Sports Coaching

The aspiring sportsperson now must involve much more than natural talent and dedicated application in order to achieve recognition and sponsorship in the upper echelons of their sport.

Personal Demands

At a personal level, the demands of a serious sports career will impinge frequently upon the athlete's close relationships, social interactions, family life and, in the early stages, work life. Experiencing these compromises and trade-offs is itself demanding and the strains of such issues can affect concentration and focus within the sporting activity. Handling the choices and decisions that arise is a frequent focus of mentoring and coaching, which is aimed at minimising the effects of multiple demands and the careful selection of activities outside of the sport itself.

Coaching

At a sports level, the rising-star athlete will be faced with a succession of choices and decisions about training regimes; teams; management; sports coaches; PR consultants; sponsorship; contracts; and financial management. A significant wrong move within this complex area of background management can produce significant set-backs in an overall progression or even, on occasion, the shortening of a career. Coaching in this area can mean the difference between falling into ineffective or even unscrupulous hands or selecting outside advice that will rapidly enhance the athlete's career path.

Methods

At a "winning attitude" level, programmes such as cognitive-behavioural training, solution-focused applications and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation-reprocessing) can be learned to increase focus, develop creative alternative tactics and produce the kind of "internal calming" that is necessary for getting "in the zone" or "in flow". Additional resources within the coaching team can include

• full design (including web), video production and PR services
• sports, entertainment and leisure legal advisory services
• management services