90-10 was a phrase I heard last week from a Professional Football Coach. It hit home with me.
The coach was saying he had to be careful because the athletes were 90% excellent but needed work on 10% of their game. The downside to that is if you end coaching the 10% too much you are neglecting to tell the athlete about the 90% they are doing right.
The result of that (for the athlete) is the “no matter what I do it is not good enough” syndrome. I can remember way back in the early days of my athletic experience coming off the football field after being yelled at for two hours. Coach was great enough to explain I was capable of so much more and that is why he pushed me. Later, when I began coaching I always tried to explain that to the kids I worked with. I have to admit in racquetball I don’t always adhere to the 90-10 (90% praise, 10% correction) due to the fact I work with so many self-driven. Champions are not interested in the praise as much as they are the corrections. That said, we all need to hear what we are doing right!
When Kane was on his 20 year tear on the pro tour people would make fun of me taking notes and being all concerned in a match the opponent had no chance of winning. But the way I looked at it, I was coaching performance and working to help improve the performance. It had nothing to do with score, win or lose. It had to do with the process, not the outcome!
So athletes-praise yourself-kudos to your 90%! Now get off your butts and fix the 10 if you want to win!
Onward and upward,
Coach W