In the sports arena, peak performance has always been a much sought-after state by players and coaches of all levels. Whether the athletes are schoolboy soccer players or Olympians striving for their Gold medals, peak performance has always attracted athletes and coaches alike.
In our modern age of sports, where sports science is at a stratospheric level and rising, what are the factors that, when applied correctly, can lead sports participants to peak performance in sports? Are there secrets to sporting excellence? Are these factors easily manipulated for the benefit of the athletes? This article discusses the factors that can lead athletes and coaches to peak performance in sports.
Many articles and books detail the principles, programs, success factors, and the like that can lead to peak performance in sports. Many authors have written at length about them, and in many ways, the principles and factors are universal. The principles of progressive resistance, variety, goal-specific training, recovery, etc., are all undisputed underlying reasons for athletes to achieve peak performance in sports.
This article goes a step further by exploring these universal factors in a different light. In the process, I hope to give athletes and coaches how to apply these principles practically and which are the factors with higher weightage in achieving success and peak performance in sports. There are two sets of factors we need to look into. Technical and human factors. Let us take a look at the former set of factors first;
Technical Factors
1. Quality Preparation
2. Mastering Individual Skills
3. High Fitness Levels
4. Understanding Overall Team Play
5. Filling Up Key Positions of the Team
6. Minimise Errors in Games
1. Quality Preparation
The hard work for any sports season begins with intensive preseason training. No one likes this season, as the work and training required are often very boring and painful. But this has to be done for the athletes to be optimally prepared for the rigors of the competitive phase. The endurance, strength, speed, and skill volumes must be done.
The volume of work and the quality of the preparation phase are vital as well. When players cut corners and take training at face value without their heart and soul, it will show up later in the competition as fatigue, injuries, or a lack of sharpness in their performance. Peak performance in sports cannot be possible under such circumstances. Therefore, the quality of preseason preparation is even more important in youth sports.
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Very often in schools, the playing seasons for many sports start almost immediately when the school year starts. With our children away for long vacations, our athletes usually return to school to facbeginsetitions with very little training time. Team play, fitness building, and mental preparation are supposed to be done in 2 to 3 weeks, which in the sports world is almost impossible and impractical.
This kind of preparation is also detrimental to our children’s development. Under these circumstances, coaches and teachers (and parents, if possible) have a very important responsibility to ensure our athletes are well-prepared for competition. Training programs for sports ought to be drawn up and implemented at year’s end. Our athletes must understand that their season effectively begins when their examinations are over. With a training program started, coaches and teachers can also instruct athletes about a vacation training program.
Each athlete should have one whereby, they can do something to improve their playing abilities during their break away from school. It could include maintaining certain fitness standards through endurance activities like cycling, running, swimming, playing catch, pitching in the backyard with their siblings, or even individual practices to improve certain skills. The main thing here is to preserve and enhance what has been attained in the preceding season so that athletes do not return to school and start from scratch. Simply planning and training this way will ensure quality preparation for the sports teams to attain peak performance in sports later.
2. Mastering Individual Skills
Certain skill sets and skills are considered basic and necessary in all sports and games. Athletes must achieve these before they can play at a higher level later. For example, in basketball, dribbling and executing a proper lay-up are crucial. Throwing, catching, and fielding skills are a must in baseball and softball. The push-pass and receiving a pass are necessary skills in hockey and floorball. The list goes on.
These essential skills must be taught to our young players in preseason training at the earliest playing stage. Allrts and time must be spent on mastering these basic skills. Without these skills, a coach will find it very difficult to execute more complex team plays to achieve peak performance in sports.
If strikers cannot even control a long pass from a teammate, how can we expect the same player to hold up the ball well upfield against opposition defenders and execute lay-off passes to oncoming teammates in support? Therefore, it will be wise for coaches to develop these skills early and also for players to keep improving themselves in these skills even though they might feel that they are good enough already.
Even at professional levels, these basic skills for their sports are important for peak performance in sports. The repertoire of skills required and the intensity of how these skills are performed at the highest levels are even more acute. At the highest levels, where opponents are evenly matched, one mistake can often result in a win or loss. It is even more important for professionals to master all the skills required for the game or sports. Only under such intense conditions can peak performance in sports be possible.
