Session 6: Reflection

Reflection is one of the cornerstones of growth and mid-season is a great opportunity to reflect.  You can analyze your efforts this season, acknowledge positives and challenges, and clarify your path forward for the rest of the season.  It's critical to reflect, understand, and move powerfully into the second half of the season unburdened, focused, and present.

“Performance improvement begins with reflection – the mirror that reveals the athlete's journey from every setback to each triumph.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Four P’s Exercise - Mid-Season Reflection

The Four P’s stand for Personal, Preparation, Practice and Play. These are the cornerstones for athlete awareness, reflection and growth.

The Four P’s Reflection Lenses:

  • Personal — Reflect on your life outside of sports.

    • Marriage/Relationship, Family, Friends, Community Involvement, Fun/Recreation, Self-Care, Faith/Religion/Spiritual Growth, Mental Health, Being Mentored/Coached, Etc.

  • Preparation — Evaluate your readiness, rhythms, and routines before practice and games.

    • Sleep, Nutrition, Physical Recovery, Video Review, Mental Skills, Emotional Processing, Positional Meetings, Hydration, Injury Prevention, Pre-game Routine, Etc.

  • Practice — Assess your effort, focus, and improvement during training sessions.

    • Effort, Intensity, Focus, Technical Improvement, Vocal, Tactical Awareness, Team Player, Adaptability, Consistency, Work Ethic, Leadership, Etc.

  • Play — Analyze your performance, decision-making, and contributions during games.

    • Intensity, Focus, Confidence, Creativity, Execution, Support, Decision Making, Positional Discipline, Defensive Effort, Offensive Contribution, Etc.

Instructions:

  1. Choose to fill out the Online form or PDF

  2. Choose your top 8 examples within each lens that you specifically want to reflect on. Feel free to add anything you want that I did not include that will help you.  

  3. Score yourself from 1 to 10 (1 = Poor to 10 = Excellent). I highly encourage you to be honest, transparent, and detailed with each part of your reflection.

  4. Write a note or action item for each score, explaining why you gave that score. Anything below an 8 needs attention.

  5. Share your reflection with a coach, mentor, accountability partner, or even me after completion.

This exercise is to determine a current state of where you think you are now in the season, so you can make any needed changes for the second half of the year.