A strategy is a cognitive processes designed to achieve a goal for a task. In addition, a well-developed strategy should enable people to control the way in which they think in problem-solving situations. A learning and performance strategy can be applied during the preparation period before the start of a 100 metres. During this period, I have the time to ready myself for the event. I can implement a set of mental behaviours that will presumably assist me to perform better. The suggested 3-step strategy can be used immediately before the race.
Last-minute preparation In a typical situation, a few minutes before the start (e. g. , 3-5 minutes), I spend some time by myself on the track. I am totally focused, and seem to ignore what is going on around me. I should use every second and minute to gradually buildup my self-confidence toward the coming event. I have to relax, but not too much. I have to plan my actions in advance, and be at my best on the blocks or the starting line. On hearing the gun, I should have reached the peak of my mental preparation.
Achieving this mental state may be fairly easy if it is done in a sterile performance environment, one in which no particular stress is put on the individual. If all the conditions around the individual are quiet, pleasant, and friendly, it is not complicated to ‘clear the mind’ and be in focus. However, as we all know, at a major athletics competition, the last-minute preparation takes place in a noisy stadium environment in which there is an enormous amount of visual and auditory distractions.
There are many psychological and emotional obstacles to overcome, some of which are very hard to approach. In this challenging situation athletes have to achieve the highest level of proficiency. In this real-world situation, they have to perform at their best, and sometimes beyond it, to succeed. I will now do a fitness test for power: I will do a pull-up test, I will use a chinning bar and I will lift myself up, keeping my body straight. Then I will lower myself until my arms are straight. The bar will weigh 10 kg.
My results: 6 pull-ups Average = 6 pull ups As I look at my results for power I can see that I have met the average, so this will be counted as one of my strengths in my activity. The reaction time for my activity depends upon muscle fibres that we are born with. A learning and performance strategy such as the 3-step strategy presented on the strategies page should assist me to enter the optimum zone before the start of a sprint race. The strategy may provide me with the cognitive means to promote my overall preparation.
It will be of benefit for both the novice and the skilled sprinters only if it is practiced over a long period of time. My coach and I should spend a reasonable period of time on acquiring effective mental skills, as I typically do when attempting to acquire motor skills. I can see that I have more strengths than weaknesses for my required fitness for my activity. But I still need to work on some of my techniques, I will be looking more closer at the ones which were filled in the ‘sometimes’ column so I can improve my overall performance.