First tool that is very useful in sports psychology is the Performance Profile. It is a circle with 10 circles divided into parts that look like slices of pizza. Athletes like graphs and they like to see clearly how they are progressing. Therefore, this exercise can be introduced from time to time, e.g. to compare your progress.
Athlete’s task is to describe the pieces of “pizza” on the outside of the circle with areas important for them (or their training), e.g. strength, relaxation, burning out before the start, self-confidence, leg strength, condition, etc. The wheel can also be used not only in sports, but also in personal development training with non-athletes. Then we can fill in the outer part of the circle: attention, competence, passion, making contact, emotional intelligence, justice, consistency, etc. The circle can also be used to describe other skills such as: level of English (or other foreign language), time spent on work (personal development), etc.
Once the circle has been described, the filler’s task is to color, starting from the center of the circle, as many circles (levels 1-10) on which they think they are now. Then they mark with an arrow whether they would like to expand a given level or reduce it (by marking the direction of the arrow towards the outside or inside).
This task is interesting for athletes and it can be used in cooperation with the coach. Then the coach can assess the technical skills of their player, they mark the actual level in certain areas where the athlete is located in their opinion. This is helpful for further discussion, determining the athlete’s expectations and discussing the coach’s insights. The Performance Profile can also be of help when dealing with an injured player.
You can download Performance Profile for self-work below: