Pat Summitt is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history. When asked if you can teach mental toughness she responded, "You can develop it by simply making practice more challenging and more difficult than games - but some kids just have it. I think mental toughness and competitiveness are first cousins. I don't think you can really seperate those two. Kids that are mentally tough tend to be very, very competitive." It would appear there is an inner drive in successful athletes that causes them to do something better than others - that drive is called competitiveness.