SELF DIRECTED COACHING
Application of Sport Psychology Principles


HOW DO YOU GET THIS TO GET THAT TO DO WHAT YOU WANT IT TO, WHEN YOU WANT IT TO?!

Using neuropsychological principles to develop explicit control of learning and performing motor skills
1) Learning skill: Using a task-orientated approach, a link can be created between the physics of what you are doing and what you are thinking and perceiving.


Task-orientated method
Ask yourself the following questions in sequence:
  • What are the most efficient dynamics for the movements?
  • What is the physiology of movements? (i.e. the specific muscle contractions etc. needed to create these movements.)
  • What does the nervous system do to make this happen?
  • Is there anything I can explicitly think about/experience that can influence the nervous system to do what I want it to?
In this way a concrete link is created between what you want to do and the psychology behind it.
PHYSICS <-> PHYSIOLOGY <-> PSYCHOLOGY
  • Physics: dynamics of movements.
  • Physiology of muscles and nervous system.
  • Psychology: how thinking and mood influences physiology, which in turn influences physical dynamics.

(We do not know the mind-body connection. We do know the correlations between the mind and the body.)

2) Performing skill: Understanding how the nervous system works is the first step to achieving control of what you perceive and how you react in sport. A key factor for determining appropriate training and rehearsal strategies is understanding the differences between the analyzing and integrating functions in the mind. This is especially important when developing retrieval cues for performing your skills.

Differential approach to goal setting
Goal Setting: Creating a consistent line of thinking, with no gaps, so you will be able to choose the most efficient approach for your personal development. This includes explicit ways to measure your performance. This is especially important for elite athletes, as it is what differentiates them from the rest that will get tham the better result. There is no sport model to follow, so they must develop personal awareness of their assets and weaknesses, and then design an athletic style on those factors to develop a new standard - perhaps one never done before. The Goal Setting Section in the Self Directed Coaching Manual explains this process in detail.

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