The Standout Characteristics of a High Performance Environment
This blog was written by current mentee Joe Evans-Murray.
Joe currently works as a S&C Coach in the school system and had time off that he wanted to utilise for personal development. As a result, he was able to spend 5 days supporting a training camp for an Olympic programme, where he was able to observe elite practitioners and athletes go about mastering their craft!
His thoughts are summarised below and should help all coaches glean insight into prominent characteristics in elite sport, but also recognise how transferable they are across environments. Thanks to Joe for sharing your thoughts!
I was recently fortunate enough to spend some time stepping into an Olympic high performance programme, which gave me a glimpse into the hard work required for athletes to achieve their peak performance. The training that each of these young men and women put in during this camp was not only astounding but strategically thought out and managed by practitioners.
I wanted to learn as much as I could from people more experienced than myself, as well as see what take-homes I could implement into my own practice. The following article aims to share my reflections on the standout characteristics of a high-performance environment.
Keep it simple
“If it works, don’t change it”
A high performance environment doesn’t have to be synonymous with complex programming. It means doing the basics well every time, lifting with intent and following the basic principles of strength training - so, if it works, don’t change it.
Adding new stimuli is great, but time-consuming in a number of ways, including time lost within sessions explaining the new content as well as time lost programming itself. It was a prime example of exhausting the basics again and again. The practitioners clearly strived to get every last ounce out of their current approach before they consider making changes.
Collaboration
“There needs to be clear channels of communication”
There was a mutual understanding of the bigger picture.
You read a lot about the importance of avoiding working in silos, which is something easier said than done. However, what makes a high-performance environment successful is making sure everyone is pulling in the right direction. To do this there must be clear channels of communication, an appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses within the interdisciplinary team (IDT) and most importantly, an understanding of the performance goals.
To put it another way, I asked a number of the IDT (S&C, rowing and physio) what does success look like in this environment and it always came back to the same thing – robustness.
Everyone involved recognised that a strong and healthy rower can train more frequently whilst being less susceptive to injuries, which in turn means they can adhere to the training programme and develop the desired training adaptations.
Autonomy
“I didn’t see anyone take shortcuts..”
It was clear to see the collective hunger to be the best and this influenced the way the athletes and coaches approached training.
I didn’t see anyone take shortcuts.
They want a spot in an Olympic team and are willing to put in the hard graft to get there. As a result, I saw athletes who took ownership of their training, knew what they needed to do, and would get on with it themselves independantly.
Perhaps this is because they also understand the “why” behind their training, and so feel involved in the process. This is something we should all strive for as coaches but I think it’s possible to fall short because it may feel like we’re making ourselves redundant as a coach.
When I think about what kind of impact I can have on my athletes in the youth sport environment, I can now see the head start I’m giving them if I prepare them for being independent, such as ensuring they know a large battery of exercises and training modalities as well as the reasons behind different programming decisions.
Summary
It’s true what they say about success leaving clues. I have been able to take a lot away from this experience. While I may not be working with elite athletes, I can implement features of a high-performance environment into my world to maximise the effect I have. This for me, can be summarised into three key questions I must keep asking myself:
Have I exhausted the basics?
Am I working towards the same goal as the rest of the coaching staff?
What impact can I have now that will reward my athletes in the future?
Joe is currently on the S&C Group Mentorship programme with Collaborate sports. The 2023 Cohorts commence their mentorship in January.
If you’d like to register your interest, you can do so by clicking here: https://collaboratesports.com/2023mentorship
Or, if you’d simply like to know more about is involved, click here: https://collaboratesports.com/theipd
