Business and Performance in Sport
A mixture of articles, focusing mainly on sport psychology, networking and social media marketing
Making Money Using iStadia #4: Using Your Signature
Your signature is added to any posts that you make, anywhere on the site, including blogs, articles, news and forum posts. It gives people a chance to see what you do and search engines a relevant link to your own site or profile.Think of your signature as a trail of breadcrumbs leading back to where you want visitors to go. Whether that is your profile or your own site, include it. A well placed signature will be more effective than 'stuffing' your content with links.
Here's an example of a good signature, continuing our example of the sports marketing company in London that chose 'sports marketing london' as a key phrase:
Joe Bloggs
Myco Sports Marketing, London, United Kingdom
+44 207 123 4567
Why is this good? It gives basic information: who you are, what you do and how to find out more. For search engines, you are using your keywords as the link's 'anchor text'. There’s little point in putting the link on ‘Myco’. If your brand is good enough that people will search for it, your site will already rank well for its own name if your site is at all well set up (we call searching for your own name or company name a 'vanity search'and it doesn't serve a great purpose).
Shouldy ou include an email? If you don’t mind spam. Many people advise never to put your email address on a web page. As a Premium Plus member a visitor can send you an email from your profile without logging in - your own private contact form.
Have you set up your signature yet?
http://www.istadia.com/membersignature.php
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Over a series of articles will be exploring all of the steps outlined in the downloadable document Using iStadia to Make Money: Networking and Marketing your Business.#1: Social Media is a Business Tool
#2: Goals, Target Market and Keywords
#3: Optimizing Your Profile
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
The 7 Deadly Sins Of SEO
Back in March 2008, the Vatican issued a set of seven new Deadly Sins to update and augment the original established list of seven. Within the Catholic Church, these are considered terrible ways that a person can offend God.In the world of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) there are also a set of 7 heinous deadly sins. Whilst, these sins are unlikely to offend anyone’s God, they will certainly offend the Internet’s all-powerful deity known as Google and its lesser deities the other Search Engines such as Yahoo and MSN.
These sins can be roughly divided into three separate categories: Spamming, Style over Substance and Beginner’s Errors or Mistakes.
SIN 1 – SAME TITLE TAG – Webmasters and Website owners make one consistent deadly SEO sin. They use the same Title Tag on every page throughout the entire site. The Title Tag can make or break your ranking, why be stupid enough to risk your ranking for a lack of imagination? The Title Tag is your best opportunity to have your keywords or keyphrases read by Search Engines. Calling them all the same thing is a Beginner’s Error that could cost you dearly.
SIN 2 – SAME META DESCRIPTION – A close relation to SIN 1, this is a Beginner’s Error that is made very frequently. Rushing to get the site up with SEO friendly content, the beginner simply fills in the Meta Description with the same details on every page. Even so-called SEO gurus can make the same mistake sometimes. But unique content includes the Meta Descriptions; so don’t fall foul of this sin.
SIN 3 – ABSENT KEYPHRASES – If you optimise a website for keyphrases that don’t appear in your online copy, you won’t get the SEO value out of them. The optimised keyphrases must match the content. Keyphrases and keywords must originate from within the content. That’s why the content needs to be keyphrase rich. Write content that includes the keyphrases that you want to be found for. However, take care not to alienate real human visitors by creating content that’s difficult to read because it’s all about SIN 7.
SIN 4 – FLASH ONLY SITE – Flash websites can now be read and indexed by Google. However, it’s still very much early days and has not been fully and properly tested. A site that’s made entirely from flash components is still a major No-No. This is a Style over Substance sin and it’s patently stupid. If most search engines cannot read flash, and only Google can index it at all, if not particularly well, a site made of flash will be practically invisible to search engines looking for text.
SIN 5 – BUYING LINKS – If one of the real 7 Deadly Sins were Stupidity, this would be covered under that sin. In order to help alongside optimisation, it’s important to create backlinks. Google likes to think that the sites with the best rankings are sites that are regularly visited and sites that other people support enough to make links from their site to your site. These are called backlinks. When you have high quality backlinks, you look good to search engines.
Of course, some bright spark came up with the idea of selling backlinks to those who need quick fix SEO. These enterprises are called Link Farms or Backlink Farms and are going to get you in trouble with the Search Engines. Google severely punishes those who commit this sin and considers this practice spamming. Of course, it won’t be just the link farm that gets banned; it will be your website. Don’t spam, you can’t afford the consequences.
SIN 6 – DOORWAY PAGES – It’s become common practice on the Internet to create lots of SEO pages with just a few of the keywords or keyphrases changed. For example, you get the same page of content but where Recruitment Manchester was on one page, Recruitment London is on the next, or Recruitment Glasgow or Recruitment Reading. This type of page is considered spamming and could cause Google and the other Search Engines to ban your site completely. Is it worth getting your site banned for this?
