I have recently released a planner and journal for GAA players. This article is designed to answer a some of the FAQs that there have been recently.
Why did you create it?
When I am working with athletes, planning is something I am keen on them doing. Planning their week ahead, their training sessions, their games so that they have a clear view of what’s ahead of them and what they would like to do. I like to couple this with reflection. So, looking back on what we had set out to do and seeing what worked and what didn’t. This is something I do with people I am working with, but I thought it could be useful tool for everyone. After discussions with several GAA players and coaches, they felt it would be a valuable tool and in asking them what they would like to see in it, I was able to develop a journal which touches on many key areas of planning and reflection as well several mental skills. Mainly, I wanted to make something that was accessible to GAA players so as they could get it and begin using it straight away.
Who can use it?
It is more specific to GAA players of all levels as the skills used in it can be used by anyone regardless of playing level. Moreover, coaches could it as well as a way of planning and reflecting on their sessions.
What does it contain?
The journal is broken down in 5 key areas:
1. Goals
This section looks at what your goals are for this journal – setting them and breaking down the bigger ones into short term targets. You can plan for obstacles that you might encounter and how to overcome them. There is then a monthly reflection section where you look back over the past 4 weeks and see if you are moving in the right direction
2. Weekly Planner & Reflection
This area has four main areas: My roles and actions, weekly planner, weekly reflection, and a thought release. Initially we think about what our roles are for this week e.g., partner, athlete, entrepreneur, whatever it may be and then we look at the actions we would like to complete within those roles. We then place those actions into the weekly planner section so that we have some structure to our week, and we can see what it looks like. At the end of the week, we can then reflect on the week; what did we get done, what did we not get done – was there a reason for this? Finally, the thought release challenges us to think about those persistent thoughts we have had this week and to get them down on paper and challenge them if required.
3. Session Planner & Reflection
This section involves you planning out any sessions prior to taking the field, again giving us that clear focus on what we want to do in the session and what we want to get out of it. Then, afterwards you reflect on how the session went. What worked, what didn’t and it’s a lot easier to do when you have an idea of what you would like to achieve prior.
4. Matchday Plan & Reflection
Very similar to the session planner, this section involves us preparing for the game ahead, preparing key areas for us to focus on during the game to hopefully limit the impact of distractions. Then we reflect again, trying to find those areas for improvement and bring them into the next game.
5. Mental Toolkit
This section provides a look into three mental skills; visualisation, self-talk, and arousal and how to use them to help your own performance. It provides ideas on how to use these skills and how you could begin incorporating them into your own game.
What are the benefits of the journal?
The journal is designed to help you become a more focused and efficient individual. It can be tough while playing Gaelic Games to find the balance between sport and the other aspects of your life and I the journal is designed to help with that balance. Moreover, in planning sessions we know what we want to do prior to and during the session. This helps keep us focused throughout the session, ensuring that we are making the most of the training time that we have. Similarly, for panning our matchdays, we can prepare for our games mentally, much like we would do physically. Taking time to picture a good performance and a few areas we can bring our focus back to if we get distracted is helpful for performance. This planning then allows us to reflect accurately – we know what we were looking to do, did we get there? How can we improvement for next time? All this combined with an introduction into mental skills really provides a great starting point for utilising the mental side of performance within your game! You may find lots of other benefits once you start using it!
How long is it?
The journal is design to last around 6 months. There are 6 monthly reflections, 24 weekly planners, 96 session plans and 25 game plans, so it should cover the majority of a GAA season.
If you have any other questions feel free to leave a comment below or email us!
Get your own journal here
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