Performance Zones

and the 110% Myth

PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES HAVE PROVEN WHAT WE KNOW TO BE TRUE. TOO MUCH STIMULATION, STRESS, PRESSURE PUTS US IN A POSITION WHERE PERFORMANCE BECOMES EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE. IRONICALLY, THE STUDIES ALSO INDICATE THAT TOO LITTLE PRESSURE ALSO PRODUCES POOR RESULTS. WE TEND TO OPERATE BEST AGAINST COMPETITION THAT IS CHALLENGING BUT NOT OVERWHELMING.

FOR YOUR HIGH SCHOOL TEAM TO GO UP AGAINST THE NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS OR THE GREEN BAY PACKERS, THE RESULTS WOULD NOT BE PRETTY. THEY WOULD BE GREATLY OVERMATCHED AND THEIR PERFORMANCES WOULD NOT BE THEIR BEST. LIKEWISE, IF YOUR TEAM WOULD GO UP AGAINST THE LOCAL POP WARNER TEAM, I'M SURE THEY WOULD WIN, BUT PROBABLY NOT WITH THEIR BEST PERFORMANCES.

THE REASONS WE HAVE CLASSIFICATIONS IN HIGH SCHOOL (AND COLLEGE) IS TO PUT TEAMS ON A LEVEL COMPETITIVE PLAYING FIELD. FOR A SCHOOL WITH A STUDENT BODY POPULATION OF 250 TO PLAY AGAINST A SCHOOL WITH A STUDENT BODY OF 1800 IS NOT ONLY NOT FAIR; IT CAN BE DANGEROUS. WITH A GOOD CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM THE STATE TRIES TO PLACE SCHOOLS IN CHALLENGING BUT NOT OVERWHELMING SITUATIONS.

IN THIS SITUATION ATHLETES CAN PERFORM AT HIGH LEVELS BUT NOT BECOME INJURED (FROM A GROSS MISMATCH). ATHLETES WHO ARE PERFORMING IN SUCH A FASHION ARE OPERATING IN THEIR BEST "FLOW ZONE" OR THEIR BEST "OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE ZONE." PERFORMANCES MADE WHILE AN ATHLETE IS IN HIS ZONE SEEM TO FLOW. HE IS ON. HE'S UNCONSCIOUS, WHICH IS ACTUALLY TRUE. HE HAS ALLOWED THE CONTROL OF HIS PERFORMANCE TO MOVE FROM THE CONSCIOUS TO THE UNCONSCIOUS SIDE OF THE THE BRAIN. THE ATHLETE HAS PUT SO MUCH INTO HIS PREPARATION THAT HIS PERFORMANCE SEEMS EFFORTLESS, THE SO-CALLED "GRACE UNDER PRESSURE." THE ZEN GOAL OF "EFFORTLESS EFFORT" IS ACHIEVED. THE "RUNNERS HIGH" IS WELL DOCUMENTED AND VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE ARE DISCUSSING.

THERE ARE TIME WHEN PRACTICE, PREPARATION, MIND-SET, AND EVENTS SEEM TO CONVERGE AND THE PERFORMANCE BECOMES SPECTACULAR LIKE JOHNSON'S OLYMPIC PERFORMANCES, BEAMON'S MEXICO CITY LONG JUMP, MARIS' 61 IN '61, REICH LEADING THE BILLS TO THE BIGGEST NFL COMEBACK EVER OVER THE OILERS AND OTHER ELECTRIFYING AND AMAZING PERFORMANCES.

THESE PERFORMANCES ARE NOT PREDICTABLE. WE CANNOT "WILL" THEM TO HAPPEN, BUT WE CAN ORCHESTRATE THE ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS SO THAT THEY CAN HAPPEN. A RUNNER DOES NOT PREPARE TO GO ON HIS DAILY RUN AND THINK TO HIMSELF, "I AM NOW GOING OUT AND HAVE A 'PEAK PERFORMANCE' EXPERIENCE." THROUGH DAILY TRAINING, DEDICATION AND COMMITMENT ONE CAN BE ASSURED THAT SUCH AN EXPERIENCE WILL OCCUR, EVENTUALLY.

