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Grit in Sports Training

Learn valuable coping skills from soccer, baseball and more.

Two female athletes showing grit in sports training

Sports participation, particularly in youth, is linked with developing life skills that may improve success and build resilience, according to a study published in Leisure Sciences (2022; doi:10.1080/01490400.2022.2090037). This is also known as “grit” in sports training, a blend of perseverance and passion that helps people overcome life challenges while working toward long-term goals.

The Ohio State University researchers analyzed data from a large National Sports and Society Survey of 3,993 U.S. adults. It analyzed the relationship between grit and sports training over the life course, likely a result of the need to overcome physical, mental and social challenges in the sports context.

Investigators noted that grit is not static and can change if people quit challenging situations, for example. “Adults who played youth sports but dropped out did not show higher levels of grit,” said study author Chris Knoester, PhD, associate professor of sociology at The Ohio State University. “They actually demonstrated lower levels of grit . . . Quitting could reflect a lack of perseverance, which is a crucial component of grit. It could also make quitting an activity, and not persevering, easier the next time.”

In contrast, adults who did not play youth sports but who participated in adult organized sports in the past year exhibited higher levels of grit. “The additional finding about sports participation in adulthood suggests that you can build and perhaps lose grit during different points in your life,” said Knoester.

Study authors recommend that communities create more organized sport opportunities for both youth and adults of all ages and backgrounds to help them develop grit through purposive leisure activities.

See also: Resilience From Exercise Competency


Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA

Shirley Archer, JD, MA, is an internationally acknowledged integrative health and mindfulness specialist, best-selling author of 16 fitness and wellness books translated into multiple languages and sold worldwide, award-winning health journalist, contributing editor to Fitness Journal, media spokesperson, and IDEA's 2008 Fitness Instructor of the Year. She's a 25-year industry veteran and former health and fitness educator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who has served on multiple industry committees and co-authored trade books and manuals for ACE, ACSM and YMCA of the USA. She has appeared on TV worldwide and was a featured trainer on America's Next Top Model.

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