5 Reasons Why Athlete Self-Assessments Significantly Improve Performance

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When it comes to developing elite-level athletes, coaches often need to look at the bigger picture. More than ever, coaches have learned the reality of confidence issues that plague so many young athletes today. Getting past the mental roadblocks can often be more challenging than improving technical aspects. Self-assessments, will give your athletes the opportunity to reflect deeply on their own game.

We all know that 90% of the game is mental, and that any mental blockages can greatly affect your athletes performance. When you understand your athlete’s perspective, you can swiftly identify key areas to focus on.

By conducting self-assessments in our teams app, you can now find the answers to many helpful questions such as, “Is their perception holding them back or pushing them forward?” Encouraging your athletes to examine their own learning and levels of understanding can be an important and pivotal “wake-up call,” in many cases for both the coach and athlete.

1. Confidence Building

Self-recognition is a very important piece when it comes to building confidence and self-esteem. Implementing self-assessments will allow athletes to focus solely on their own game. Athletes often compare themselves to others which can be quite damaging to their overall self-confidence. In many cases, when athletes rely too much on social approval to boost their own levels of self-worth, this can be the root to fear of failure. Athletes that are consistent and often the most successful, find ways to focus on their own game.

Self-assessments are a big piece to the sport performance puzzle because it encourages this self-reflection.

2. Self-Awareness

If we want to be more confident, we have to learn first to be self-aware. How an athlete “thinks” vs how they’re “actually” performing will often show huge misalignment. As a coach, having this overview helps you quickly review all the assessment data (both regular evaluation and self-assessments) giving you greater insight into your players. Using SkillShark, you are now able to collect data, compare results and quickly indicate where additional coaching is needed.

Having access to SkillShark’s athlete self-assessment reporting provides you the coach a digital overview, giving you a better understanding of where your athlete’s are at mentally. Athletes who are mentally mature can usually identify areas of improvement, whereas immature athletes may be blinded.

3. Goal Setting

As we all know, personal goal setting is considered an important part of daily life. Setting goals help trigger new behaviors, align focus, while promoting a sense of self-mastery. And It’s proven to work. So why aren’t we doing this more in sports? (Besides winning the title of course). I’m talking about personal goal setting.

Goal setting is an extremely powerful technique for enhancing performance. When your athlete is able to set goals based on personal milestones, the impact on “self” is always far greater. 

Goal setting is easy with SkillShark as each Self-Assessment metric is designed by you. Athletes can easily record personal answers right from the app, including set future milestones specific to the skill they are measuring.

If you’re interested in learning more, book a demo HERE and we will show you how it works.

4. Relationship Building

As most of us know, self-awareness is the framework for understanding others. It is the foundation for building effective relationships. Self-assessments provide transparency from person to person, athlete to coach, coach to parent. Just as an evaluation does, but on a much more personal level. Not only will the evaluation app help you gain a better understanding of your players, but having this open communication will help build an immense amount of trust, some may even call it a sports communication app.

There is a certain amount of vulnerability the athlete must endure when conducting a self-assessment. This can be key when it comes to future development. The information you learn about each athlete can be valuable and contribute to your coaching strategy. You truly get to know your athletes on a more intimate level, thus improving the communication between you (the coach) and your athletes making it a sport coaching app as well. Self-assessments will have a tremendous impact on your overall culture and program.

5. Enhancing Performance

Self-assessments will help your athletes monitor their own abilities and self-diagnose relevant solutions. Not only will self-assessments help eliminate mental roadblocks, it will help create a long-term vision and short-term motivation. When paired with a professional evaluation, the data from SkillShark’s reports will allow coaches to make better more informed decisions, and show the athletes exactly where they fit in.

By improving athlete self-awareness, you’re not only improving your athlete’s confidence, you’re also able to identify key areas for their personal development. Self-assessments can be a key driver when it comes to enhancing the overall success of your players. Using data in the to help improve communication, while increasing your athlete’s overall self-awareness can be a game-changer when it comes to building winning teams.

FAQ:

5 Reasons Why Athlete Self-Assessments Significantly Improve Performance

What are athlete self-assessments, and how do they improve performance?

Athlete self-assessments are tools that allow athletes to reflect on their own performance. They enhance performance by building confidence, self-awareness, goal setting, and more.

How do self-assessments help in building confidence?

Self-assessments promote self-recognition and allow athletes to focus on their own progress, reducing the need for external validation. This boosts confidence and self-esteem.

What role does self-awareness play in athlete self-assessments?

Self-awareness is crucial. It helps athletes align their thoughts with their actual performance. Coaches can use self-assessment data to gain insights into their players’ mental states.

How can goal setting be integrated into athlete self-assessments?

Goal setting is a powerful technique for enhancing performance. SkillShark’s self-assessment metrics allow athletes to set personal milestones, driving self-improvement.

How do athlete self-assessments contribute to relationship building?

Self-assessments create transparency and open communication between athletes, coaches, and even parents. This trust-building fosters a more intimate coach-athlete relationship.

Can athlete self-assessments truly enhance overall performance?

Yes, they can. Self-assessments help athletes identify roadblocks, set goals, and monitor their development. Combined with professional evaluation, they lead to better-informed coaching decisions and improved team success.

Where can I learn more about SkillShark’s self-assessment tools?

To explore SkillShark’s self-assessment capabilities, you can email us at info@skillshark.com or book a demo here. We’ll show you how our tools can revolutionize athlete development.