SIN 7 – KEYWORD STUFFING – There are lots of ways that you can over-stuff your content. Since some people believe (wrongly) that up to 25% of your content density can be keywords, keyphrases or keyphrase related. But that would mean that your sentences would look something like this nonsense:
Whenever a keyphrase is used with another keyphrase, the keyphrase is employed as a keyphrase that can help another keyphrase.
It makes no sense whatsoever, it’s impossible to understand, it’s offensive to both search engines and human readers. But wait! There’s plenty more keyword stuffing idiocy that goes on.
Using white text on a white background so that only the search engine can see it is a common sin. If this sin is revealed, the search engines will systematically ban you and no one will find you by using a web search engine.
Using tiny font to create pages of tiny unseen text, stuffed full of keywords will result in the same punishment. Stuffing loads of keywords in at the end of the page, out of sight of the normal surfer is also an offence that search engines such as Google will ban the site for. It’s simple, you’ve been warned, confession will not save you from this sin of stuffing your website with keyphrases, repent now and change your ways!
These are the Seven Deadly Sins of SEO and they will lead your website straight to Google Hell.
However, don’t panic! It’s still possible to save your SEO soul, legitimately gain the SEO advantage that you seek and end up in SEO website heaven. If you need to take the steps to get there, choose an SEO company that can keep you on the straight and narrow.
For more information on how you can avoid the punishment for committing the Seven Deadly Sins of Search Engine Optimisation and achieve the rankings that you and your business need, contact Nikki at Nikki@NikkiPilkington.com or visit the Internet Marketing Expert.
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
Top Ten Tips To Make Article Marketing Work For You
One of the most effective ways to build your credibility, attain search presence and create quality backlinks to your website is through ‘Article Marketing’. Article marketing involves writing a series of well crafted, knowledgeable articles within your area of business expertise and publishing them not only on your own website but also in various high profile places across the Internet, in order to establish credibility, “Become The Expert” and help to increase your search engine positions.
However, there is a certain set of rules to help you to use Article Marketing to promote your services, products and website, so here are my Top 10 Tips on Writing and Publishing your own Marketing Articles:
TIP ONE: Don’t Sell – Give It Away – This type of article is not sales copy. The aim is not to sell your goods or services, but to give away your knowledge for free. Sounds crazy, but the more you give away, the more potential business you’ll receive back. Demonstrate your range of knowledge and you’ll see your online credibility building.
The more free knowledge you give away, the more people will see you as the expert in the field. When those people need what you’re selling, they’re much more likely to come directly to you.
TIP TWO: Tailor your Title – Make your title alluring and attractive. Questions such as ‘How to…’ and ‘Why’ are good for attracting the reader’s curiosity. Top Tens and Top Fives work well too. Try to place a keyphrase within your title for maximum SEO opportunity.
TIP THREE: Paragraph – Make your paragraphs short and to the point. Try to avoid paragraphs larger than five lines if you can help it. Think about writing for Internet readers who like to scan for the best bits, so make it easy for them to read.
TIP FOUR: Keywords – You should carefully and strategically plant your best SEO keywords or keyphrases throughout your articles, but it’s vital that they do not obscure the meaning of the sentences or make the article less enjoyable to read.
Don’t make the article just about the keywords; just naturally allow the keywords or keyphrases to be used throughout the article. Use a keyword tool to find the most relevant keywords or phrases to suit your needs.
TIP FIVE: Publish – Internet publishing isn’t like the restricted environment of printed media publishing. The Internet is a great democratic space that allows anyone to get published. When thinking about where you want to publish your articles on the Internet, start with your own website(s).
Next, stake out a few Article Directories such as EzineArticles.com and take a look at their article submission policies. Work out the FIVE or so article directories where you might put your work and make that part of your publishing process. Finally, look at the social networking or business forum sites and consider publishing your articles if their terms and conditions allow.
TIP SIX: Link – At the very bottom of your article, you should add a backlink to your website. You can add something like ‘For More Articles – visit XXXX or email name@company.com. Some sites do not allow this, so read the submission rules very carefully. Don’t fill your article with links; the focus is the content, nothing else.
TIP SEVEN: Tasters/Hooks – Some of the article directories allow you to put a short taster paragraph as part of the submission. This is great, but it’s better to use that same taster idea elsewhere. Post a ‘hook’ or ‘taster’ paragraph up on a forum with a link to the article on your own website. Make the taster drive the reader to your site where they can become a potential client or customer.
Doing this will create a backlink that will improve your SEO and since the forum will probably be optimised too, your article hook will come up on the Search Engines too.
Writing a good taster means giving just enough information to tempt the reader into wanting to finish reading the article. So when writing an article ‘hook’ it’s a balance between giving too much or too little information away.
TIP EIGHT: Word Count – Articles between around 300 and 1000 words are a good length for Article Marketing purposes. Too little and you can’t communicate enough to build credibility. Too much, and the average reader will get bored and stop reading before the end. This will prevent them from seeing the link to your website. Don’t waffle on; the length of the article need only be enough words to make your point.
