4 ways to get better at your sport without doing it

Every time I see a new client theres a period of improving their coach-ability. While it makes my job a lot easier, as I can cue the person into positions with less fuss, it usually corresponds with the person coming back and telling me how they have improved in sporting performance and technique, as well as being aware of various other movements and positions that they hadn’t been aware of before.

During this time there a few things that I have found that accelerate the coach-ability of my clients.

1. Work with massage balls.

Working with massage balls is a great way to discover your own anatomy. Often it also reveals sore bits you didn’t know that you had. Using a ball to find muscle insertion points helps you to discover what bits do what, and where you may personally need to spend some time releasing and recovering.

2. External cues

When learning how to do exercises it helps to think about your body doing a thing to something else, rather than trying to hard to connect with your bits. For example, in a bench press, thinking about bending a bar, as opposed to thinking about activating your lats or moving your scapula.

3. Internal cues

Once you understand external cues, understanding how to internalise what you are trying to do is the key to understanding your movement, and finding mindfulness in your movement practice. Internal cues allow us to find mastery over movement but the basics need to be explored first. Some people looking to address certain issues may benefit from focusing on particular internal cues throughout their practice. Scapula position throughout an exercise or activity for example, but obviously this requires a high degree of awareness.

4. Repetition

Practice makes perfect, but perfect isn’t necessarily the goal. In Not Really Yoga, part of our goal is to expose us to movement variability. Some positions have prerequisites of certain patterns of muscle activation, but some are about placing joints in unfamiliar and variable positions. In this regard there are no perfect positions, rather the opportunity to explore. With repetition you will be more comfortable in exploring these corners of your movement. Incidentally, those who perform sporting movements well don't necessarily do so because they do them perfectly the same each time. Research has shown the ability to execute movements with variability to be the defining factor between amateurs and experts.

While coach-ability improves the ability of the therapist to communicate, it also improves the awareness of the individual. Have a think on how you may be able to make yourself more coachable.