1. What is a training session?
Training is an opportunity to progress. The Athlete repeats actions that will allow him to acquire skills with the aim of being able to repeat them in competition. These abilities can be technical, mental, physical, or strategic. He is the main actor of his performance in training and the people of the coaching staff represent the facilitators of the Athlete project. The Athlete must therefore develop its autonomy in order to be able to train at any time.
2. What is an efficient training session?
Productive training is achieved through the commitment that an Athlete makes. Commitment is defined by two things: right intention and relevant attention.
Intention: Preparation of all the elements to engage in the action. (Put yourself in the right conditions)
Right: What I want to achieve / How I want to achieve it / Be an actor of this moment.
Right Intention: Wanting to be an actor in the present moment, willing to perform the exercise perfectly.
Attention: Strong mobilization of the cognitive abilities necessary at the time of the action (What are the elements that allow me to play)
Relevant Attention: Focus on what is relevant and ignore what is not.
A good commitment is when I have prepared to train, I put myself in the right conditions to stay focused on my training, I know what I am working on and I try to understand what I am doing to be able to reproduce it in a competitive situation.
3. How to optimize your commitment to training?
5 Training optimization techniques:
1st: A right intention and relevant attention points:
· Having an optimal state of mind, there will be difficulties, this is normal because I will put myself in a situation of discomfort in order to have an opportunity to progress (Knowing how to be);
· Have specific and clear objectives (Specific / Measurable / Ambitious / Realistic / Time given (S.M.A.R.T)) (Know-What);
· Have attentional points (different depending on the exercise) => How I reach the goals I have set for myself (Know-How).
2nd: Identify potential distractions:
· Define before training what might disengage me from what I am doing. This can be physical (eg: pain), mental (eg: fear), or environmental (eg: telephone);
· Define responses to distractions to refocus.
3rd: Warm Up Mentally:
· Perform a scan of its physical and mental state (How am I?);
· Remind the objectives of the session (Why am I doing it?);
· Recall the attention points to achieve the objectives (How do I do?);
· Recall the attitude to have when difficulties arise (How do I behave?)
This is a very short summary of the first 2 parts, like an internal speech that prepares for each important action.
4th: Self-assessment during training:
· Take time to assess their physical and mental commitment to the session (Am I still in it?);
. Detect if the attention is dispersing and bring it back to the relevant points (Am I still focused on what I put in important points?)
5th: Keep track of your training:
· Evaluate the achievement of objectives: what is positive and what needs improvement;
· Evaluate physical and mental commitment throughout the duration of the session;
You have to anchor exercises, self-awareness and self-assessment to then be able to automate and thus make training sessions ever more productive.