3. High Fitness Levels
HHiManyetes would not have reached their maximal physical development yet at high school levels, no matter how much they train. Physiologically speaking, the development of youths in this area is very varied. Some children reach a high fitness standard faster than others, while others have body types that will only respond to training optimally when they get older. Hence, it can be assumed that a team with the fittest players will have the most advantage. No matter how skillful your opponents are, if you are fitter than them, you can overcome your lack of fitness by reacting rapidly to overcome your short fall. Let’s say you are out-dribbled by a more skillful opponent in soccer.
But if you are fitter than your opponent who has out-dribbled you, you can track back fast enough to cover your position again. This edge in fitness for youth is also very important at the later stages of the game, as players tend to tire faster at this age. A fitter team will be able to prevail and score more later in the game. Players at this age need to be convinced of this fitness need and encouraged to do whatever they can to attain the highest level of fitness possible.
How about professionals? Professional athletes are expected to possess fitness at the highest levels. If they are not, their opponents will be, and consequently, they will outperform them and reach their peak performance in sports. Generally speaking, professional sportsmen know how to get into great shape and maintain that until the end of the season. Their physical bodies are also in the best state to be developed to their fullest potential.
4. Understanding Overall Team Play
The next factor of great importance in achieving peak performance in sports is understanding the overall team play by the players. Imagine a coach telling his charges to clear the balls down the flanks in any invasion game. How many players understand why they are told to do this will surprise you. More often than not, the players will do what the coach requires or suggests. The understanding behind their action is very often very little.
They might not know that playing the ball down the flanks or wing usually causes the opponent’s defense to spread wider, thus leaving more gaps in the middle for the attacker to exploit. Another statistical advantage is that playing down the flanks generally results in the attacker getting the ball back if locked out of bounds, which is why you often hear players or coaches shouting at their charges to ‘throw it down the line’.
Young players love the direct route to goal, which often means playing through the middle. Whatever tactics are taught to the players, coaches must try to explain and ensure that all the players understand the tactical significance of their plays. This form of coaching, if done properly, makes the players better players and improves their decision-making on the pitch. We are always looking for more thinking players in our pitch, giving the team a higher chance of achieving peak performance in sports.
5. Filling Up Key Positions of the Team
The fifth factor that can produce peak performance in sports is acting on the right players to fill those key positions first. In any sports team, there will be key positions that must be filled first. The point guard in a basketball team is the team’s driver. He and Ntrols all play. A center in ice hockey is a pivot in defense and attack. Hence, he must be the best fit, test, and most abled player. The catcher in baseball is the key man, as he dictates and calls the pitches and sees the entire fielding situation.
These key positions must be filled first, even if it means fielding someone out of position. I used to have a very talented and strong striker who loved to score goals. Unfortunately, I also have a big gap in goalkeeping, and he is the best ball-handler on the team. After much persuasion and sacrifice, he finally converted to a goalkeeper. Thanks to his selfless act, the team did extremely well, as very few goals were scored against us.
It was not easy to make this move. But as the coach then, I felt that the goalkeeper is too important a player to let any Tom, Dick, or Harry player. Hence, it must be the best. This result was the least silly errors from our goalkeeping department, giving the team a better chance to win games. This brings us to the last technical factor that influences performance in sports – making few errors.
6. Minimise Errors in Games
In sports these days, errors often decide the outcome of the game. Errors are more plentiful at youth and children’s levels. The fact that children are playing at lower technical and tactical levels makes errors inevitable. The team that makes the fewest errors in any game will generally perform at its peak. It’s a mentality that must be drilled into players to make the fewest errors individually as well as as a team.
If you do not believe this, watch your next game carefully over how goals or points are scored. You will often realize that a goal started from an error from the opponents somewhere. Or a point or run result from some players fumbling the ball. Making silly errors will not lead a team to peak performance in sports.
A team that is doing well makes the fewest errors. So coaches, train your players to understand this and do the right things in the game. Show them evidence through videos or live games, and they will be convinced that the team with the fewest errors wins and peaks their sports performance.
