ATTITUDE MATTERS THE MOST- SAYS RESEARCH FINDINGS

On their path to greatness, some become champions while others do not. For a long time now, parents, coaches and aspiring athletes have sought to find why. The current study has finally got the answer.

They interviewed athletes from different sports like skiing, rowing, soccer and combat sports. They wanted to find the prominent characteristics between the best of the best, the good, and the average.

They found that the first category of individuals had an internal drive and commitment to their sports. The second category lacked this, while the third expressed surprises and loss of enthusiasm at their failures.

The elite performers were never dejected after an injury or failure; rather they emerged out with a stronger determination than before.

Apart from these attitudinal differences, the research surprisingly found was no variation in the nature or number of challenges that these athletes faced. The researchers believe that this holds true for other fields as well.

Based on this research, they are not coming up with a set of rules to guide coaches and athletes on the skills they should develop. This finding is published in an article in the Frontiers in Psychology.