Comparing and Contrasting Expectations and Outcomes

Understanding Evaluations vs Observations (being objective)

Many times as leaders and coaches we can start with criticism before stating irrefutable facts which channels emotion in a more positive direction.

You’re f’ing lazy! vs. You said you would send the documents last week and I haven’t received it.

Your work is sloppy! vs. Three of the numbers in this report were inaccurate.

You’re always late! vs. You arrived 10 mins late to the meeting this morning.

You ignored me! vs. I sent you two emails and I haven’t received a response.

When we start with an observation, you start with a fact that can be refuted which then creates a bridge to make constructive criticism.

Feelings vs Thoughts

The way you can tell if something is a thought or a feeling is by phrase substitution.

Example:

I feel frustrated! I feel that you aren’t taking this seriously.

or

I think frustrated! or I think that you aren’t taking this seriously

Which is the feeling? Which is the thought?

Insights vs Observations: How to turn feedback into game-changing statements

What are the key differences between the two?

Observations tell us that users are acting a certain way, while insights tell us why they are doing it and the motivation behind it.

Key characteristics of insights:

• They are a construct of various observations
• Surprising statements that aim to provoke change
• Lead us to see users in a different lens by understanding their motivations for a certain behavior

How do you get to Insights?

1. State the behaviors and attitudes you learned about the user
2. Give the context of the situation
3. Explain the root of the problem that justifies why the user is responding to it in a particular way
4. Describe the goals users are trying to achieve and the motivation behind

What are the benefits of presenting Insights to your team and all stakeholders?

Evolving observations into insights brings a level of story-telling that makes your team understand the position of your users, by realizing why users act a certain way.

This is also a more succinct format of providing light to different observations in a way that is more memorable than raw data, as insights have already been analysed and synthesized.

Tracking Psychological & Cognitive Aspects

In the realm of sports performance, the convergence of technology and physical training has ushered in a new era of athlete development. Athletic directors and coaches are increasingly turning to sophisticated tracking systems to monitor both the metal—referring to the psychological and cognitive aspects of an athlete—and the physical aspects of performance. This holistic approach provides a comprehensive understanding of an athlete's capabilities, enabling more personalized and effective training programs.

On the mental side, tracking systems now incorporate tools to assess cognitive function, emotional well-being, and stress levels. By understanding an athlete's mental state, coaches can tailor their training and communication strategies to optimize performance. These tools might include psychological assessments, mood tracking apps, and stress level monitors, giving athletic directors insights into the mental resilience of their athletes.

Simultaneously, advancements in wearable technology and sports science have revolutionized the tracking of physical metrics. From GPS trackers to accelerometers, coaches can now collect real-time data on an athlete's movements, speed, endurance, and biomechanics. This wealth of information allows for precise analysis of performance, helping coaches identify strengths and weaknesses and tailor training programs accordingly. Whether it's monitoring sprint times, jump height, or fatigue levels, the physical tracking of athletes provides a data-driven foundation for optimizing training regimens.

The integration of both mental and physical tracking allows athletic directors and coaches to create a more nuanced and individualized approach to athlete development. By synthesizing data on an athlete's mental resilience with their physical performance metrics, coaching staff can identify correlations, address potential areas of concern, and foster a more supportive and effective training environment. This comprehensive approach not only enhances athletic performance but also promotes overall well-being, creating a more holistic and athlete-centric approach to sports coaching. As technology continues to evolve, the synergy between the metal and physical aspects of sports performance tracking will likely play an increasingly pivotal role in shaping the future of athlete development.

Tech-Enhanced Athlete Performance

myPerforma, as a performance assessment tool, holds immense potential for coaches seeking to enhance athlete development and optimize team dynamics. One of the primary advantages lies in its ability to empower athletes with a structured platform for self-assessment and performance review following each game or competition. By encouraging athletes to reflect on their own performance, myPerforma fosters a sense of ownership and accountability among players.

Self-assessment through myPerforma allows athletes to delve into their strengths and weaknesses, providing them with a nuanced understanding of their contributions to the team. This reflective process goes beyond traditional post-game analyses and prompts athletes to consider their mental and emotional states during competition. This integration of the mental aspect is crucial for a comprehensive evaluation, as an athlete's mindset can significantly impact their on-field performance.

Moreover, myPerforma facilitates communication between coaches and athletes by providing a centralized platform for performance reviews. Coaches gain valuable insights into individual player perspectives, enabling them to tailor feedback and training regimens more effectively. This tool serves as a bridge for constructive dialogue, fostering a collaborative environment where athletes feel heard and supported in their development.

Consistent use of myPerforma for self-assessment can contribute to a culture of continuous improvement within the team. Athletes are encouraged to set personal goals, track progress, and celebrate achievements, fostering motivation and resilience. Additionally, the tool can aid in identifying patterns or trends across multiple games, enabling coaches to make data-driven decisions for refining overall team strategy and addressing recurring issues.

In the dynamic and competitive world of sports, myPerforma stands out as a valuable asset for coaches aiming to maximize their team's potential. By leveraging this tool to encourage athlete self-assessment and regular performance reviews, coaches can create a more engaged, motivated, and self-aware team, ultimately contributing to elevated levels of individual and collective performance.

Fact or Fiction: This Team Has Great Chemistry

by What Drives Winning

“We have two team chemistries. Off the court, we’re all friends. On-court we have a tough time being real with each other.” Here’s a powerful inside look at the kinds of conversations that Iowa had the courage to have. It also takes a lot of courage as a head coach to turn your locker room over to a third party.

Shifting Paradigms In Athlete Development

by Matt McNamara

Long Term Athlete Development is the process of optimizing training, recovery and competition programming relative to the biological maturation and development of the athlete. For our purposes we are going to presume that most of us are at, or beyond, late stage maturation (which certainly isn’t to say we’re grown-ups yet!), and that we buy into the idea of long term athlete development having value for our own training and racing. If you missed the last article, read it here.

