We often talk about persistence, perseverance, and resilience as if they’re abstract traits – nice words we want our children to have. But in sport, these qualities are not learned through reading, talking, or watching videos about them. They are learned through doing.
Through movement. Through effort. Through the physical experience of challenge.
A junior badminton player doesn’t learn persistence from a speech; they learn it when they keep pushing through that final drill.
Through movement. Through effort. Through the physical experience of challenge.
They don’t learn perseverance from hearing about it; they learn it from showing up to training week after week.
And they don’t learn resilience by watching others; they learn it when they’ve failed, recovered, and tried again – physically and mentally.
As Dan Abrahams once said, “Resilience is intelligence, resilience is mental, resilience is physical, resilience is technical, resilience is tactical, – resilience is all of these things.”
The same truth applies to persistence and perseverance. These are whole-body skills – they live in how we move, react, and train.
The First Step: Persistence – The Decision to Keep Going
Every journey starts with persistence.
Persistence is that first decision: I will not give up, I will complete the task.
It’s the player deciding to finish the set of push-ups, to keep running those footwork patterns even when tired, to stay on court and try again after missing a shot.
That small decision – made in the moment of discomfort – is what plants the seed of persistence.
It’s not about talent or motivation; it’s about doing what you said you would do.
Every time a child chooses to complete a task they wanted to quit, they strengthen this muscle – not just physically, but mentally.
The Next Step: Perseverance – The Habit of Showing Up
When persistence becomes a regular practice, it grows into perseverance.
Perseverance is not about a single decision – it’s about returning to that decision over and over again.
It’s what happens when a player continues to train every week, even when improvement feels slow or when others seem to be advancing faster.
Perseverance develops when the routine becomes non-negotiable.
It’s the quiet consistency that builds mastery – through countless small efforts that no one sees.
And Over Time: Resilience – The Strength to Adapt and Recover
Out of perseverance, resilience emerges.
Resilience is not just about toughness or “bouncing back.” It’s about adapting – physically, mentally, emotionally.
It’s being able to face a loss, fatigue, or failure, and still return with purpose and composure.
A resilient player has built enough physical and emotional memory to know: I can handle this. I’ve done it before.
And that confidence doesn’t come from words. It comes from experience – from repetition, challenge, and recovery.
The Role of Parents
This is where parents play an irreplaceable role.
Persistence, perseverance, and resilience grow through experience, not through encouragement or information alone.
You can’t teach these traits by sending motivational quotes or showing a YouTube video about mental toughness.
Children learn these qualities by feeling them in their bodies – by working, sweating, and pushing through difficulty themselves.
And perhaps most importantly, they learn by watching you.
If a parent shows genuine interest in physical activity – not just as exercise, but as a way of life – it sends a powerful message.
It tells the child that effort, discipline, and movement matter.
It normalizes physical struggle and turns it into something positive – something to engage with, not avoid.
When parents move, children learn that strength and character are not words; they are actions.
And in that shared physical experience, persistence, perseverance, and resilience take root – naturally, and for life.
In Summary
- Persistence – the decision to keep going.
- Perseverance – the habit of showing up.
- Resilience – the strength built through repeated experience.
None of these can be taught by words alone.
They are learned through the body – through the rhythm of movement, effort, failure, and recovery.
When children, parents, and coaches all understand this, we stop chasing motivation and start building true development – one movement, one repetition, one decision at a time.