An athlete can improve their own performance by improving the performance of others.
The pursuit of improvement can often be a selfish one. There’s nothing wrong with this selfishness, it’s simply what is often required to reach the lofty targets set for oneself. Resources have to be self directed in order to accomplish goals. But there is a time when a more altruistic approach may in fact benefit the athlete. There is a time when being the coach will make you a better athlete.
This improvement comes from an increased capacity to learn and comes through two primary sources:
- Making the implicit, explicit.
- Visualisation.
Making the implicit, explicit:
It is vital when discussing learning to establish the distinction between learning and performance. Performance is the presentation of a skill and is an observable behaviour, while learning is a change in the capability to perform this behaviour resulting from practice or experience. Therefore, while behaviour may be completed explicitly, the learning process leading to this behaviour is completed implicitly. In this instance, an explicit learning strategy involves specific instruction given about the rules that underlie a stimulus or movement pattern to assist learning, whereas an implicit learning strategy involves no specific instruction, yet proficient learning of a skill. Additionally, implicit knowledge lies below the level of consciousness and is difficult to verbalise.
Let’s use one of the Olympic Lifts, the ‘snatch’ as an example. Explicit instruction involves a subject being taught the movement step-by-step to complete the skill, breaking down the three pulls and examining the characteristics of each. Implicit instruction however may involve a subject simply being told to ‘snatch’, while being allowed to develop their own strategies to achieve this goal – strategies which may limit future performance.
Coaching forces an athlete to take their own implicit knowledge of how to perform a task, and make it explicit – shifting the skill from a subconscious one to a conscious one. This means that when the ‘coach’ transitions back into their athlete role, they will have a better understanding of what is required to maximise their own performance.
Visualisation:
Visualisation is a form of imagery that allows an athlete to recreate previous positive experiences or picture new events to prepare themselves mentally for performance.
There are four key theories as to the success of visualisation for performance improvement:
- Neuromuscular patterns are identical when imagining or performing a task.
- Imagery allows the athlete to become familiar with the requirements of a task.
- Imagery has been found to improve concentration, reduce anxiety and enhance confidence.
- Imagery allows the athlete to respond to certain stimuli in their environment.
Of these four, the top two (neuromuscular patterns and familiarity) are directly increased when an athlete coaches another athlete.
Application:
By teaching a skill, strategy or task to others, athletes are able to increase their own abilities. The application is simple. Take your skill set and teach it to others. In essence, you will return from the coaching role as a better athlete than when you entered it.
