Tag Archive: ampk

1. Winning with your B game.

   21st January 2014 2:51 pm 1 Comment

   Can you win with your B game?

   If everything goes well in your training, you get a good night’s sleep, you arrive on time, you warm up well, you feel good and you win. Well done. But how often does this happen.

   More important is winning with your B game.

   You have an argument with your boyfriend the day before, you have 3 exams the next week, you forget your spare pair of spikes, you get lost and arrive with 5 minutes to warm up, you are drawn in the first round against a really good opponent.

   A lot of easy excuses to fall back on when you lose.

   Don’t.

   Whilst preparation is essential, things often go wrong, so be robust enough physically and mentally to cope with this. That means training in adverse situations too.

   Thanks to Ian Thomas for this one.

   Further reading: The quest for ultra performance

2. Channelling the Competitive Streak

   24th May 2010 8:43 am Leave a Comment

   I was speaking to a couple of young athletes last week on how they were faring, and how they adjust to learning new skills. Both gave examples of when they were returning from a layoff, or trying to practice a new skill but then being put into competition with other players. The dilemma is trying get better for the long term, but not wanting to lose in the short term.

   The secret is to channel that competitive urge into the skill itself, or to do drills that put that skill into practice without being destructive to the overall process.

   I try and get the competitive spirit going in every session – but for the athlete to compete with themselves. In groups it is difficult,  because you want everyone to get better and to set their own standards- not just being the best of that small group. That is harder for the best people- just think of being the number 1 downhill skier in Great Britain- where does that leave you in World Rankings?

   Other athletes I train do not want to try anything new or that is out of their comfort zone because they don’t want to come 2nd- I don’t think they will make it to the big leagues in the long term.

   (Thanks to Max, Flo and Angela for the insights).