What Makes a Great Athlete?
What makes up the heart and soul of a great athlete? As a coach for over 3 decades I have coached thousands of children, my coaching techniques have evolved and I still know I have so much more to learn. I am forever trying to improve and fine tune my coaching skills and in a way the children are my “guinea pigs”, but one constant remains – the traits of the great” athlete. • Athletes need to be honest with themselves and their coach, if they don’t communicate with the coach, injuries can and will occur and the coach losses the ability to trust in the athlete to tell them the full story. The coach needs to be fully aware of the loads that the children are undertaking: other sports, school sports, illness, nutritional habits, study requirements, work requirements and even sleep habits. Only then can a coach monitor the training loads, recovery needs and competition schedules of each child. • They need to have self belief, self confidence, self awareness, and an appropriate level of matu
