Most people tend to feel they've to gripe with some key factors of what really makes athletes “good” in their sport.
It ranges from outside of vertical jump, speed, strength, injury prevention and armour for both momentum and collision that physical preparation coaches excel at improving. Today, there are more emerging strength and physical conditioning coaches working both privately and with professional teams and athletes.
No doubt proper physical conditioning is a factor that can make good athletes and teams great, and keep great players on the field longer without getting injured and seeing downtime. Along with building power, strength and physical armour, it can build confidence, culture, and be a symbol of the teams discipline and desire to win, and is a critical piece of the equation.
But hold on. There are also other factors that can influence the chances of an athlete becoming a future champion. Incredibly, one thing that can have an influence is the month and year in which you were born!
Studies show that if you are one of the youngest on your team or in your competition year, then your teammates and competitors might be bigger and stronger than you because they were born before you and have had more time to grow.
We have started seeing this in youth age group football teams where while in the past some coaches or technical directors would have given opportunities to younger players in the group, particularly if development was the main focus, coaches now are looking to players born closer to cut off dates for specific age groups.
But for the younger ones, it's not time to give up. If you are one of the youngest on your team, do not give up! Hanging in there can make you pretty tough and scientists have shown that, if you do manage to keep going, chances are you will end up being really good. This is called “the rise of the underdog."
Lots of coaches when picking teams or labelling youngsters as talented, often choose the bigger, stronger children, forgetting that those children might just be older. These children then get better coaching, train in better facilities, have more opportunities to develop their sporting skills, and become more confident. All of this means that these children are more likely to become elite athletes.
Not only does the month or year in which an athlete was born can influence their chances of becoming an elite athlete, but where you live can also have an impact. Persons born in smaller towns and villages often have more chances to play many different, less-organised sports. There are fewer children competing for spaces on teams, meaning there are more chances for everyone to play and practice.
Children born in bigger towns or cities often have to compete for places on teams, and the teams usually compete in very structured programmes run by high-quality coaches. This means young athletes in big areas often play in more structured teams and programmes.
It might seem that having lots of competition and good coaches would help you become an elite athlete, but it does not always! Athletes from smaller towns who have more chances to play sports in fun, safe, less-structured programmes are more likely to be successful.
The fact is both the number of sports you play when you first start out and how much you practice are quite important in helping you become an elite athlete. Depending on where you live, you might have opportunities to play more than one sport, but sometimes it can be difficult to know whether to just practice one sport or try lots.
Scientists have found that if you just do one sport from a young age, you might get bored with it as you get older and sometimes even get more injuries. Therefore, it is probably better to try lots of sports.
Practicing various sports is likely to make you happier and help you to learn lots of skills that you can use across sports. Look out for Zlatan Ibrahimović playing football. He does some amazing high kicks, which he learnt in taekwondo! Playing games just for fun can also make you better.
Nobody makes it on their own! Even the most skilled and talented young athletes cannot succeed on their own. Help from family, coaches, partners to fund your efforts and the resources available will play a part along with some luck.
Shaun Fuentes is the head of TTFA Media. He was a FIFA Media Officer at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey. The views expressed are solely his and not a representation of any organisation. shaunfuentes@yahoo.com
