How to become an elite athlete
The figure of the elite athlete is forged from early childhood. What at first is nothing more than a game, a simple diversion, a way of socializing and a stimulus to get started in a healthy life, can become in the future a professional career in the world of sports.
However, to achieve this goal it is important to maintain a lot of perseverance, to understand that this objective entails many sacrifices and to go to centers and professionals who will shape the trajectory of the young athletes.
What is an elite or high-level athlete?
An interesting note with the nomenclature is to distinguish between elite athlete, high-level athlete or even professional athlete. These terms are often confused, so we will try to shed some light on this matter.
An elite athlete is a person with very high results and sporting level, that is, those who obtain a very remarkable performance and is champion of Spain, Europe or similar scenarios.
On the other hand, a high-performance athlete is one who optimizes his or her capabilities to the maximum. You can have a very high level in a particular discipline, but not compete in any modality.
On the other hand, there are professional athletes, who are those who receive financial remuneration for practicing sports. In this case, they can dedicate themselves solely to this activity or combine it with other types of work. If your sport is a minority one, and does not have much media success, you may not be able to support yourself with this activity alone.
How to become a high-level or elite athlete
Every elite athlete must meet certain minimum requirements that include training many hours a week, following a good psychological preparation, making sacrifices in the form of sacrifices, understanding that there are many people who fall by the wayside and accessing an environment conducive to the development of good results.
Below we explain in more depth how to become a top-level or elite athlete, focusing on all these issues.
Meticulous training from a very early stage
High-level or elite athletes usually start practicing physical activity at a very young age. Most athletes or players who become professionals have dedicated their entire lives to sports and have been attending classes since they were 5 or 6 years old.
However, there are extraordinary examples, either because of their physical ability or their talent, who start later, in adolescence. Be that as it may, taking up tennis, soccer, basketball, swimming, golf, cycling, athletics or any other discipline from a very early age allows them to gain experience and find their own style.
Of course, at these younger ages, children should be allowed to have fun and should not be required to make too much of an effort, as the process can be counterproductive and they may end up abandoning the sport.
Psychological care
Once the athlete achieves outstanding results, he/she enters a more demanding phase, with concentrations with national teams, the support of the federation or private centers that allow them to advance in their career.
At SLAM we have places dedicated to students of sporting excellence. These programs are designed for young people who want to continue advancing in the world of sport until they reach professionalism, but without abandoning the training.
In this selection of high-level sports profiles, psychological care should not be overlooked. Competition is a universe closely linked to the control of emotions. Athletes must learn to manage their emotions, maintain their concentration and channel frustration, anger and hatred towards improving results.
Sacrifices and renunciations
Not all young people who aspire to become professional athletes succeed. Sports psychology helps to cope with these situations of disappointment, but even these profiles that fall a step short, have dedicated a good part of their lives to training.
The hours of training go hand in hand with a strict diet, very rigid rest schedules and also sacrifices, since this goal can mean giving up things that are typical of teenagers. However, everything is possible with good psychological support and a center with the best environment.
Professional environment
Finally, all these sacrifices will not be fruitful if they do not go hand in hand with access to sufficiently adapted spaces. Sports federations and professional clubs have professionals who help to get the most out of each athlete.
High-performance centers are one example, but there are many others. In our case, along with the admission of students of sporting excellence, we also have exercise plans for students who do not excel so much in the world of sport.
In addition, for the former, we offer an innovative methodology that accompanies the athlete in his day to day with a multidisciplinary team that allows him to grow in his day to day and optimize his performance.
At SLAM, we work hard to promote the figure of the elite and high-level athlete. But we also want to build the leaders of the future, and for this we understand that sport is an essential discipline to gain in competitiveness, companionship and professional success.