Sports psychology 2 encourages everyone, whether a coach or a player, to think of the pillars of performance as columns of ability. If your ability in one area has grown more than in another, you will have an uneven load and your overall performance may begin to show signs of structural stress and start to crumble!

The four pillars of performance are:

Technical

What technical skills are needed in your sport? As an athlete or player, an understanding of the technical requirements of your sport is essential if you are to achieve a top class performance.

The same level of understanding is a must for any coach aiming to guide an athlete towards a winning performance, making it important to ensure your technical ability always matches the requirements of your athletes or players. As their skills and abilities increase, so must yours.

Tactical

Some sports are considered more tactical than others. Team sports such as soccer and rugby are good examples but all sports, even solo events, have tactical elements that can make the difference between a mediocre performance or a winning one.

Players need game tactics in place long before the start of the match and athletes need race tactics in place long before they hear the starter’s gun so as the coach, an ability to discuss and plan the ‘best’ tactics for each new situation is vital.

Sports psychology 2 techniques help coaches to remain flexible and able to get the best out of changing conditions, different competitors, and changing abilities in athletes that can all mean changes of tactics are required.

Physical

It’s fair to say that a professional soccer player is generally fitter than a professional darts player and it’s also fair to say that a professional soccer coach doesn’t need to be as fit as his players to be a good coach but, whatever your sport and whatever role you play, you must be ‘fit for purpose.’

Being fit enough to run a marathon doesn’t mean you’re physically prepared to compete in the triple-jump. Without an understanding of how the human body adapts to physical training and how to apply a progressive programme of fitness training, optimum fitness for each sport is unlikely to be achieved.

Sport psychology 2 highlights the need to develop personalised fitness training plans for every player or athlete based on their own individual abilities.

Psychological

When all other elements are equal – technical, tactical, and physical abilities – what is it that makes one player win over another? The answer is often mental skill; the ability to remain focussed when it really counts or, as many successful players refer to it, the winning ‘edge.’  Mental skills training is therefore as important as physical skills training and all winning coach-athlete partnerships recognise the need to spend time learning and practicing mind training techniques.

As an athlete or player, identifying where your weaknesses are is the first step towards allowing yourself to grow as a performer and this is also the case in terms of developing your abilities as a coach. Sport psychology 2 can help you take that first step. Players get results by playing out of their strengths so coaches too can get results by coaching out of their strengths.

The key to greater success is then to develop your weaker skills, rather than hiding from them, so they match your existing strengths. This will not only correct an imbalance in your supporting pillars but will allow you to build onwards and upwards – the sky becomes the limit!

click here now to join the “team” on my Facebook Page

To learn more about building your mental pillar of performance, check out the *NEW* updated Coaching Edge Mental Skills for sport course coming  soon! To register interest e-mail support@zonedinperformance.com

Creating a Motivational Environment: What is a Positive Climate?