Sport is a pivotal field which plays a significant role in developing a country because not only does it stimulate economic development by attracting tourists, but it also builds a great reputation and image for the country. Therefore, the topic of whether physical strength or mental strength is more important to an athlete has become hotly debated around the world.
People who support that athletes should place their emphasis on enhancing physical strength think that an athlete with high stamina is more capable of beating other competitors. Any sport requires athletes to be able to play for a considerable amount of time without being exhausted quickly. The vast amount of physical training sessions assigned to an athlete, especially cardio training, further proves that physical strength is extremely important in sport. In addition, players need to develop strong and proficient skills in their sports as well. To exemplify, a badminton player will not cease to develop their skills via training every day because practice makes perfect. They have to get ready physically in order to challenge diverging players, each with a different strength and skill which they are particularly good at. Therefore, it is undeniable that physical strength should never be overlooked to achieve success in sport.
On the other hand, there is an increasing number of people who argue that athletes’ mental strength is more important because they are subjected to extremely intense training. The time an athlete spends on improving their skills and physical strength is beyond what can be tolerated by a normal person. Additionally, athletes encounter mounting stress while they are representing their country to play an international game, and the people are expecting them to bring back a trophy. The intense training sessions and huge pressure to play well in a game eventually lead to anxiety. Hence, mental strength is very important for athletes to have perseverance and be resilient.
From my perspective, physical strength and mental strength both should be the centre of an athlete. They should maintain a well balance on both physical and mental training. A country should ensure that they are ready physically, while holding consulatation sessions at the same time.