although he had good dexterity, he was not among the best
in his age group in terms of technique or ranking. His
outstanding quality was "enormous determination."
At 12 and at 14, he lost in early rounds of regional events.
But at 16, he emerged shining. He leaped forward in the
juniors and, at 17, he won his first Wimbledon title.
The German Tennis Federation estimates the cost of Becker's
pre-Wimbledon training at $500,000, all of which was provided
by the Federation. The financial burden on Becker's parents?
Nothing.
Had Becker been born in the United States, the likelihood
of his becoming a champion tennis player is astronomically
small. In this country, the system mandated with the responsibility
for identifying talented players and for developing those
players to their highest potential falls short consistently
in both counts.
Unbelievably, the American system in tennis operates in
ways which are inconsistent with effective development
of talented players in the sport. This is not an indictment
of the tennis system. But rather a recognition that American
sports systems, with tennis as an example, have functioned
with "formulas" for success in athletics which translate
to methods that are inconsistent with bringing out the
highest performance levels in talented athletes.
In contrast with the organized efficiency of Eastern European
sports development systems, an intriguing study of sports
champions reveals the shortcomings of the American system.
"Sporting Excellence", by David Hemery, a gold
medalist for Great Britain in the 400-meter hurdles in
1968, describes characteristics of world champion athletes.
The conflicts between his profile of champions and American
methods for dealing with athletes are enlightening.
- "Late bloomers" describes two-thirds of Hemery's
champions; American systems focus on young athletes
with early competitive achievement records.
- World champions are well-sports-rounded, participating
in several sports and not specializing until age 16
on the average. Numerous sports in the U.S. pressure
youths to specialize by age 10.
- None of the champions hailed from affluence. In
contrast, juniors, in numerous sports, especially
tennis and golf, come from wealthy families in high
proportions.
- Families of champions create a stable, supportive
environment. Too often, the American parent behind
an athlete is the prototypic "stage" parent who pushes
and pressures.
- Intensity of training represents a near universal
characteristic of champions. The widely-held myth
of more is better results in lengthy but low-intensity
training with American athletes.
If you think that your formula for your athletic development
is off a few beats, you are in good company that includes
national sports organizations. But there are signs of
change and progress toward developing better sports systems.
It is a tribute to the United States Tennis Association
(USTA), particularly to the architects of their Player
Development Program, that they have set about creating
a new system for the development of athletic talent in
tennis. With excellent people, with resources and energy
behind them, the USTA is tackling the question of what
it takes to develop athletes to their fullest sports potential.
Results from the Player Development Program will fashion
a new system informed by the best methods in coaching
and by the advances in the sports sciences. Their ambitious
undertaking, begun in 1988, will affect the future of
tennis and may well act as a prototype for redesigning
the sports development systems of all Olympic sports.
We do know that champions are born and trained. All athletes
who strive to reach their potential are born and trained.
Physical talent for high achievement is more widely distributed
than previously believed.
Several constellations of factors form the key components
in the equation for excellence in sports. Talent plus
personal characteristics, most notably steel-will determination
and dedication, plus the best sport-specific coaching,
plus the best ancillary training, including total fitness,
diet and mental skills, create the general form for an
equation for optimally developing athletic potential.
Re-think your own formula for success in your sport. As
the designer of this equation, you play a highly significant
role in your performance outcomes.
References:
Tabak, Lawrence: Unforced Errors. American Way. July 1988.Copyright
© 2000 By Marie Dalloway All Rights Reserved
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mental skills are natural, simple, and easy to learn. This area presented
so well by Marie Dalloway is the path of the future in self-improvement
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