TIP NINE: – Topic – Choose the kind of topics that people are likely to search for. Imagine that all people using a Search Engine are looking for a solution to a particular problem. Consider how you provide a range of solutions to potential customer problems. Write your article questions or Top 10s around those problems and solutions. When someone uses a Search Engine to find a solution, they should find your article as a potential answer to their problem. Topic choice should be driven by this philosophy.
TIP TEN: Outsource – Consider employing an article writer to produce the high quality content you need. This can often save you time and money and keeps the flow of articles coming for as long as you have the budget to pay for the service.
Not everyone has the confidence or ability to write articles, don’t miss out on the value of article marketing just because you lack time, confidence or aptitude. When choosing to outsource your articles to a professional content writer, make sure that they demonstrate to you the ability to write on your topic area and always, ALWAYS choose someone whose English is better than yours.
Writing and publishing your own articles online will provide you with some very valuable exposure across the Internet. The more high quality articles that you write, the more potential traffic you could receive and the stronger your credibility will be.
*This article has been reproduced with the permission of internet marketing expert Nikki Pilkington. Nikki has been a fantastic source of knowledge to me on internet marketing and SEO, and I would recommend her unreservedly.
If you are interested in Article marketing and would like to know more, please feel free to either email Nikki on nikki@nikkipilkington.com or call us on 0844 980 0404.
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
Professional Networking and Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
There are many reasons to engage in professional networking, particularly using online communities such as iStadia.com, but one of the most compelling of these may be the contribution that it can make to Continuing Professional Development (CPD).What is CPD?
Professional development is something that should be of interest to most of our members - whether students going through an intensive period of learning; professionals in training; or experienced, qualified professionals. CPD as a term applies specifically to the latter of these groups, and refers to the process of managing one's own development and growth as a professional, but the content of this article is pertinent to anyone who is interested in developing their knowledge, skills and competencies in any field.
What is professional networking?
Professional networking (as opposed to the purely 'social' networking that is offered by websites such as facebook) is the process of creating trusting, mutually beneficial relationships that will ultimately help you in some way to access new skills, knowledge or opportunities. Professional networking is not, despite the availability of social networking websites, purely an online activity. Indeed, it's history is as long as any profession's! It happens through training courses, conferences, informal conversations, and many other acitivites. However, technology has provided the opportunity to greatly accelerate professional networking, given access to much larger, global professional communities, and made it easier to keep in touch with one's contacts.
How can iStadia support the Development of Sport and Exercise Professionals?
As has been alluded to earlier, by actively networking you can gain access to new sources of knowledge, learn new skills and develop competencies.
The word 'actively' is important here. Think about this: If everyone in a community gives something of themselves to that community, the result is a rich body of knowledge and experience, that can easily be found, and contact made.
With iStadia we are moving, perhaps slower than we would like, in that direction - but it is happening both online and offline. I've personally talked through client issues, shared ideas, and started collaborating with people that I didn't know before iStadia. I also regularly share referrals. James Beale recently blogged about his experience of solving a novel client problem by asking a question on a club forum. He got the answer he was looking for, and developed new relationships at the same time.
But networking isn't just about asking for help. It's no coincidence that the motto and philosophy of Business Network International (BNI) is "Givers' Gain". Networking is about sharing, too. Sharing knowledge, sharing contacts, even sharing business opportunities. But let's focus on sharing knowledge for now.
Within this community, there is a tremendous amount of knowledge. Imagine if we could completely unlock that knowledge and make it available to each other. How powerful would that be?
iStadia is designed, essentially, to allow you to share knowledge. This can be done through blogging, writing articles, and through clubs and forums. By sharing your knowledge, whatever that might be, you open yourself up to new and potentially fruitful relationships. Sharing with the community allows people to get an idea of what you can contribute in terms of knowledge, skills and competencies, and helps them to decide whether to network with you. But it also, of course, adds to the overall knowledge of the community.
Case Study: Blogging Teachers
You might still be wondering what you might gain from sharing. You might be sceptical that by giving, you will also receive. I came across a really interesting blog that gave me an insight into the possibilities for blogging (or writing articles) and professional development. It referred to a programme for teachers that gave them the opportunity to blog their views and reflections on teaching.
Blogging brought a number of benefits to the teachers. First of all, it was a reflective activity in itself, and therefore supports reflective practice. That's where you benefit from writing the blog. Then, the rest of the community of teachers benefited from the insights and thoughts of the other teachers. Then, and here's where it gets interesting, because the blogs are shared, there is further benefit to the blogger, from the critical insight of others shared through comments. Further still, this process helps people to feel more 'connected' with each other (in the human rather than technical sense), facilitating further discussion and relationship building.
Imagine how powerful a tool that could be - a community of professionals sharing in a reflective process, sharing each other's lessons and insights, challenging and supporting each other.
