The Importance of Specificity from a Different Angle
The principle of specificity means that the training you undertake should be specific to the demands of the sport you are training for. Put simply, the more deliberate your practice is, the more you will advance towards your end goal. This is more challenging than it sounds though. There are many factors that ‘get in the way’ and it’s easier to stray off course than it is to stay on the golden path towards success.
What do you need to get better? The answer is pressure. A lobster is born in a shell that is too small and as it grows, the shell becomes increasingly more constrictive and eventually gets to the point where it’s causing problems. To overcome this, the lobster hides underneath a rock, sheds the ill-fitting shell and grows a new one. This process continues over and over again. The take-away here is that we need adversity and stress to grow and get better. The art is managing this stress so that it’s beneficial. The performance curve below (from Delphis.org.uk) depicts this relationship very well.
It’s easier to just carry on doing things the same way, than taking steps to improve. No one improves without some resistance along the way, and for many, the path of least resistance is more attractive. This is why specificity presents challenges. Everyone has ‘weaknesses’ and they range from physical to psychological factors. An effective training plan is designed target these areas and develop them so an athlete gets better at overcoming the areas that will limit their performance in their chosen event. Athletes commonly shy away from things they don’t like or what they’re not good at.
The flip side of this is athletes that are blindly pursuing a goal and don’t appreciate that it takes time to get to where they’re trying to get to. This results in an almost compulsive addiction to training and an unwavering commitment. The graph shows very well that athletes who put too much pressure on themselves move into a state which is unsustainable and damaging to to performance. The phrase zone of delusion is very apt. While there many positives that come with an athlete with this mentality, there are traits which will hinder performance. Athletes which expect results faster than it’s possible to achieve will either lead to burn out or eventually get to their goal but with little satisfaction.
High performers display 3 key attributes:
1. Resilience
2. Persistence
3. Patience
If someone applies these attributes to a training plan, a goal and life itself, exceptional things will happen. The number one rule of coaching is that “Performance is in the hands of the performer”. How you apply yourself to the process is the single most important factor in succeeding in your goals. Performance suffers when the principle of specificity is not achieved. There’s a fundamental issue with the notion that consistency is key to success as it’s very easy to consistently do things at a sub-optimal level or in the wrong way. Working on weaknesses, executing sessions at the right intensity and pushing on when it seems impossible is how to progress.
The common mistakes made in training involve the following:
· Always training too hard in sessions. Optimal performance is like an inverted U-shape when it’s plotted against a performance axis and a pressure axis. Performance will increase as pressure increases. If the pressure gets too much, a tipping point will be reached and performance will decline. Easy sessions and recovery time allow the body and mind to absorb the pressure built up from the sessions which cause us to overreach. Trying to always go harder or faster than the intensity that has been set also means the training might not be specific to the goal anymore. Yes, going faster than you’ve been told to will not impress your coach as you’ve not achieved the goal of the session.
· Being ‘afraid’ of hard or challenging sessions so just get it done. The worst thing to try and do in training is just “get it done”. Hard sessions are demanding but they’re ultimately what’s going to make you better and stronger. Hard sessions might not just be the higher intensity sets or longer ones. Challenging sessions might just be a session we don’t want to do and they require us to push outside are comfort zone into our growth zone. The more you do that, the bigger your comfort zone gets.
· Not focusing on weaknesses. This follows on from the last point. You won’t get any better if you keep doing what you’re comfortable doing. The principle of specificity demands that you focus on making practice as deliberate as possible. This means you may need to address physical and mental trials as well as skill-based obstacles. As humans, it’s a sobering fact that we don’t come close to achieving what we’re capable of. Coupling the right mindset and skillset with focus, discipline and belief will help you get closer to that ceiling. It’s a powerful thought that “hell on earth would be to meet the person you could have been”.
· Not following the plan. Plans need to be flexible and accommodate life but you also need to embrace the commitment that you have signed up to. Consistently moving sessions and swapping days around will very quickly turn a well-constructed and effective training plan into a mediocre one that lacks the key principle, specificity. An example of this may be that an athlete doesn’t do an easy run the day after a harder one and moves it to the following day when they feel better. While this may not seem all that important, the run was specifically put there because it was designed to build resilience, strength, add endurance and also act as active recovery. I would highly recommend reading Atomic Habits if you want to become more consistent with training and achieve more. There are many misconceptions about habits and this book provides some powerful tools.
· Comparing yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy. Strava and social media has the potential to significantly impair people’s performance. The line, “if it isn’t on Strava it didn’t happen” should never be said again. Some people are more worried about the kudos they will get on Strava or how good a picture they can take for Instagram than doing their training well. If you question if these platforms are affecting your training, mindset or happiness, delete them and stop using them.
So, what can you do to get better? You have to take responsibility and be above the line. Avoid assigning blame and looking for reasons as to why something didn’t happen. You need to take ownership of every situation and change a victim mentality to a victor one. Think about what you’re trying to achieve and then commit to the plan that’s your route to success. That means that you do the most important things that will make YOU better. Your aim is to surf that zone of continuous improvement and manage your effort so you stay there.
I want to leave you with a quote that I now think about at the end of every day. When I reflect on my day with this in my mind, I very quickly come to a conclusion about what I could’ve perhaps done better and what I did well. My next thought is that tomorrow will be better.
“Success is a peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable”. John Wooden, legendary basketball coach.