This very short post came about from an application for a coaching apprenticeship at the World Athletics Centre in Arizona, where I hope to spend a couple of weeks in December.
As I was filling it in, I was anticipating something similar to a tax return form but actually it included a number of very thought provoking questions which I really enjoyed answering and made me think of how I view success.
So, I thought I would share a couple of my thoughts to those questions.
What does success look like to you?
Success to
me means getting the maximum potential out of yourself. This can be for an
individual event or a particular time frame, irrespective of winning.
It doesn’t
have to be confined to sport but for the context of this answer I will keep
that as the focus. Satisfaction or success ultimately seems to correlate with
that feeling that you absolutely did your best. I think the feeling of
disappointment ties in very much with knowing the preparation or the execution
of that event was not to the expected level. You can also have feelings of
disappointment from winning events and similarly feel success whilst at the
same time losing. So in short, I think it is a reflection of whether you feel
you did everything to obtain the goal in mind.
Success as
a coach would mean I did my absolute best to maximise the physical and mental potential
of my athlete. It involves a huge range of variables but perhaps a start would
be a commitment to fully understand training methodology and the chosen sport
and “how” to apply it to that particular athlete. The selection of appropriate
short term and long-term goals and the ability to adapt is part of the very
difficult question of the “how”!
What
are the 3 most important factors that determine your success?
Success
as a coach I think for me starts with the commitment to learn. This learning
process is on going and involves constant questioning and evaluation of
knowledge and the ability to be humble and open to new ideas to acquire a
strong knowledge base.
Ultimately
success as an athlete and as a coach will involve “non-achieving” so the
ability to be honest, reflect and improve is very much part of that process.
This has
been one of the biggest factors that have determined my past successes. Working
and surrounding yourself with excellent people with good attitudes, is a way to
fast track learning and building a knowledge base.
SENSE OF HUMOUR!!!
Just an observation about effort
Yesterday at Track Academy in Willesden Green where I am doing my work placement with young elite sprinters, we were in the general preparation phase and working on the acceleration phase. It was interesting to see that the harder the effort and the more "grunting" and excess tension, the slower the time. Use and focus of effort is so important to performance and that can be learnt. It took me years to realise that actually "trying" harder actually just sabotages performance. Learning to relax in movement and focus on the technique that will get you faster or stronger is a better redirection of energy than just plain "effort".
Having said that, sometimes people do just need a good kick up the backside!!
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