The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 3 plus 5 plus 5 letter word ON THE RIGHT TRACK
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
O
N
T
H
E
R
I
G
H
T
T
R
A
C
K
More clues leading to the result ON THE RIGHT TRACK
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Following a correct course/like a disciplined athlete" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case following a correct course/like a disciplined athlete = on the right track.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.