Wouldn't that be great? Well, the good news that the potential is right here at your fingertips. All you need to do is exploit it. You don't need to write a thesis. A good blog can be a few sentences long. Anything longer than about 500 and you are probably writing an artice. But blogs and articles are also living documents. You can post your initial thoughts, then go back, edit and develop them as your ideas develop further. They are not set in stone, therefore they don't have to be perfect?
Here are a few different examples, from Amanda Owens, Mark Helme and David Harrison.
What's stopping you?
Time? Dedicating a little time each week to sharing your thoughts with the community might even save you time through the connections you make...
Confidence? Just ask for help, and it's yours. Start now and you'll get the hang of it - whether "it" is using the technology or finding the words...
Anxiety? Of course you might feel nervous about opening up. But you are in control of what you share...
I don't know anything special? I'm sure that every member has something to contribute, whether a professional, a business owner, a student (you are probably never more 'up-to-date' than you are as a student), an athlete or an exerciser.
Isn't it about time you started to share?
If you aren't currently a member, professional development is just one benefit of joining iStadia.
What makes for a good blog post - when blogging to get noticed?
My April fool's blog, New Research Suggests Cheese Diet Improves Performance by up to 60%, in the space of 4 weeks, became iStadia's most read blog post.Of course, the blog itself was complete rubbish. But is was viewed a lot of times in a short space, so what can we learn from it?
I don't know what the secret is. Perhaps there is a very popular set of keywords in there, such as "cheese diet" that I stumbled upon. What I do know is this:
- It has a descriptive title that uses words that are also contained in the text of the post, such as "cheese" and "performance". Google seems to like that. It likes that more than it likes clever titles.
- It has all of the potential keywords from the body text repeated in the tags list. So, there's more repetition. Title - text - tags. Get your keywords in all three.
- Some of the keywords are pretty irrelevant, but probably help - such as "Saint Nectair". So, if you are blogging about some aspect of sports performance, for example, why not try to incorporate names of sports people, brands or other words that are likely to be popular search terms?
- I've used a picture. If you include pictures - even from other sources, and include your keywords in the alt text and description you may suddenly find that you get a lot of hits through Google image search.
- It isn't long - and it doesn't have to be. 500 words is about the most you should have in a blog post.
- I "dugg" my own post, and tagged it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon and probably some other social bookmarking sites. I also posted a link on twitter. This is all very easy , as we have put a button saying "addthis" at the bottom of every blog and article post for you.
- I put my signature in it, with a link to my own site, embedded in a key phrase "sport psychologist". Even if no-one like the blog itself, it is a valuable link that helps my own site gain rankings.
- The blog itself, as I've already acknowledged, is nonsense, as it was intended to be. You don't have to blog about serious things, but the more you blog, taking the lessons above into account, the more you can attract traffic to your profile or your own website.
There's a basic rule on the web. The more "stuff" you put out there, the more people you will reach. Don't wait until you think you have something desperately important to say. Just get on there and share.
What is mental toughness, and how does it relate to motivation?
Mental Toughness is a concept that has been given a lot of attention in sport psychology in the last few years. It tends to be associated with some kind of ability to cope with pressure, or resiliency."Mental toughness is not letting anyone break you." – Jimi Mitchell, Football1
It is something that athletes, coaches and commentators seem to recognise, but seems to be quite difficult to pin down.
"Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It's a state of mind-you could call it character in action." - Vince Lombardi
Jones et al (2002) attempt a definition of mental toughness, that centres around being, determined resilient, staying in control and remaining focused in the face of pressure. They also listed some characteristics of mentally tough elite athletes, namely:
Self-belief, Motivation, Focus and Composure, or ability to handle pressure.
One of the reasons that mental toughness can be hard to pin down is that is contextual – it can be used to describe someone running an ultra marathon, a golfer on the final round of a major championships, a team that finds an extra level of performance in a “must win” game..
“Mental toughness is doing whatever is necessary to get the job done including handling the demands of a tough workout, withstanding pain, or touching an opponent out at the end of a race.” -
Jennifer Eberst, Women’s Swimming& Diving1
One thing that the mental toughness literature seems to ignore is that some athletes not only cope with the pressure of competition, with the pain of training, but thrive on it. In other words, they enjoy it. This isn’t just about being resilient, about managing something unpleasant, but actually gaining pleasure from tough situations.
How can we understand this better?
Well, Reversal Theory (Apter) provides a structure for understanding human experience that is based on 8 motivational states, organised into 4 oppositional pairs. There are two important, related concepts;
Motivational Richness: The more of all of the motivational states that you experience, the more satisfied or happy you will tend to be
Motivational Versatility: The ability to change motivational states to match the demands of the situation is the key to being more effective
Indeed, a therapeutic method based on Reversal Theory called the “8 Rooms” technique, that by imagining, drawing, or describing eight different rooms, each associated with one of the motivational states, has been developed and used with mental health patients in France. Use of the 8 Rooms technique has led to reductions in anxiety and depression.
