How to become an elite athlete
The figure of the elite athlete is forged from the earliest childhood. What at first is nothing more than a game, simple fun, a way of socializing and a stimulus to get started in a healthy life, can in the future become a professional career in the world of sport.
However, in order to achieve this goal, it is important to maintain a lot of perseverance, to understand that this objective entails many sacrifices and to turn to centers and professionals who will shape the trajectory of the young sportsmen and women.
What is a high performance sports center
An interesting note on nomenclature is to distinguish between elite, high-level or even professional sportspersons. These terms are often confused, so we will try to shed some light on this issue.
An elite sportsperson is a person with very high results and sporting level, i.e. those who obtain a very outstanding performance and are champions of Spain, Europe or similar scenarios.
On the other hand, a high-performance athlete is one who optimises his or her capabilities to the maximum. You can have a very high level in a specific discipline, but not compete in any modality.
On the other hand, there are professional athletes, who are those who receive financial remuneration for practising sport. 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 sport, and does not have much media success, you may not be able to support yourself with this activity alone.
How to become a top-level or elite athlete
Every elite athlete must meet certain minimum requirements that involve 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 having access to an environment that is 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
Top-level or elite athletes usually start practising physical activity at a very young age. Most athletes or players who become professionals have dedicated their whole lives to sport and have been attending classes since the age of 5 or 6.
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, football, 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 exert too much effort, as the process can be counterproductive and they may end up dropping out of the sport.
Psychological care
Once the athlete has achieved outstanding results, they enter a more demanding phase, with concentrations with national teams, the support of the federation or private centres that allow them to advance in their career.
At SLAM we have places dedicated to students of sporting excellence. These programmes are designed for young people who want to continue advancing in the world of sport until they reach professionalism, but without abandoning the training aspect.
In this selection of high-level sporting profiles, psychological care must 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 sportsmen and women 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, as this goal can mean giving up things that are typical of teenagers. However, everything is possible with good psychological support and a centre with the best environment.
Professionalised 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.
The high performance centres 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 their day-to-day life with a multidisciplinary team that allows them to grow in their day-to-day life and optimise their 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 to this end we understand that sport is an essential discipline for gaining competitiveness, companionship and professional success.
