Analyse your performance
ALWAYS REFLECT ON WHAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED IN COMPETITION
Embracing this process allows you to better understand the reasons for success and failure. In my opinion, excellence is achieved when you are able to critically analyse performance and make the necessary, and sometimes difficult, changes required to deliver success.
DON’T BELIEVE YOU (OR YOUR COACH) ARE ALWAYS RIGHT
Failure is most often seen in those who believe they are never wrong; an absence of introspection and self-evaluation is a flaw uncommon in the top athlete.
DON’T JUST REFLECT ON SUCCESS OR FAILURE
Think about how you got there. Understanding which elements of training and tactics worked and which didn’t will allow you to replicate success and reduce future problems.
DON’T DWELL ON THE PAST
While analysing reasons for failure and establishing solutions to avoid it in the future are critical steps on your journey, once you’ve done it you should park your vehicle and move on without delay.
FEED-FORWARD
Once you’ve been through the feedback, you should then feed-forward the solutions into future actions and goals.
» Greg Whyte is professor of applied sport and exercise science at Liverpool John Moores University and author of Achieve the Impossible (Bantam, £12.99; achievetheimpossible.co.uk)