WHICH BRINGS US TO THE MYTH OF 110% WE HAVE ALL HEARD IT IN OUR PLAYING DAYS. MANY OF US ARE GUILTY OF LAYING IT ON TEAMS OR INDIVIDUALS, "YOUR HAVE TO GO OUT THERE AND GIVE US 110% ALL THE TIME." WOULD ANY OF THESE COACHES RUN THEIR CAR 10% BEYOND THE RED LINE ON THEIR TACHOMETER? OF COURSE THEY WOULDN'T. THE CAR WOULD BLOW-UP. BLOWN ENGINES DO NOT ENABLE GOOD PERFORMANCES.

AT ANY GIVEN TIME 100% IS ALL THAT ANYONE CAN GIVE. THAT'S TOTAL CAPACITY - 100% IS ALL THERE IS. THERE AIN'T NO MORE. DO WE REALLY WANT OUR ATHLETES OPERATING AT 100% CAPACITY ALL THE TIME? A 100% PERFORMANCE PUTS OUR TEAMS RIGHT ON THE EDGE. PERFORMANCE AT 100% MEANS WE ARE CONSTANTLY ON THE RED LINE, AND OPERATING ALL THE TIME ON THE RED LINE IS DANGEROUS.

WE PERFORM BEST WHEN OPERATING AT 85-95% CAPACITY. WHEN ALL THINGS ARE IN TUNE AND PERFORMANCE FLOWS WITHOUT EXTREME LABOR. TO INCREASE OUR PERFORMANCE OVER TIME, WE MUST PRACTICE, TRAIN, AND PREPARE FOR THE NEXT CONTEST, THE NEXT SEASON. PERFECT PROPER PRACTICE PROMOTES PROPER PERFORMANCE. IF WE HAVE SOMEONE LIFTING WEIGHTS TODAY AND THEIR MAXIMUM 1 REP LIFT IS 250 POUNDS, IS HE GOING TO BE ABLE TO LIFT 110% (275 POUNDS) TODAY? ABSOLUTELY NOT! HIS 1 REP MAX IS 250. WITH TRAINING, HOWEVER, IN PREPARATION FOR THE FOLLOWING SEASON HE SHOULD NOT ONLY PASS THE 275 MARK BUT REASONABLY SHOULD GET TO THE 310-320 MARK IN A YEAR'S TIME. OBVIOUSLY ATHLETES WHOSE BENCH PRESS IS 315 (A 126% PERFORMANCE) HAVE DIFFERENT PERFORMANCES THAN THOSE WHO BENCH 250.

INSTEAD OF ASKING OUR ATHLETES FOR 110% PERFORMANCES, WE SHOULD BE ASKING OUR ATHLETES TO DO THOSE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE ZONES: TRAINING, CONDITIONING, NUTRITION, STUDY, PRACTICE ETC. I HAVE CREATED A GOAL PYRAMID THAT HAS 110 BUILDING BLOCKS THAT LEAD TO THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF BEING RANKED IN THE USA TODAY'S TOP 25 TEAMS IN THE NATION. THE PYRAMID BEGINS WITH THE CENTRAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF 'TURNING OUT FOR THE TEAM" AND "DREAMING THE BIG DREAM." IN THE BEGINNING THE COACHES AND THE ATHLETES FOCUS ON 2 AREAS: )1) WHAT ARE THOSE ACTIVITIES THAT THE ATHLETE CAN COMMIT TO ON A DAILY BASIS? CAN HE:

BE IN SCHOOL EVERYDAY

ALWAYS HUSTLE

BELIEVE IN HIMSELF

START A LIFTING PROGRAM

BE HONEST?