What does this mean for sport? Well, what I’m saying is that rather than just about coping, resilience and “toughness”, which is all about the ‘mastery’ motivational state, “mental toughness” might be about being able to access a wider range of motivations, to match the demands of the situation, for example:
In the…
…‘serious’ state, staying focused on the primary goal
… ‘playful’ state finding enjoyment in intense competition, and staying in the moment
… ‘conforming’ state staying within the rules of the game, accepting decisions
… ‘rebellious’ state able to adapt when things aren’t going to plan
… ‘mastery’ state, being determined, tough and competitive
… ‘sympathy’ state remaining aware of yours or team-mates emotional needs, taking care of your body
… ‘self oriented’ state, focusing in on your own performance
… ‘other oriented’ state, doing what’s right for the team
So the ultra-marathon runner might at one moment push hard through the pain (mastery), but at other times take inspiration from their family (other), and at others focus on meeting the expectations of sponsors (conforming) or just enjoy the “runners high” (playful). The golfer in the last round of a major might be concerned with staying in control (mastery), might go against conventional wisdom or the advice of their caddie in playing a hole (rebelliousness), or even take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the course (playful).
In the end, the person that can pull on the right motivational levers at the right time, and thrives under pressure or in adverse conditions, is labeled “mentally tough”, but perhaps the next time that happens you’ll wonder what’s really driving them.
References
1Yukelson, D. What is Mental Toughness and how to Develop It? http://www.mascsa.psu.edu/dave/Mental-Toughness.pdf
Jones, G., Hanton, S., & Connaughton, D. (2002). What is this thing called
mental toughness? An investigation of elite sport performers. Journal of
Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 205-218.
Measure your mental toughness with the MTQ48, or your motivational styles (Reversal Theory) with the Apter Motivational Styles Profile.
Do you want to improve your mental skills? Try Ken Ravizza's DVD "Mental Skills for Competitive Athletes" or Daniel Gould's DVD "Five Essential Mental Skills for Sport"
Improve your focus and motivation or sports confidence with handy strategy cards from Mindsport Ltd's Sam Kotadia.
Effective use of Keywords
What is it that makes one iStadia profile more prominent on search enginges than another?One thing that counts is the number of links to it. That's why we allow our member directory to be open. As well as allowing real people to browse your profile it tells search engines that you are there.
How can you increase the number of links to your profile?
Well, every time you post something on iStadia, whether that is a blog, an article, news or a forum post, a link is automatically created.
Alternatively, you can put a link to your iStadia profile on signatures (if you use other community sites), or your own website.
But, it isn't just the link that counts. If you really want to boost your profile's ranking on Google, then keywords count.
What does this mean?
Well, let's pick on someone. Rhona Shepherd works in sports management with her brother, Rowan. You'll see that I've added a link to her profile. I haven't said "click here to see Rhona's profile" or "visit Rhona's profile at http://www.istadia.com/go/rhonashepherd". I've associated the link with the keywords "sports management". Rhona has those keywords prominently in her profile too, which also matters.
Optimising your posts - put keywords in the title, text and tags.
In addition, if you want to increase the power of your posts further, as well as having keywords in the text that link to your profile (or your website), put them in the title. So, Rhona might create a blog called "What's new in Sports Management".
So, to recap. Links are good. Links with keywords in them are better. For posts, it is better still if you repeat the keywords in the title.
Finally don't foget the tags!
Effective Goal Setting for Sports Performance
Goal Setting has become such a mainstream activity in business and sport psychology that you might be forgiven for wondering if it is worth covering at all. Indeed, one of most basic premises of theories of motivation is that we, as humans, select goals that will satisfy our psychological or biological needs. Nowhere is this more true than in the achievement-based environment of sport., This article will tell you how to make the right choices or go about the process in the best possible way.
Why Set Goals?
A common view of goals is as a tool to be used in the quest for higher levels of motivation. Goal-Setting Theory and subsequent refinements based on research and practice provide a process to create goals that will motivate us to higher levels of performance.
Goals, in this sense, provide a motivational focus; a purpose if you like. If you set goals appropriately you will find that you gain access to feelings of satisfaction, confidence and calm. The flip side is that inappropriate goals can be a source of anxiety or stress.
Your goals also represent a means of evaluating your performance and represent core values and beliefs about sport and success. In short, criteria that focus on self-improvement or effort are considered to be more positive than a focus on performance against others. Of course, this is a simplified view and context needs to be taken into account - are you a developing athlete or about to compete in your swansong at the Olympic games, where only a medal will do?
Remember too, that goals are not the be-all-and-end-all of motivation. In fact, only setting goals as a source of motivation can shut off many potentially important sources of inspiration and creativity. In other words, balance is required.
How to set goals
There is a great deal of literature on the market that includes goal setting, and a popular way of expressing the principles of goal setting is SMART (Specific, measurable, adjustable, realistic and time-based). I have seen several versions of SMART, however, so I will set out some principles below and let you find your own way of remembering them.
1. Make goals as specific as possible. “To compete in the Olympics”. Well, as admirable as that is, you need to ask when, in what sport, in what event?
