Yves Latreille – Some Thoughts on Mental Training

Hi everyone. So this post is a regurgitation of a conversation I had with my friend and coach Yves Latreille. The hope is to provide some thoughts on the requirements and the training of the mental side of sport and in this case tennis.

For me this is a mind field (haha) that is extremely difficult to implement. I have asked questions etc about their performance and what they are thinking and feeling and have just received the answers I want to hear.

So the conversation started in regards to a player I work with that is experiencing difficulties in performing in competitions. the player is very talented and in my harsh opinion underachieves in competition. I can you all already that this could be influencing his state of mind. It might but I very rarely let him know that (or at least I think I do).

A link to another article on Yves’ site Mental Training

So I chatted with Yves and here are some thoughts.

Sometimes the player is over confident or in some cases under confident. This is something you can find out by discussing with him. Ask him/her questions about what he thinks of competition and how he/she approaches it. Try to find out how he/she feels before the match, the day before, just before he/she steps on court, during the match and after the match. Does the player feel confident, energised, up for it, willing to fight? Does the player feel afraid of losing or playing poorly? Is there player worried about what the coach will think or what his parents think?

As I thought more about this it became clear that it was imperative that I knew this stuff and the people around the player also knew this stuff!

Sometimes players can focus more on the result and winning the match that they forget about the process of actually playing. Yves referred to this as Competition Paralysed!

this is very hard work and Yves suggests being positive all the time with explanations of what is needed to improve the outcomes. As an example focus on the level of intensity in training. A simple scoring system of intensity and setting this as a match requirement or goal. The result is secondary or completely lost now.

When a player focus’ on the result this can paralyse the player not only mentally but physically. This explains the perception of not trying or being lazy.

We can tackle this by focusing on the intensity in points or drills and the relaxing between points or drill sets. Use the patterns of play and the focus of sessions to distract from the result and focus on the process. This can also be the focus of a match or competition. Next time the player plays set him to targets 1. focus on game plan and 2. focus on intensity (no matter what!).

Following this discussion came this…

players can interpret anxiety as a negative instead of using it as a challenge. Can the player identify all the things that make them feel this way? Can you find away to control them or avoid them?

Does the player know what level of arousal they perform best at?

So in conclusion

We need to allow players to learn how to avoid stress factors before competition, and during competition to learn to relax between points, (breathing techniques).

Set performance goals not results based goals. If you don’t set any goals be sure the player is setting results goals and this is where the problems occur.

focus on Intensity, relaxation between points and game plan!

Well there is some food for thought,

A link to another article on Yves site Mental Training

good luck and make it count x

Kelvin Giles Contributes to 3D Training Concept

Welcome to the second contribution to 3D Training Concept.  This time it is with great pleasure that I can present Kelvin Giles, a world class and well renowned trainer/coach/author/presenter.  Kelvin is the top of his field and works with some serious customers in the sporting and training world.  You can access Kelvin’s work at Movement Dynamics.

Here is what Kelvin had to say…

Re: Hotspot – I have done a fair amount of brainstorming with my friend Vern Gambetta (Vern’s Site) about Hotspot and there can be no doubt that it offers a means to measure the outcome of that foundation of training – Movement Efficiency .

I have been concentrating on Movement Efficiency over the last few years and in the case of the Field & Court athlete the translation of that primary commodity to agility is a key issue. Hotspot allows you to monitor progress and challenge the complexity of movement. Getting improved movement efficiency is worthless unless you can apply it and for the Field & Court athlete multi-directional movement patters are a cornerstone.

Hotspot is certainly a very worthwhile component of this journey.

I am working hard to get coaches to ensure that the athletes have adequate movement efficiency (multi-joint, mult-plane. multi-directional) so that this can be more effectively driven into agility work. We often by-pass the foundation movement efficiency in the quest for agility. For example if an athlete cannot triple-flex / extend efficiently they cannot land efficienctly and therefore will not be able to execute or survive agility loads. You want to change direction? You have to ‘stop’ first. Can’t squat – can’t stop.

 

I am sure you agree that this is straight to the point and makes logical sense.  In our approach to Hotspot Training we consider the building blocks of the “agility” drill/exercise or in fact the pattern of movement (In pattern I mean the A-B nature of the drill)  of the game and we use the measurement of the drill as guidance.  In an attempt to be more clear we will consider where gains can be made in terms of the drills measurement’s from a “movement efficiency” perspective.   For example is there a lack of ability to absorb force, control Centre of mass in a change and can we utilise exercises to facilitate development.  Ultimately does this intervention impact the agility drill in a positive manner and therefore making improvements in the field/court.

I would like to thank Kelvin for his contribution and lets go and make our athletes better..and know it!

Make It Count

Charlie Crisp – Thoughts on Hotspot

Charlie Crisp is the Head Coach at Carlford Tennis Club in Gloucestershire (weblink -> Charlford Tennis Club)

Charlie has competed to a high level in tennis but his talents spray out of tennis into the real world so to speak. He spends his time on court, up trees and playing some serious music with popular band Last Nights Victory

Charlie offers his thoughts on the Hotspot Training System

As a player and coach of tennis who has always been very competitive in what ever field i find myself in, it has always been very difficult to find motivation within my self and to encourage others to do the necessary physical conditioning to support high level tennis.

Where Hotspot is really effective, is giving like competitive spirited sports men and women the extra edge they need, to want to turn out for fitness training and try to either better themselves or those around them, depending on where they re motivations lie.

Rather than just going through the motions and it being “incredibly dull,” as I have heard top conditioning trainers say, hardly motivational, with hotspot you are constantly pushing your boundaries and there fore increasing range of movement, stamina, coordination and stimulating myolin’s production to be even more rapid.

Not only does Hotspot give you a representation of your improvement in an area normally very difficult to measure but also shows up decrease in performance educating competitors in the importance of work rest ratios, fatigue through lack of sleep or a recent tournament, diet and fluid intake and all manor of other reasons that may not have realized had such a detrimental effect on our bodies as the Hotspot results are so acurate and over a period of time will show the expected improvement curve and if the results are not met, we have only our selves to look at rather than blaming someone else or the conditions etc.

At the moment i can t see a more inspiring tool to make physical conditioning a motivating and maximum effective part of sports training programs than through Hotspot and its ability to enhance the methods we all individually use and believe in as it can be used in almost any exercise you can think of.

Well there you have it.  Charlie Crisp has spoken!  A big thank you to Charlie for taking the time to write in and please if you want to contribute, anything at all from your experiences to opinions and success stories I want to hear from you mike@hotspottraining.com

Make it Count

xx