3 Ways to Level Up Your Training Sessions

At this point, you get it… At CoachNow, we are sold on helping you get better each and every time you practice.

In past posts, we’ve covered the basics of the concept, including How to Practice Like a Pro, The Power of “Plan, Do, and Review”, and How to Train Effectively for Different Seasons.

Today, I’m gonna give you the top 3 key ingredients that comprise a successful training session when you’re working on your own.

Let’s dive in. 👊

1. Collect Feedback

In order to make the most of your practice session, you need to create a feedback station, whether that’s with video, training ads, or at the very least, some sort of alignment tools.

If you’re practicing without feedback, you’re actually getting worse each and every day. 

Ultimately, the best feedback comes from a coach who knows you personally. But, if you aren’t there yet, there’s plenty you can do on your own with the technology suite included with CoachNow Analyze. 

By using features like slo-mo and skeleton tracking, you’re able to dissect your performance down to the smallest detail and analyze every movement, from the angle of your swing to the position of your feet.

I highly recommend using CoachNow’s comparison feature and voiceover feature when filming before and after videos. 

If you haven’t yet tried voice over in our video/image analysis suite, you gotta give it a try! 

I find it really helps highlight your progression and helps you “lock in” correct form when you can visualize what’s right vs. wrong side-by-side.

The purpose of everything here is simple: seeing progress in just a one-hour session will help IMMENSELY with your confidence. Plus, you’ll leave with a much clearer understanding of WHAT you need to work on and WHY. 

Regardless of whatever sport you’re practicing, collecting feedback is absolutely the most important thing you can do for yourself and your growth as an athlete.

Getting these before and after videos dialed in will really level up your game and deliver immense value to your athletes. Give it a try!

2. Document Your Training

After you collect feedback, it’s essential to then document that feedback.

When each session is over, take notes or record yourself going through a particular drill or exercise.

No matter the type of training you’re doing, there is ALWAYS one ingredient that is vitally important to include: video recaps. 

Recaps are 1-3 minute videos taken at the end of EVERY session that summarizes key learnings, mistakes, things you did well, etc.

Not only will you be able to review these whenever you need to, but you can also share them with others, giving them a clear view into your history and development.

3. Identify a CLEAR GOAL

It's time to wrap up your training session… Now what? 

In addition to your video recaps, and progress tracking of technical move(s), now it's time to identify an objective and a clear goal. 

In my experience, the best practice plans are done in writing as your OWN written text posts. This makes them easily searchable and helps create a clear break in your CoachNow Feed between all the videos you post during the session. 

Whenever you’re ready to do some practicing, you should have a CRYSTAL CLEAR idea of what you should do and WHY. 

Overall, I find that weekly practicing plans tend to fall into two camps: 

(1) a REP COUNT of specific exercises you want to do at a specific frequency. 

OR

(2) a GOAL for you to bring to your next session. 

E.g. for (1) These reps could be without a completion target (do 10 deadlifts) or include one (make 8-10 free throws before leaving)

Alternatively, type (2) plans offer more freedom. E.g. Write out your tournament schedule or watch this video and make note of what you learned.

Trust me, you’ll operate way better when you establish clear goals and due dates for yourself.  

Having your goals in writing will also help you practice more efficiently and keep you accountable. No more excuses about forgetting what you were supposed to do! 👊

One more important note before I close out: be sure to do all of this DURING YOUR TRAINING SESSION. 

Everything I recommend here should be saving you time. Doing the above steps while you’re at practice saves you a task for later and helps add predictable structure to each of your sessions. 

In short, you should have everything you need for next week BEFORE you finish your session.