In this episode, we shift our focus from the runner to the person behind the scenes, the runner’s coach.

We discuss the unseen process of coaching.

Dave explains the difference between outcome focused vs process focused training.

He gives examples of soft skills coaches can use with their athletes to draw the best out of them.

Dave explains the balancing that needs to be done for multi-events to get the best from each event.

We discuss the pressures recreational runners feel vs. professional runners experience.

He shares his experience as the performance director for the British Athletics.

Today's Guest

Dave Collins

Dave Collins is a performance psychologist.  Formerly the performance director with British Athletics, he is currently the director of the Institute of Coaching and Performance.  He also works and does research for his company, Grey Matters For Performance.

What You Will Learn About

• What really is involved with coaching.
• What professional judgment and decision making means to a coach.
• What Dave means by content, knowledge, wisdom.
• What you can do mentally to improve your performance.
• What Dave’s advice is to parents who have a child with talent and enjoy the sport.

Inspirational Quotes

The basic point of being a high-level, a being coach at any level actually, is in the decisions you make.

It becomes quite important to, again, keep the coach focused and the athlete focused on the process.  What are you doing to get better?  What are you doing to get there?

A coach is more like a chef than a cook. They’re not following a recipe.

The good coach is a chef, but the good coach is also a conductor.  And she or he sets up the  system, the orchestra if you will, for all these different bits to play together to optimally benefit.

One of the characteristics of good athletes is that they have a pretty good and accurate sense of how well they’ll do on any particular day.  And they’ll be able to rationalize, that was a good performance, that was a bad performance.

When push comes to shove, it’s the thing between your ears rather than the thing in your chest that’s going to determine how well you do.

Runners can have their own wisdom, cos lord knows they know themselves better than anybody else.

Resources Mentioned

Last week's interview with Camille Heron

Grey Matters Performance

Dave on Twitter

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