Top Level Athletes: Tips for Balancing Sport and Life
April 21, 2020
We love sport, live and breath it, but also believe you can be an outstanding athlete without letting your sport consume you! Here is an interesting article by Peak Perfomance Sports on whether you need to be a 24/7 athlete to achieve success in sport.
Is focusing on your sport 100 percent of the time the most effective path to athletic success?
The reality is that the “Train, Eat, Sleep, Repeat” mindset often does more harm than good.
“Train, Eat, Sleep, Repeat” mentality puts a lot of pressure on athletes.
Athletes that invest most of their time and energies on one pursuit heap excessive demands on themselves.
The “Train, Eat, Sleep, Repeat” mindset is an eggs-all-in-one-basket investment. Competitions become all-or-nothing, success or failure, and that’s a risky proposition.
Think of it in terms of investing money…
You would never dream of taking every penny and everything you own and investing it on one stock, so why would you do the same thing athletically?
The key to athletic success is having a balance in your life.
It’s a matter of being 100 percent focused during training and competitions but, also, having a personal life outside of sport.
Having a personal life is a way of recharging your batteries.
One athlete that knows how to maintain balance is WTA tennis player Naomi Osaka…
Osaka is ranked 20th in the world and genuinely enjoys her time on the court. Osaka has a clear goal of being one of the best in the world.
OSAKA: “I know that there are new [players] that are going to come and do good, and of course I want to be one of them. I feel like I’m already one of them.”
Osaka also realizes the importance of down time.
OSAKA: “Tennis is my job, similar to how a normal person has a 9-to-5 job. When I’m off the court, everything relaxes, and I don’t really care that much about what I do or what I say.”
That is prudent advice from a top-ranked athlete.
Balance actually will enhance your game but some athletes find it difficult to turn off their athletic role after leaving the athletic arena.
It is not easy to strike a balance between sport and life.
Many of your personal decisions, such as sleep, diet, staying out late, affect your sports performance.
With the time demands of competing in a sport, you have to schedule many social events around training.
Despite the conflicts, learning some effective balancing strategies will lessen the pressure to perform, keep your passion for competing alive, improve performance and help you develop fully as a person.
Tips for Balancing Sport & Life
-
Set the schedule – Map out athletic commitments and set aside time to relax, hang with friends, enjoy hobbies or pursue activities outside of sport.
-
Get a hobby – Find something that you love to do, such as music, reading, crafts, etc.
-
Leave sports at the arena – When you walk off the court, field, or out of the gym, transition into other roles of your life.
Your new mantra…. “Train, Eat, Relax, Have Fun & Sleep!”
This article was written by Peak Performance Sport: www.peaksports.com
