The need to build stamina, along with sport-specific skills and strength, has become generally recognized in the sports world. Stamina isn't just for long-distance athletes, either. Athletes who have good stamina also have an improved ability to make clutch moves toward the end of a game or a race, no matter what the sport.
Significance
Stamina gives athletes the mental and physical strength and energy needed to continue over a long period of time. Stamina helps athletes use the skills required by their sports without losing concentration or tiring. Fatigue can lead to poor decisions by an athlete or to the inability to execute a task, like chasing a ball down at the end of a game, according to "Athletic Fitness for Kids," by Scott B. Lancaster and Radu Teodorescu. Having stamina also can help athletes prevent injury, advises Bill Foran in his book, "High Performance Sports Conditioning."
Misconceptions
Stamina is most typically referred to in reference to distance athletes like marathon runners, cyclists and triathletes. However, all sports require some sort of stamina, according Lancaster and Teodorescu. Some require it more obviously than others-- such as football, tennis, soccer, hockey and lacrosse--because of the continuous play that allows little time for rest. However, even athletes in sports like baseball, in which there are long periods of rest, need stamina if they want to deliver their optimal performance.
Types
Athletes can approach stamina from a couple of standpoints---general physical conditioning or sports-specific conditioning. In general conditioning, athletes can use weight training to build muscle stamina by utilizing high repetitions and low weights, according to "The Men's Health guide to peak conditioning," by Richard Laliberte and Stephen C. George. Running and cycling can also be used by all sorts of athletes to build general stamina. Sports specific conditioning exercises will vary, such as squat jumps for a basketball player who needs a strong vertical leap.
Benefits
The amount of stamina an athlete has depends on the efficiency of his heart, lungs, blood vessels and working muscles according to Think Quest. Athletes who are highly trained, therefore, have a lower resting heart rate than those who are not. They also have a much broader range of achievable heart rates. Athletes with good stamina also have higher-than-average lung capacity. This means the athlete can take in and utilize more oxygen when he breathes, according to the BBC Sport Academy.
Considerations
Among young athletes, there might not be enough emphasis placed on stamina, though an increasingly sedentary American lifestyle actually boosts the need to focus on stamina, according to Lancaster and Teodorescu. The focus on stamina often is negative instead of positive, as well, with stamina training given as a type of punishment. For example, an athlete might be told to run laps or do push-ups because she is late or makes a mistake.
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