Prepping for the Off-Season
The end of a season was always a bittersweet time for me as an athlete; I felt the same way about it as a coach and as a GM. It’s the combination of being excited for some downtime and a reduction in training intensity with the acknowledgment that another year has passed, you may never play with certain teammates again, and you may begin wondering about what if any, progress was made.
Asking the question, “what did I actually accomplish this year” can be intimidating and hard to answer if you haven’t been tracking your progress throughout the year. However, if you have been goal setting and tracking and measuring your progress throughout the season the first task of your off-season is to reflect on those goals. Did you accomplish them? What worked well? What still needs improvement? What can you do in your off-season, while you may not be playing games or practicing as frequently, to continue your progress?
It’s important at this time that you’re careful not to judge the progress you made against what you didn’t. As soon as we start judging ourselves, we put our mindset into a negative, unproductive state. It will be impossible for you to see what went well in the journey as soon as your mindset gets into this space and what went well is just as important to know what went well as it is to know what didn’t go well.
Once you have that answer, it’s time to start thinking about your plan. What can you do to continue to push your progress forward on those goals? Remember that being specific is crucial—your brain needs a roadmap. Make it simple, step by step, so that it’s easy to measure. And then, after you’ve taken time to allow yourself to recover, it’s time to get back to work and it’s time to prepare!
I have included a simple template* for you to follow and ask yourselves some of these questions.
Share with your team and others as you approach the end of the season because it's just not the end but a new beginning.
*Reviewing the Past Year 2023
Until next time.
Coach Nye
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