From Good to Great

6/10/2015

No one can wake up and be the best. Everyone must work hard at what they do. There is no walking on the track and winning it all. Below are some tips to help you get started on your performance.

• Technique Efficiency: This is the beginning of success. You are there putting in the work so you might as well do it correctly right? Hurdles, pole vault, shot put, discus, all of these events require a good technique to get the job done right. When you are at practice your coach is always talking about coming out of the blocks, or locking your arms, or getting the foot positioning right upon release. The reason for this is because technique is the basic foundation. Once your technique is down and it becomes automatic your mind can focus on taking in environmental cues.
• Quality Repetition: This is where the deliberate practice takes place. In order to get it right, ‘practice makes perfect’ you have to ensure that the technique efficiency is there constantly. In deliberate practice you are deliberately practicing what is going on. For the relay team they deliberately practicing the handoff between the arrows. Hurdlers deliberately practice going over the hurdle to ensure that your leg is straight and you are making ground contact as soon as you get over the hurdler. In order for the act to become automatic, you must practice. There are a few ways to ensure that you are getting the technique right. Film, have coach, a teammate, or a friend video you spinning or releasing the discus to ensure full arm extensions and your momentum is coming around completely. Or you can have the person visually check out the issue and see what they find.  
• Experience: This is the best coach ever! You can practice in the gym, in the rain, 5 days a week, but until you feel the pressure you are not going to be prepared to fight through the environment. As many of you know, in track events the preliminaries are about racing the clock. So instead of lining up races with your friends, have them hold the stopwatch and time you. Once you feel confident in your pace and time, then you can introduce yourself to the races. In the races it is important to remember that you are there for yourself, not for them. This is a misconception that a lot of competitors miss. It is about performance more than winning.
• Emotion Control: Here's where a Mental Trainer® can really make a difference. Most athletes think mental toughness comes from lots of physical practice. A few learn some mental tricks through trial and error, just like a few learn their sport on their own. But it's rare, and therefore it's risky if you have big dreams. Mental training has come a long way, and it all comes down to controlling your emotions. That means becoming calm, confident and carefree about your performance. Easier said than done, but sport psychologist specialize in teaching athletes exactly how to do it.

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