Wednesday 26 February 2014

Secret to High Speed Sport Success Revealed - Track Notes Make Gold Medal Winners


Here is a deeply significant insight into the mind of a champion, who has won the Olympic gold in Skeleton.

It's absolutely instructive to karters because it is about going as fast as you can on a well learned track on a very simple machine.  Did you miss it?????
"As soon as I finished on Friday I started writing my track notes, it's something I always do. It sounds crazy because I won by nearly a second, but I've been thinking about the four runs and how I could have got them faster. There is so much to improve on."  Full article here
Taking track notes is so important to Lizzy Yarnold's success that she felt absolutely compelled to update her notes after her gold medal run before celebrating the biggest result possible in the sport.  She didn't drop everything and get carried away with the euphoria of conquering the world, she was so wrapped up in her secret to success that she sat down with pen and paper and wrote down what she learned about the track.

I doubt her coach would approve of her revealing such an important part of her success, and I bet all the other competitors will be diligently updating their notes after every run from now on!

However although writing track notes is a big help, that is NOT the big secret to success! Here is the real secret:

Lizzy Yarnolds comments are like having the key to the mind of a champion that allows us to see the treasure trove of her winning approach - it's obvious to me...

She wasn't sliding for a gold medal, she was sliding to see if she could go a bit quicker on one or two turns. She found out she could, she knows how, and while she was at it she got some clues about where she might go faster next time.  She wants to write that down and go and give it another go.... she's like:

'oh a gold medal, that's nice but just wait while I write this down. If I have another go I reckon I can find a bit more!'
So, the real kicker is this:-

When you take notes you have a blueprint for how to get around a lap pretty well. BUT, you also mark on your notes some question marks that mean 'I reckon I can go quicker here'.

Next session you carry those questions in your mind with possible solutions.  You give it a try, and find out if it makes you a little bit quicker.  If you go quicker you remember and update your notes with what you just found out.

Then the process starts over.  Every time you head out on track you aren't driving round in circles trying to avoid mistakes.

You are heading out on a mission.  The mission has a strategy and a detailed plan to find a little bit of time on a specific corner with a specific method.

If you are lucky you can use data logging to prove the results.

And when you drive like this, your mindset is completely different - you are highly motivated to find time in a very specific and methodical way - you are driven by this motivation and your sessions fly by.

You always feel like you want another run to see if you can go even faster again, it becomes a never ending process of improvement.


Are you making track notes and are they effectively driving you forward every session?

Contact me to embark on a program that will give you a system that turns every track session into a mission with specific objectives and measured outcomes.  Make going faster an unstoppable compulsion!

Contact me: terence@evenflow.co.uk

www.evenflow.co.uk