Where You At?

Central to the idea of LTAD is that it is a process. As we discussed last time this maturation process probably falls under the umbrella of learning to train appropriately, effectively, and efficiently. Recall that we had reduced the concept of “training” down to four core phases:

1. Learning to train
2. Training to Train
3. Training to Compete
4. Training to Win

For the long term athlete development cycle to be effectively implemented you need to know both where you are currently and where you’re going to go each of the subsequent years.

So, at this point it’s a good idea to ask yourself where you are currently. Be honest. Can you hold a steady state effort over varied terrain for at least 20 minutes within a range of +/- 5 beats for heart rate, or +/- 10 watts for power? Can you really work an echelon? Have you ever motor-paced? Do you follow a structured approach to your training, or just wing it day to day? Do you only train your strengths? Can you read a race? These are good starting points to begin looking into the future.

No one phase is more important than another. Indeed, learning to train may sound mundane, but it is the foundations laid that allow growth into the subsequent stages. Similarly, training to win sounds natural, but if you focus too much on the idea without developing the other core areas you may well sabotage your own development. So, let’s see where you’re at…

– Learning To Train: For many of my athletes, even those who have raced for years, this is the most readily bypassed stage. Athletes in this stage will tend to have no real goals walking out the door each day and ride how they feel. During this stage you should be focusing on implementing a workout plan,. Better yet, take the time to create weekly and monthly plans. I’d like the athlete to have a general annual plan, but at this stage the focus should be on smaller time stamps and creating success day to week to month.

– Training To Train: This isn’t quite as dour as it sounds. Training to train is as much a function of learning your abilities and deficiencies as it is the project of developing as an athlete. By the time you reach this stage you should have a solid grasp on planning the season to address event specifics as well as how to tackle your own growth areas. One key focus of this stage is to do the development work that sets the foundation for future success. Training to train is where you develop the year over year fitness that leads to upper category success. It is also where you start to learn the craft of racing.

– Training To Compete: Lots of riders think they are here already. They race, ergo they must train to compete. For me, training to compete is more about starting to specialize your training. It may sound clichй, but this is where you start doing the true event-specific work that makes the difference. Matching kilojoules, motorpacing, peaking and tapering. To be honest the nuances of training to compete are unique to each individual and this is where you should begin to take a full spectrum approach to your preparation. Nutrition, sports psychology and focused, preferably power-based, training takes the fore.

– Training To Win: If you compete you want to be here. Don’t be simplistic in what this phase means. It’s not training to win anything, it’s training to win at the elite level. By this time you have a solid grasp on the fundamentals and it really comes down to execution. You’ve probably already got your 10,000 hours to establish expertise, so you know the importance of the little stuff.

Where You Going?
Now that you have a start on where you’re at, you can begin to create where you’re going. It’s fine to aspire to the Pro Tour, but next to impossible to short-cut your way there. It’s just as fine to set out to get that elusive upgrade, or to improve your tactical acumen, or whatever it is that drives you to improve. That passion is what keeps you going, but don’t set an insurmountable expectation for yourself – it really is about the fundamentals.

Istvan Balyi had a graph in his presentation that included over 30 different elements that impact performance. Big ticket items like nutrition, physiology, and environment carry equal weight to seemingly secondary things like attention, focus, and integrity. The point is that each of these represents interconnected cogs in the machine of performance. Unfortunately, the prospect of addressing all of these cogs can seem overwhelming, but fortunately, you’re already competent at many of them, so it’s more a question of fine tuning than starting from scratch.

One of the revelations of the presentation by Balyi was the idea of a paradigm shift. Though this term is clichй, it is no less valid for you to look at your training from a new perspective. The point of implementing a LTAD plan as an adult is to give yourself free reign to try something new with the full knowledge that only constant change and adaptation is the true path to growth.

While it may seem daunting to imagine a new paradigm, training is training and there are still some fundamentals that can help direct your new approach. Keep it simple by thinking of them as the five S’s:

1. Suppleness
2. Skill
3. Speed
4. Strength
5. Stamina

These five elements form the basis of a structured program and can be used as a reference point when deciding on a plan of attack, especially when looking out a few years. Below is one version of a possible progression:

This is by no means “the” plan for everyone, but is more an illustration of the nearly infinite variation in training that can lead to excellence over a longer than usual window. By including the five “S’s” you give yourself the confidence of including elements necessary to success, but pliable enough to allow for some truly outside-the-box approaches.

So far we’ve looked at big picture, macro considerations, but often the essence of a paradigm shift is in the little details like the week-to-week progression and design. To that end let’s show you a couple of different approaches.

A common approach is to do a three week build followed by a recovery week. It’s a time proven approach. More and more athletes on the cutting edge seek to shake up their programs by varying the work/recovery ratio day to day and week to week. Cycles that include two weeks of high volume and two weeks of high intensity, or longer 4 – 6 week build periods before a rest week often give a necessary training stimulus. Similarly riders are mixing up the daily workloads to create overload. Instead of the classic Tuesday sprints, Wednesday tempo, Thursday endurance, riders are doing longer 4-6 day blocks, or mixing in VO2max and Threshold workouts to create appropriate stress. There are dozens of variations possible and I’d encourage you to go out on a limb and try something new this year.

Summary
Training day in and day out, year in and year out, can become tedious. As you get deeper into the season take a moment to ask yourself where you fall on the long term athlete development progression outlined here. Be honest and realistic with yourself and you can begin to lay the foundation of a training plan that sees you make maximal progress.

Varying your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly focus this year may just provide the necessary shake up in your program to take you up a level, or at least keep you focused throughout the season.