Excellent or demanding: words that open up possibilities

When the athlete is near his physical limit, when the energy starts to run low and the muscular fatigue to remove lucidity, when despite the commitment the expected result is not reached, then the WORDS cannot be random, nor those that the coach tells the athlete, let alone what the athlete (in what is called "internal dialogue") tells himself.

A slogan reads: "know what to say, the words will come": in fact the communicative FOCUS is a determining factor to produce the desired effect (for example, the ability to react, to shift attention or to manage an unexpected emotion) ; to this end the TRAINER should be "oriented" and aware of the athlete's state of RECEPTION, foreseeing the possible effects of communication on his psychophysical state, in relation to the specific task and his personality. But we also know that the PERSPECTIVE from which the coach's VERBAL communication takes life, has its roots in the system of values ​​and inner convictions and must deal, for better or for worse, with his past experiences.

A type of approach that we will call "DEMANDING, is often encapsulated in a system of" limiting "or strongly ideological CONVICTIONS, capable of generating states of tension and anticipatory anxiety in the athlete; in these cases the coach risks losing the TUNING with the athlete, "crystallizing" the relationship until it becomes sterile, just when he would like to be able to generate calm, restraint and willingness to compete.

When attention is polarized only on "what is still missing" (an element that characterizes the "demanding" approach), how can the athlete confidently deploy his own resources of the moment?
He will risk being sucked into a vortex of "ideal" EXPECTATIONS that he will desperately try NOT TO DELUDE.

Dealing with a race or a training session, with the sole objective of "not disappointing", is, at best, misleading and risks activating in the athlete the fear of losing the esteem and attention of his coach in case of failure .

In these cases, the chances of reworking competitive events (especially failures) is rather low and fundamentally based on "hypercritical" communications, if not really disqualifying, which the athlete will risk to internalize in the form of "negative" internal dialogue, as we know anything but propulsive.

It is therefore not surprising that the "demanding" approach generates ANSIETÀ and a generalized sense of alert, capable of inhibiting the athlete's COGNITIVE and STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY that would risk mechanically reiterating the same event management methods, in an apparently "obstinate" way. no longer able to dialogue with himself and with his surroundings.

When, on the other hand, the coach and the athlete share a perspective centered on EXCELLENCE (that is, capable of reciprocally recognizing and enhancing "what has been done" through the joint commitment of everyone), they are able to face not only successes, but also failures, since expertly orient their attention to the search for "what worked"; they "train" themselves to do so even in difficult training and competitions, in which the athlete has faced unexpected challenges, intense workloads or emotional blocking situations.

A coach-athlete alignment on the principle of "excellence" strengthens perseverance, nurtures mutual trust, reduces anxiety and favors attunement in every situation, promoting readiness to learn from experience in a constructive and creative way.
The EXCELLENT approach favors a careful analysis of the salient competitive moments, enhances the use of specific and non-judgmental VERBAL FEEDBACK, generates internal and external TRUST and PROTECTS from the motivational fall, precisely because it is able to unconditionally recognize the commitment.

In mature AGONISM, identifying their GUIDING PRINCIPLES, is a practice of awareness that coaches and athletes should not delegate, unless they decide to grant others the indispensable exercise of their educational and human responsibility.

SWIM WIN – Other contributions

Dr. Monica Vallarin – [email protected]

ph: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia