Sports. It's a world filled with competition and a drive for excellence. Naturally, athletes have the most competitive spirits. In a world this competitive, athletes need to look for every edge possible over their opponents. Following are some of the most important ways for athletes to gain that competitive edge through the quality of their sports training.

Fundamentals of Training in Sports

Training in sport revolves around practicing the fundamentals of your game over and over again and again. Repetition brings success. No matter if the sport is skateboarding, ice skating, football, darts or any other competition, the ability to master the fundamentals is what separates the winners from the losers. Success in your sports training takes that practice and allows the moves, rhythm and tempo to be ingrained into the memory of your muscle.

This habit, once established by an athlete training in sport, will remain with them for life. This is the reason that athletes that are focused and driven, like Kobe Bryant, will spend two hours after losing a playoff game shooting alone in the gym. They want to remember the fundamentals. He knows that the secret to sports training success is repeated practice of the fundamentals, because this is what has helped take him to the top of his sport.

Nutrition Training in Sport

In addition to practicing the fundamentals of the game, successful training in sport needs proper nutrition. This requires healthy food choices that are well balanced and often very colorful! The food choices (the fuel) of an athlete are much like the fuel choices you put into your car. The purer the fuel is, the faster the car can go. The purer an athlete's diet is, the better the athlete will perform. Athletes who eat lots of junk food will not have the energy to give it their all during workout, which will severely limit the performance level.

Some athletes will need to limit their red meat intake. Since not all protein is considered "complete", an athlete training in sport must seek out various protein sources. Chicken, eggs, milk, nuts and legumes are some examples. Keep processing to a minimum. For that reason, whole grains are better than sources such as white flour. The bulk of an athlete's diet should come from plant sources, since this will allow them to reach their maximum level of performance.

Training in Sport Requires Focus

The brain is a muscle and it, too, needs to be strengthened. This is often the final and most difficult part of mastering sports training. True, anyone who is properly motivated can practice for hours a day and eat a healthy diet when they are training in sport. But, mastering your mind is a skill that many people miss in their sports training. And, they won't realize it until they are challenged on the field.

The first step to master in the mental portion of sports training is the ability to keep a positive attitude at all times. It's easy to be positive when things are going your way. But what happens on a bad day? It takes a true winner to keep a positive attitude even when they are losing. This positive attitude begins by keeping it going all throughout the times athletes are training in sport.

Leading with a positive attitude can bring your team through times of adversity. If you're not on a team sport, you can even affect the tone of the entire competition. A team's success can begin with the positive mental attitude of a single player.