Crossword Genius

Down-to-earth points helpful to athletes (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spikes

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'helpful to athletes' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'down-to-earth points' is the wordplay.
'down-to-earth' becomes 's' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'points' becomes 'pikes' (pike is a kind of point).
's'+'pikes'='SPIKES'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spikes that I've seen before include "Makes (a gun) useless" , "Prongs" , "Sharp points on athletes' shoes" , "Running shoes" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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