The performance profile consists of a questionnaire that looks at the overall picture of the perfect athlete covering the physical, technical, tactical and psychological components of their game.
Performance profiling is a great tool to boost motivation, promote positive self-reflection, identify areas for improvement and most of all it can strengthen the relationship between coach and player with positive dialogue.
It also gives the player precise requirements for his/her position and what is needed to perform at the top level.
The profile can then be used to set short-term or intermediate goals that can be adapted towards the overall long-term plan. This is most beneficial, as it is player led and it empowers the player to make decisions, in this way they are more likely to respond to achieve the agreed goals.
There are four main steps to profiling :
- Introduce the athlete to performance profiling
- The athlete identifies the characteristics of an elite athlete
- The athlete fills in the profile rating their own self-assessment out of 10
- Coach and athlete sit down to analyse the results and agree on goals to be achieved. Also, set a renew date.
The information given should remain confidential between the coach and athlete, building a mutual trust. It should lead to an improvement in player performance and help with motivation towards the long-term goal.