2. Divide long-term goals into short-term goals with deadlines and priorities. “To complete in the Olympics in four years time, in the 100 metres (athletics). This gives more direction. However, what do you need to do in three years time to be on track to achieve your Olympic dream? What about this season? What about this week? By creating ‘stepping stones’ the path to your ultimate goal will become much more clear. It may become apparent that to achieve one goal you may have to trade off against another – so know your priorities.
3. Set measurable goals. “Work hard in training” indicates the right sentiment, but will not provide guidance towards your goal. “Attend every session this month” or “Hold a pulse rate of 170 for this next set” however, might.
4. Make goals challenging but achievable. You have to be able to decide, with all available help, whether your goals are achievable. Even if you have been identified as a talented athlete, the chances of reaching the Olympics may be slim. Slim is fine – remember your goals must be challenging – but goals set too high can demotivate rather than motivate.
5. Evaluate your progress regularly, and be flexible. With your measurable goals, that provide stepping stones to your ultimate goal, you will be able to see how well you are progressing. If, two years before the Olympics, you break you leg, you might still achieve your final goal, but you will have to alter the stepping stones. If you break it six weeks before the games, however, your final goal will have to change. If you achieve your goals before you expected to, set new ones.
6. Consider writing down your goals, and share them. We tend to commit to goals that are written down, and shared goals (either as part of the process or after they have been set) are more effective still. If you keep a training or competition log (there’s a tip!) this might be the ideal place to keep your goals written down. However, this is very much down to individual preference.
Process, Performance or Outcome Goals?
While outcome goals, which relate to your performance versus others; or performance goals, which are your whole performance independent of others; can be very useful, it is important to ask yourself “How will I achieve that?”. The resulting answers will provide you with Process Goals. For example, to run in the Olympics you must achieve a qualifying time. What do you need to do to achieve that time?
Process goals can consist of:
• Technical goals – such as length of stride
• Tactical goals – the race or game plan
• Physical goals – these are easier to set if you have scientific testing available, but could include your diet or fluid intake, say
• Psychological goals – such as maintaining concentration for the whole race
Another way of looking at your goals might be to list your current practices (e.g. physical or technical drills) and other habits (e.g. diet) and add ‘so that….’ to the end of each one.
For example: “I train with weights 3 times each week…so that…… I can increase my strength by 10% this season ”
If every ‘so that’ on your list can be followed by a goal or ‘stepping stone’, your everyday behaviours are in tune with your goals. If not, your behaviours could be unhelpful or unnecessary, or there may be other goals that you left unexplored.
Summary
I have covered in some detail the ‘how?’ of goal setting and a little of the ‘what?’. If you follow these guidelines you will find that you can stay focused on your dreams and gain confidence as you get closer to doing so. Remember to be flexible, as in life, things change!
References and further reading.
For a complete discussion on goal setting theories and research:
Hall, K. and Kerr, A.W. (2001). Goal Setting in Sport and Physical Activity: Tracing Empirical Developments and Establishing Conceptual Direction. In G.C. Roberts (Ed.), Advances in Motivation in Sport and Exercise. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics
For more information on SMART goals:
Bull, S., Albinson, J.G., Shambrook, J (1996). The Mental Game Plan. Sports Dynamics.
Do you want to improve your mental skills? Try Ken Ravizza's DVD "Mental Skills for Competitive Athletes" or Daniel Gould's DVD "Five Essential Mental Skills for Sport"Improve your focus and motivation or sports confidence with handy strategy cards from Mindsport Ltd's Sam Kotadia.
Check out our Sports Performance Center.
Communication Skills for Athletes: Giving Feedback
Communication is a skill that is often overlooked. Indeed, when we are in the presence of others we are constantly communicating, whether we like it or not. What we don’t say often says more than what we do say, and we sometimes say one thing and mean another
What is communication?
Is that a strange question to ask? Well, not really, because many of us will have experienced the manager at work that believes he is communicating through his barrage of memos, or the teacher that talks at the class but doesn’t listen. Both of these people communicate, to a degree, but are they effective?
Verbal communication occurs when we talk, listen, shout, sing, write or read. Non-verbal communication occurs through facial expression and body language, and can be very powerful. We’ve all noticed when someone says one thing and means another. That person has failed to realise that while they verbally communicating one thing, they are sending out a powerful and contradictory message when they quickly cough or shift their eyes from yours.
With whom do athletes communicate?
Athletes in different sports have to communicate with many different people in different ways. The elite athlete might communicate very openly and emotionally with a coach, say, that they have worked with for a long time – even more so than with their own parents. The same athlete may have to hold formal, contractual discussions or conduct press conferences. The variety of different people that an athletes may need to communicate with is great, and include coaching staff, the media, fans, team-mates, scientists, family, officials (umpire/referee) and competitors.
When do athletes communicate?
