Expanding our Techniques
Pick a sport and go to work
QUOTE
“The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.”
- Alexandra Trenfor
OBSERVATION
Be a student of your clients
As a field, we tend to spend too much time looking inward at theory and models to find inspiration for techniques, when in reality if we spend more time outwardly studying our clients it will provide all the inspiration we need to develop creative techniques.
The other common challenge is that many of us attempt to work with too broad an audience. This makes creativity difficult, because as a “generalist”, it can be difficult to see the natural opportunities within any given sport to create opportunities for skills training. This leaves us feeling a bit stale or stuck.
THE PATH AHEAD
Design training that is rooted in the ebb and flow of a specific sport
To break through the creative wall, pick one sport. (I’ve mentioned this before when building a business, but this same idea holds true for designing training). Below are common areas to reflect on:
Reflect on any natural breaks within competition
Reflect on pre-competition norms and warm-up regimens
Reflect on natural post-competition grading/feedback criteria of sport
Common season long needs
Common off-season training regimens
Etc.
Now that you have done this, here is where the fun begins. Start by identifying the different types of strategies needed to help support these areas and after you have re-organized your mental skills repertoire, here comes part II:
Going back to the quote at the beginning….
What are the opportunities to “show” this to your athlete clients? You are now showing them how to critically think about their sport from a mindset perspective. For how they approach training and competition, without just “telling” them about mental skills.
The additional collaboration with your clients (teams and individuals) provides further creativity to expand capabilities.
Resource Updates (Available Now)
Downloadable Powerpoint resources that can be branded to your company
Free downloadable PDF reference guide of sport theories and considerations (The Graduate Pack)
This Months Events
Events will resume after the holidays! Along with an updated slate of resources due for release including:
On-Demand Consulting Course
On-Demand Program Design Course
Consulting Assessment and Performance Foundations Program
Free video library of interviews, short presentations, and quick tips
See you in January!
Want more hands on?
Check-out other support options to help you navigate the field.