EACH OF THESE DAILY BUILDING BLOCKS THAT THE ATHLETE, PARENT AND COACHES CAN COMMIT TO ARE IDENTIFIED WITH A HIGHLIGHTER; (2) THE SECOND AREA THAT THE ATHLETE FOCUSES ON WOULD BE THOSE BLOCKS WHICH WOULD REPRESENT GOALS FOR THE NEXT YEAR/SEASON, SUCH AS

RUNNING A 5.0 40 YARD DASH

A VERTICAL JUMP OF 20"

A 2.5 GPA

KNOW ALL ASSIGNMENTS

START ON SPECIAL TEAMS

THESE SHOULD BE MARKED WITH A DIFFERENT COLOR HIGHLIGHTER. ONE COPY OF THE PYRAMID IS KEPT WITH THE COACHES AND ANOTHER KEPT BY THE ATHLETE AND PARENTS AS A REMINDER. AS THE ATHLETE WORKS HIS WAY THROUGH THE PROGRAM YEAR BY YEAR, HE SHOULD BE EXHIBITING MORE AND MORE OF THOSE BEHAVIOR WHICH TAKE HIM AND HIS TEAM TO THE TOP.

ONE OF THE GOALS OF ALL ATHLETES IS TO BE NAMED ALL CONFERENCE OR ALL STATE. IN MOST OF THE LEAGUES AND STATES I HAVE COACHED IN VOTING FOR THESE HONORS IS DONE BY OTHER PEOPLE. WE DO NOT HAVE CONTROL ON HOW OTHER PEOPLE VOTE. WHAT WE DO HAVE CONTROL OVER IS OUR OWN PERFORMANCE ZONE. WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO CREATE COMPELLING FIGURES THAT DEMAND A VOTE. I HAVE COACHED ATHLETES WHO:

LED THE STATE IN RUSHING - BY 650 YARDS

LED THE STATE IN INTERCEPTIONS

LED THE STATE IN PASS RECEPTIONS (75)

LED THE STATE IN TACKLES

ESTABLISHED A NEW PASS CATCHING RECORD FOR THE STATE

YOU GET THE IDEA. THESE PLAYERS WERE OBVIOUS, UNQUESTIONED SELECTIONS FOR ALL CONFERENCE AND ALL STATE. SOME WERE NAMED OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR FOR THE STATE. AN ATHLETE MAKES HIMSELF INTO A COMPELLING FORCE. HIS PERFORMANCE IS SUCH THAT NO ONE WOULD THINK OF ANYTHING BUT VOTING FOR HIM. THESE KINDS OF PERFORMANCES DON'T JUST HAPPED. IT JUST DOESN'T FALL OUT OF THE SKY. YOU CANNOT WIN IT IN A LOTTERY OR INHERIT IT FROM A RICH RELATIVE. IT TAKES MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF HARD WORK. WORK DONE ON A DAILY BASIS, CONTINUED OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. ATHLETES WHO ARE ON THIS ROAD HAVE LITTLE TIME FOR ACTIVITIES THAT DO NOT ENHANCE THEIR PERFORMANCE. THEY NEED TO BE FOCUSED, COMMITTED, DEDICATED --- TO THEIR OWN PERFORMANCE.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR OWN PERSONALIZED COPY OF OUR PYRAMID, SEND ME YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, NAME OF SCHOOL, AND SCHOOL MASCOT. THE COST IS $7.50 (INCLUDES PRODUCTION, SHIPPING AND HANDLING). I WILL RETURN TO YOUR BY PRIORITY MAIL A GOAL PYRAMID FOR YOU TO USE ALONG WITH YOUR SCHOOL'S NAME AND MASCOT. IF YOU LIKE, EMAIL ME WITH AN ATTACHED GIF OR JPEG FILE OF YOUR SCHOOL MASCOT AND I WILL INCLUDE THAT ON THE PYRAMID AS WELL. IN ADDITION, I WILL SEND YOU A PERSONALIZED STRENGTH GOAL CHART FOR HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES.

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Copyright 1997
by Roger A. Freeborn
All Rights Reserved