Performance Lessons

Performance Lessons from Leaders

Coaching Performance: A Coach’s DNA What does it take to win The Masters? Jordan Spieth is looking for back to back triumphs in golf’s premier competition and he is being aided in this quest by his Coach Cameron McCormick. Ahead of this year’s tournament Performance caught up with Cameron, who pinpointed 12 key aspects that enable a Coach to help an athlete make the most of their supreme ability at the biggest moments.

Cameron McCormick

Cameron is most well-known for coaching 2015 Masters and U.S. Open Champion Jordan Spieth. He began coaching in Australia in 1998 before moving to the U.S. in 2000. His knowledge extends to biomechanics, motor learning and psychology and is one of the most sought-after coaches in the world of golf.

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Performance Lessons from Leaders

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One Size Fits… No One ‘’The uniqueness of an individual demands custom solutions. The first requirement is to identify and gain an in-depth understanding of the unique dynamics of the individual. These intrinsic dynamics are shaped by physical, cultural, psychological and environmental influences. A coach should seek to understand the individual and their purpose.’’

Skills Trump Style ‘’As coaches we must be vigilant to the differences between; skills (an action that has a specific goal), movements (the means by which we achieve the action skill) & abilities (personal traits we bring to accomplishing a desired movement). We must be vigilant to changing style with the promise of improved performance. Allow functional idiosyncrasy to flourish and focus efforts on biggest skill growth opportunity.’’

Encourage Creativity, Exploration & Experimentation “Far too often we train for golf in a vacuum. Players need to develop an expansive tool box of skills that emerge given exposure to unique and nuanced situations. To achieve this, set realistic limits on ‘isolated’ sterile range practice. Once the necessary skill health checks are accounted for the session is done and play should begin.’’

Bridge Desire, Will & Ability Into Results ‘’We are GPS units. Coaches must understand the desired destination, as well as locating the starting point, then map out an action plan. It is the coach’s obligation to provide; navigation, inspiration and stimulate growth. Provide athletes with position, direction and acceleration data points. With this you’ve empowered choice to the athlete — now it’s up to them to walk the walk.’’

Performance Lessons from Leaders

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Self Determination… A Necessary Need ‘’Supporting the environment is critically important. Think of this in the way of; autonomy (I am the captain of my own ship), competency (I am good at this, and where I see deficiency I can and will remedy it) and relatedness (I’m part of a tribe, with collective aim). In short, coaches are stewards in this process - make sure all are on board in amplifying the athletes efforts.’’

Wisdom Of Application ‘’The best action could be inaction. Ensure you avoid the data dump. Athletes need efficient and useable solutions unencumbered by minutiae. Listen more than you talk. Find the meeting point between desires and needs, then offer realistic solutions that provide benefit over the shortest runway.’’

Culture A Feedback Rich Environment ‘’Self-awareness is a keystone for any coach. It is simple, where desire burns, effort flows. Coaches need to provide opportunities for feedback along the way. Absence of self-awareness can result in athletes finding themselves paddling upstream when the goal is to get to the ocean. The action here is to bridge the awareness gap by challenging athletes to explore their sense of exaggeration – too much, too little, just right… the Goldilocks effect.’’

We See Things As We Are ‘’Self reflect on personal mastery. Ask yourself the question — am I getting better or am I just getting by? Be introspective in assessing whether you possess all the necessary skills to answer the athlete’s call for guidance.To aid this, set aside 10 minutes daily of self-reflective mindful practice to pulse check your professional skills.’’

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Fill Your Knowledge Buckets ‘’Grow interdisciplinary skills. Your knowledge base must cover as many domains of influence on player improvement as possible. Challenge yourself to break out of the well-worn groove of comfort to mine for knowledge to impact your effectiveness. Take inventory of your skills. Set aside 30 minutes daily of reading on a topic of choice. Commit to a 30 day program = 15 hours of learning per month over 12 months and notice the changes.’’

Be The Supporting Scaffold ‘’Metaphorically, do you see yourself as a crutch for athletes to lean on as they travel their journey? Or do you see yourself as a scaffold to provide the support that is removed progressively as they grow ever more skilled and capable? Shift responsibility over to the learner through Socratic questioning. Pose a challenge to the athlete to figure through likely solutions to their problems before offering them a lifejacket.’’

Hit The Sweet Spot ‘’Find the challenge balance. Players must break boundaries in training and stretch challenge in competition.Therefore, the coach must find the proper balance between 1. Protecting the confidence of athletes and 2. Challenging them appropriately such that skill growth occurs. Provide scale in your challenge of athletes – training and competition should provide progressions and regressions to accommodate challenge and confidence building for rigid self-confidence.’’

Transformational vs. Transactional ‘’This is the concept of actions vs ideas. Your effectiveness will dramatically improve by refining how you coach more so than what you coach. The belief you show in your athletes is mirrored in their belief in themselves. A coaches goal =“COACHING ABOVE THE LINE”.

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