Did you know about half of the western hemisphere sets New Years´resolutions, but less than 40% are successful in achieving them? Regardless of nationality, the issue we address here is the undeniable fact that the new year is slowly nearing. But before we uncork that bubbly and sparkling bottle of champagne we indulge in retrospection, following our own ups and downs through the year. We asked a lot of 2017, and while the overall balance is quite positive there are a few ticks still pending on Padel Trainers´list.
Time to pen down our New Year´s resolution. How to make (and keep) a New Years´s padel resolution? Much too often our goals are unrealistic, while we tend to adopt an all-or-nothing attitude to what constitutes success. From common to smart, that´s what makes a resolution good enough to be kept. Let´s go through it:
Common resolution: “I´m going to take control of my health”, broad, open general statement.
Smart resolution: “I´m going to make an appointment with my doctor”, targeted, action-oriented, time framed. Why will this one work? Getting your health in shape requires different things for different people. One person may need to ramp up his physical activity while quitting smoking might be the smartest place to begin with for another.
So what do we mean here, exactly…Say training 6 days a week with or without a good training plan in place may be unrealistic, but training three times a week with a proper plan in place to help you achieve your goals maybe far more close to real life. So, the smart goal approach will keep us motivated and consistent. Smart goals set direction, state purpose and pump confidence, a total blueprint for success.
What makes a Smart Resolution
Specific: We can optimize the chances of achieving your goals if you are as specific as possible when formulating them. “I want to beat Dani in my next match” might sound good as a resolution, but being so broad gives the player little direction to follow. Sorry guys, you need action steps to make this one true ;(
Compared to: “I will increase my awareness practicing defense one hour two days a week by myself or with a coach to improve my game”. So if we brake a broad goal into targeted attainable chunks we have an evolving working plan to which we can stick through the whole year. Next question we come to ask ourselves is how to make a goal specific? The following set of questions will give you the answer:
- Who is involved?
- What do you want to achieve?
- When will you achieve it?
- Why do you want to achieve that goal?
Measurable: How do we know we are improving? We need to mark a ground zero day, to begin with. Honesty is a must. Stepping out of comfort zone is what will make you reap the benefits of any effort, so don´t hesitate to mark your lowest performance here, whether physical, tactical or technical, we need a place to begin.
Attainable: Blurry and thin can sometimes be the line between realistic and detrimentally ambitious. Setting an attainable resolution will require effort, and positively a certain amount of sustained will. Make sure the relationship between effort investment (cost) and the required motivation to sustain the effort is very well projected in your mind. Only a balanced equation of focused mindset, motivation and day to day work will help you attain a goal. Disproportions on any of the terms of this equation will mean we lose control of it, letting ourselves down, letting go all purposeful action.
Relevant: Goals must be relevant to long-term aspirations. Alignment of short-term goals with what you want to become down the road is crucial. Set padel goals to improve whatever skill in you have in your repertoire that will give you the biggest ROI. From improving your footwork or building up a consistent padel training routine, small but significant improvements pave the way for the bigger changes.
Timely: Attach a definite time period to your goal. Remember Parkinson´s law? “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. When setting a goal with a time frame we understand there is a due date for its completion. Time provides a frame to motivation, consistency and purpose-driven action.
So what will your Smart padel resolutions be for 2018? Here are a few we can think of…
- Increasing brawn to match your brains.
- If you are not particularly muscular, big sized or ripped you need to have a killer shot in your repertoire and probably exercise crafty shot selection, where movement and superb decision-making skills outmaneuver opponents. Together we can come up with a consistent plan to make you reach your goal throughout the year.
- Keep calm and remain confident during a match
- A killer to so many of us. A match can seem so long while we are on the court, especially when we don´t begin with the right foot to make confidence grow through the game. Mastering the mind game is a skill of its own, but with the right training, physical preparation and tactical exercises we can make sure you have enough cards under your sleeve to use during a game.
- Improve consistency.
- One good point, three setbacks? Seems like you dance back and forth? Have you got the balance zero performance feeling? Maybe it´s time to refresh it all, focus on all the good points to kick confidence and build a whole new strategy for the game. Consistency means you stand on a permanent attitude ground, and from there on building the tactics that your game needs will be a good plan.
- Clean up your potty mouth during the matches.
- Can we fill a soundtrack with the number of profanities you utter on the court? Creating a positive and cooperative atmosphere is something we can sure tackle. We don’t want you to be reminded as the padel hacka guy on the club, as much as your steam out all your energy through, there are better-suited ways of releasing your energy that create a more focused atmosphere for your game.
Others we can think of: getting and –remaining- padel fit, playing more singles, improving serves and attending a high-level padel weekend and keep playing “just for fun” padel. What are your padel resolutions for 2018?
Let us know, we would like to collect a few good ones! Happy new year gamechangers! Have a wonderful new year 2018 😉
