The New Direction for Elite Coaching

THE NEW DIRECTION FOR ELITE COACHING

In elite sport, an athlete’s performance is frequently reviewed and scrutinised accordingly. The pressure to consistently perform is extraordinary, and only those with the strongest bodies and minds will prevail.

This level of pressure is necessary when the window of opportunity for success is so short-lived; a season is fleeting and every move matters. The average longevity of an athlete is brief and with the stakes so high, it’s understandable that receiving even a minor injury and losing the chance to compete is one of the modern-day athletes and coaches greatest fear.

Team players who are skillful and ruthlessly competitive are on every recruiter’s list when it comes to selecting any team.

However, all too often, athletes that start out enthused, unscathed, wide-eyed and energised quickly find themselves experiencing a run of minor physical setbacks, such as nursing hamstring, ankle or shoulder injuries.

Sadly, they may sometimes suffer a season or career ending injury, all before they have reached their peak and unlocked their true potential.

So, is this just an imminent component of elite sport, or are we overlooking something?

Whether it be demanding coaches, mega contracts, team supporters blogging daily or the hungry media seeking another headline, the pressure for a modern day elite athlete has never been greater.

This pressure, along with inevitable self-doubt, ego driven complacency or ingrained mindsets is physically toxic if not managed correctly. And when the athletes mind collapses, then the body follows.

In my opinion, we’ve now exhausted and overcooked the science of sport. There are now far too many ‘expert’ cooks in the kitchen.

There is only so much juice you can squeeze out of an orange, and in the elite sporting world today the orange has been squeezed dry.

In other words, the body of today’s elite athlete has undoubtedly just about reached its peak in terms of improving physical performance via science.

The weekly workload of an athlete in their training regimen is now monitored down to the millisecond.

Their body is nurtured, fed and trained to its peak, and there is no shortage of support as teams and individuals strive to achieve the ultimate goal of being recognised as no. 1.

We now rely so heavily on modern day science to justify performance and jobs, that nearly every elite sports coach fails to recognise and embrace the glaringly obvious yet untapped opportunity to unlock the true potential of their athletes.

Just like a state of the art Ferrari, the modern day elite athlete is more often than not, structurally perfect. Yet the mind (ie. the motor) of an athlete may often be that of an early model Mazda.

When there’s a rattle in the engine and that red light appears on the dash, we dutifully send in the mechanics (eg. sports psychologists).

However, these mechanics are invariably using the same old Mazda glove box handbook to patch up a motor that is not up to speed or aligned with its state of the art Ferrari exterior. Here lies the problem.

Psychologists all study a similar degree. They all get the same outdated knowledge and use this same information to treat our athletes, and yet injuries are now the biggest issue elite sports teams are facing today.

“It’s been life changing!”

EASTON WOOD, 2017 PREMIERSHIP CAPTAIN, WESTERN BULLDOGS FC AFL

With the state of art facilities and level of expert support we are now seeing, there is no justifiable reason why our athletes’ bodies should still be breaking down at any stage during preparation or performance.

Yet the experts are still helplessly ill equipped to predict setbacks and injuries, even when athletes have a structured exercise load plan built around their day to day training regime.

I have now been associated with 7 elite Australian sports teams, helped create 30 winning premierships and walked the path of a failed elite athlete myself.

I have now proven that once you strip and then rebuild a tough and resilient foundation in the athlete’s mind, you remove future physical setbacks at a level we have never seen before.

The world has surpassed institutional thinking and outdated textbook methodology.

A new era has arrived and it’s time for yesterday’s experts and today’s coaches to expand their minds and become open to a world that cannot yet be justified by science.

The human journey is about evolution and we are currently in a stage of rapid quickening. Just look at how much the world has changed and evolved in one generation.

A huge portion of the functions of the human mind are still unknown and cannot be explained, understood or proven with science. But without the science, should we just sit back and wait?

It is now widely accepted that the body is led by the mind. Now we are seeing a new era of elite sport is urgently needed, where we see coaches and support staff turning their attention to the power and influence of the mind and embracing new and sharper tools to unlock its potential.

Richard Maloney is quickly becoming known as the world no. 1 team engagement expert as he leads over 100 coaches in 60+ countries.

He is fascinated by the impact of human behaviour in both the business and sport.

With extensive experience in these industries, his view is radically different and he is disrupting the L&D and HR and sports psychology industries with his bold statement: Traditional training is dead.

Richard has used his strategy from the sports arena to work and transform athletes and business leaders around the world.

He has been focusing on helping businesses improve mental wellbeing, culture, engagement and leadership and has recently been recognised as a finalist in the Australian Optus Business Awards as Business Leader of the Year and Export also the author of ‘The Minds of Winning Teams – Creating Team Success Through Engagement & Culture’

Quality Mind Global - www.qualitymindglobal.com Engage and Grow Global - www.engageandgrowglobal.com