The Making Of An Athlete

The Making Of An Athlete

- Aggie Manalac

Filipinos excel and have reaped awards in sports where height is not a limitation and where intelligence and cunning better serve them: boxing, billiards, bowling, and at one point, chess.  But in most other sports, the most gifted and proclaimed “natural” Filipino athlete remains challenged by the genetic and physical advantage of many of their competitors who are much taller, stronger, faster.  

 

It has been recently documented that the Chinese (Ladies) National team is now partial towards taller players given the string of successes of multi-champions Zhang Ning and Xie Xiengfang.  Similarly, current #1 Chinese women’s tennis player Li Na (now world ranked #23) used to be a member of the Chinese National Badminton Team until she was asked to shift to tennis as her physique was not suitable for badminton. 

 

Of course, there are athletes who are not only taller, stronger and faster – they are gifted with extra ammunition.  Roger Federer’s superior hand-eye coordination allows him to hit the ball fractions of a second earlier, effectively out-positioning his opponents. 

 

But while many have the advantage of possessing these natural gifts, others compensate by controlling the other half of the equation: sound, rigid training, proper nutrition and discipline.  Sports fitness and training have recently become more scientific with computers that are able to pinpoint and correct the timing and form of a golfer’s swing, a tennis player’s serve, a fencer’s lunge.  Rigorous strength training, core training, plyometrics, and cross-training are now part of a winning athlete’s program, other than specific muscle-group training.  Many believe that Rafael Nadal has been able to counter Roger Federer’s natural abilities with better strength, speed, agility and endurance, all apparently gained from a seemingly more serious, disciplined and well-rounded training program.   

 

Diet and nutrition have likewise become scientific and calculated to further boost an athlete’s performance.  Never has there been a time until recently when serious athletes paid close attention to the calories taken in to meet their bodies’ demands, when the proportion of protein and carbohydrates carefully considered.

 

Lately, even an athlete’s mental condition is studied and corrected by sports psychologists tapped to improve athletes’ temperaments and recovery times after committing errors. Guillermo Correa, Argentina’s tennis star, underwent regular sessions with psychologists to correct his apparent low esteem, believed to be a reason for the unusually high number of double-faults he would commit in his tennis matches.    

 

Lucky is the athlete who has both:  the gift from nature and the resources to nurture.  But many will do well to believe that while some athletes are born athletes, many others are made. 

The 2008 Yonex-Sunrise Philippines National Open Badminton Championships is presented by Yonex – Sunrise and co-presented by Phiten.  This event is also brought to us by:  Badminton Hub, Sportshub, My Shaldan, Makati Shangri-la, BSI Medicated Spray, Fish Designs, Potraitme.net, Tacorific, Potato Corner and our official & exclusive print partner, The Philippine Star.    The tournament runs from November 22-30, 2008.  Registration deadline:  Nov 12, 2008