Apart from “all of the time”, of course! There are times at which effective communication are key. These include:
- In training – getting more out of your coaching sessions, letting your coach know when you are experiencing difficulty and helping team-mates out with their training;
- Before competition– making sure your coach knows whether preparation is going well; making sure your coach’s pep talk is helping you;
- In competition – using signals and code to communicate tactics, to help team-mates perform, to keep the team together, to request help; and
- After competition – feeding back on how you felt to your coach, asking for feedback from your coach, seeking emotional support; dealing with family & other important people.
The importance of feedback
Feedback is essential to the athlete. Positive feedback provides an important source of motivation, while technical feedback is required to make gain a competitive edge. Indeed, what use are goals if you cannot evaluate your progress against them? While the scoreboard is your primary source of feedback against outcome goals, you will often rely on feedback from others to evaluate progress against process goals. You can also learn to give feedback effectively to build a stronger, more constructive relationship with your coach and you can choose how to respond to feedback – learning from the positives and ignoring harsh or unhelpful feedback.
Receiving feedback
Eliciting feedback from your coach shows that you trust them, and tells them
that you are ‘coachable’ and a good investment of their time.
When asking for feedback:
• Give notice – time for the coach to gather their thoughts
and give some examples;
• Choose the right time – ask for time outside of practice
or competition, when the pressure is off;
• Receive genuinely – do not be defensive, show interest
in what is being said, ask for clarification and examples; and
• Show your appreciation – respond positively by following
the advice, and thank your coach.
Try to be relaxed and open when receiving feedback. Defensive behaviour– not accepting advice or not giving up your argument has detrimental effects on your relationship with others.
Giving Feedback
Giving feedback is important to ensure that a coach does not repeat unwanted behaviour and that you get the most out of the time you spend with them. You can also learn to give feedback to team-mates without appearing ‘bossy’ or stepping on anyone else’s toes.
When giving feedback remember to AID your coach or team-mates by stating the Action, the Impact of that Action and the Desired Outcome.
- Their Action – what it is that they are doing, in an objective or descriptive way, as if you were playing back a recording to them e.g. , “In your team talk you talked about winning for the fans out there” or “You ran straight across the penalty area”;. Descriptive feedback is different from evaluative feedback in that it literally describes what you have seen (‘you stood still’) or heard (‘I couldn’t hear your voice’. Evaluative feedback on the other hand contains opinions related to what you saw (‘you were lazy’) or heard ‘you didn’t shout’.
- The Impact of that action – what it made you think about, how it made you feel, or the tactical implication of the action e.g. ”I talked to a few others about it and it made us feel more nervous about going out for the game than normal” or “That meant that the supply to the centre-forward was cut off and the attack broke down”.
- The Desired outcome – how you would like your coach or team-mate to behave in future, e.g. “It might be better if you talked about the tactics then gave us a few minutes on our own to mentally prepare for the game” or “If you make your run towards the near post it gives us more attacking options”.
Supportive feedback tends to be best received. It builds trust, is usually reciprocated and helps develop more effective relationships. When you give emotional support you are opening up a likely source of support for when you need it.
Giving feedback under pressure
During a game, or any other pressure situation, however, you can’t give feedback in this way to a team-mate, as you can’t sit them down and take the time required. In pressure situations bear the following in mind.
- Be positive. Instead of bawling someone out for what they did wrong, focus on the desired behaviour. Point them in the right direction. This is where team goals are useful – if you all know the team goals you can make a goal-directed comment that reinforces team cohesion.
- Make a request. Tell your team mate exactly what you need – use statements like ‘it would help me if …’ or ‘ what I need from you is…’
- Don’t highlight mistakes – focusing too heavily on what has already passed, .e.g. “what did you pass to him for?” –takes your team-mate out of ‘the now’ and is more likely to make another mistake as a result. It can also cause resentment. If you follow up any such comments with more detailed feedback it is likely to make your team-mate feel encouraged and coached, rather than resentful and humiliated.
Some final advice
Seek to understand, then to be understood (Covey, 1992). Really try to understand the person that you are talking to. If you take the time to listen carefully to their point of view and to understand where they are coming from, you will find it far easier to find a way of getting your message across. Just like any good doctor – diagnose before you prescribe.
When the time comes to deliver your message make eye contact, stay on track, repeat key messages and ask if you are being understood.
Oh yes, I nearly forgot. Think before you speak, or roll your eyes, or throw your hands in the air.
References and further reading
Syer, J., & Connolly, C. (1998) Sporting
Body Sporting Mind. Simon and Schuster
Landsberg, M. (1997). The
Tao of Coaching. Harper Collins.
Do you want to improve your mental skills? Try Ken Ravizza's DVD "Mental Skills for Competitive Athletes" or Daniel Gould's DVD "Five Essential Mental Skills for Sport"
Competition Preparation for Sports Performance
At what point in time does ‘training’ end and ‘preparation’ begin?This is an important question to ask, because it clearly varies from sport to sport. In track athletics, for example, most of the year’s training is geared towards successful performance in one or two key events in the relatively short outdoor season. In professional soccer, however, top players can play around 70 games for club and country. Each week, therefore, they will have periods of training and preparation according to their match schedule.
