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4x Olympian, Director, and Lead Consultant
As our recent article on What Bonds an Athlete received a lot of excellent feedback we thought it would be useful to provide a follow up. So here is how you can better the interactions you have as a coach in order to create more engaged athletes. Below is a list of typical scenarios facing most coaches (at all levels) at some stage during most training or practice sessions.
In a team it can be difficult to understand why tension can develop between some athletes, yet other athletes gel from start. In this article we discuss the team tension between the different DISC styles in a team environment, due to their different priorities in pace and relationships.
Here in Australia, sport is part of the fabric of our society. Growing up, few achievements are more significant than to be part of a championship high school sports team. The relative glory this brings from the accolades of the past students who relive their experiences through to the younger generation of champions, to the proud parents, whose children must have inherited their wonderful athletic genes – everyone loves a winner. As part of my high school rowing team, I dreamt each year as I progressed through the age groups, about the opportunity to win the championship race, aptly named the ‘Head of the River’. What made the dream even more poignant was the fact that in my senior years of school, I was hoping to be part of the crew who would break the losing drought for our school. Not since 1948, when the race was contested in four man boats, had my school won the prestigious event. In 1955, the event was contested in eight man boats and this was the race I now found myself a part of.
Often with behavioral profiles like DISC, being able to apply the concept to something you already know, helps to quickly understand it. If you are familiar with Harry Potter, then this is an excellent platform to better get to know DISC behavioral profiling. Whether you grew up with Harry Potter, or just read it to your kids, if you have read the first book DISC will soon become clear. Remember DISC is a Behavioral Profile. It is not all you are. People are far more complex than a D, I, S or C, (or a Hogwarts house). But DISC can tell you about how you behave in a given environment.
In the pressure cooker environment of elite sport, conflict is bound to occur and absolutely should occur. In fact, I would be more concerned about a lack of conflict in sport than too much… Whether you are a coach, athlete or sports professional, you need to understand the best way to recognize and manage conflict in a way that results in a positive outcome.
Have you ever noticed how some athletes “get” instructions immediately, while for others it takes a while for things to click? If you’re involved in coaching this is something you’ve had to deal with on numerous occasions. Many Coaches develop their own ways of working with their athletes learning styles and having a well-proven framework can be extremely useful. We understand all athletes are unique and cannot be coached in exactly the same way because as athletes (and people in general) everyone has their own unique way of learning.
At some point in time most athletes have been (or should be) exposed to the Control and Influence Model also known as the Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence. This model is taken from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, a fantastic book which we highly recommend.
This article delves into more depth on how choking can be prevented at the highest level of sport and how can you ensure you “make it happen”.
In sport as in life there are times when we don’t deliver our best when called on to do so. At the elite level, a poor performance in sport is when you or your team are 1% off your best. This contributes to an unwanted result combined with the feeling of letting yourself or others down. It is important to note, that occasionally we produce a poor performance relative to our potential capability, yet still manage to win. But this type of scenario can also produce feelings associated with a loss.
This article was written during national team selection time for one of our clients. It reminded me of how I felt during my own selection for various national and Olympic teams, and inspired me to share the most important lessons I learnt about the connection between training and competition. This article is about techniques to help athletes control their nerves so they can compete at least as well as they train, if not better. At the end of this article, I’ve also included my top three coaching tips for helping athletes manage their nerves during competition.
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