The most general advice that I could give here is that competition preparation should begin at least 24 hours beforehand. However, at major tournaments or championships normal training often stops some time before actual competition, so the preparation period could be a relatively long period.
Do you have a pre-competition routine?
In the last 24 hours before competing, it helps to have a routine that you can rely upon to get you into the right physical and mental state for competition.
Uncertainty is a source of stress for many of us and, as some of you may know, the sudden realisation that you have forgotten something can cause outright panic! Having a routine is an important part of staying in control of yourself and your performance.
If you want to make sure you are really prepared, a simple pre-competition routine can be really beneficial. Start by setting out three columns on a page with headings ‘Time to race’, ‘Activity’ and ‘Notes’. Use the notes section to add more detail if required, perhaps to build in some contingency. Set out the activities that you need to carry out to perform at your best, in order of time to competing, so that they are easy to follow.
Who’s in control of your competition preparation?
As you develop as an athlete, it is advised that you take more of the responsibility for setting and refining your routine. As a youngster you will need direction, and later some guidelines, but most of the best athletes can take care of themselves and only use their coach as a source of information or support. Paula Radcliffe, for example, has taken control over her whole regime, and spends much of the year away from her personal coach, but uses experts that she trusts to help her when required.
Role of Goals in Preparation
Your ‘race-day’ routine provides an opportunity to focus on the process goals that, when put together, add up to a great performance. Putting tasks into your routine that keep you focused on doing things right in your race (process goals) will help keep you on the right track and help you to deal with unwanted distractions.
Focusing on your goals will also help you to create a sense of readiness. If you have achieved your goals in training, and other competitions, having them in a list can be a good source of confidence.
Controlling the Controllables
Another helpful exercise which helps ensure that you are in control of your performance is to look at controlling the controllables. Ask yourself “what might influence my performance in … (the next competition)?”. Then divide these into 4 sections and identify whether they are: Controllable or Uncontrollable; and Helpful or Unhelpful to you. You can plot these on a page, divided into quarters (controllable/helpful, controllable/unhelpful, etc).
First look at the controllable influences. Are there any controllable influences that are currently unhelpful? If so, what action can you take to make them helpful?
Then, look at the uncontrollable influences. If any of these are unhelpful, what can you do to try reduce the influence of these factors upon your performance? This can come down to attitude, such as “well, the weather is uncontrollable, and can be unhelpful, but it is the same for everyone so I have to learn to cope with it”, or there may be something you can do to plan for unhelpful events.
What if……?
You can always plan for the unhelpful scenarios, no matter how unexpected. Groups of athletes that I have worked with have identified some incredible situations, such as a tornado hitting the race venue, or the water being turned off half way through a slalom canoe event. However, this exercise tends to throw up events that do happen at competition, including bad weather, other competitors’ tricks, traffic jams and security alerts. The message is this: if you have experienced these things in your mind, and have decided on how you will cope with them, you will be at an advantage should they happen on the day.
Using imagery in preparation
Imagery (a.k.a visualistation/mental rehearsal) is often used to learn or practice skills, or to stimulate positive emotions, but it can also be very useful in preparing for the big event.
As well as imagining the race – in some sports such as golf, alpine skiing or slalom canoeing, fori example, you can ‘walk the course’ in your mind – you can put yourself into the atmosphere of the competition, the venue, the social scene. The more you get to know about an event and its environment or atmosphere, the more composed you will feel when you get there. For example, if a venue is know for having poor warm-up facilities, or a certain ‘buzz’, try to experience these in your mind. If you know who will be there, recreate scenarios in your mind and practice your response.
Final Tips
Try to view competition as something greater than the duration of your match or race or round. Give yourself time to get things right, and recognise that your actions several days before, even weeks before, your event can have a bearing on performance. You won’t for example, suddenly manage to rehydrate on the day of a race if you have neglected your fluid intake all week.
The more you use a plan or routine, the more you refine it based on experience, the more reliable it will be on the big stage. Try developing and using a these preparation techniques over a period of time that starts with minor competition, even though you might be tempted to put less effort into your preparation at these events. To begin with, your plan might feel awkward, but wit time, practice and fine tuning it will come good if.
Build in some flexibility and don’t get hung up on details. What we don’t want is for your plan to become a source of stress. It is there to take some of the mental effort and strain out of the competition experience, not to add it!
Finally, your routine is yours. What works for you might not work for others. What works for others, therefore, might not work for you.
Do you want to improve your mental skills? Try Ken Ravizza's DVD "Mental Skills for Competitive Athletes" or Daniel Gould's DVD "Five Essential Mental Skills for Sport"
Improve your focus and motivation or sports confidence with handy strategy cards from Mindsport Ltd's Sam Kotadia.
Check out our Sports Performance Center.
