The Opportunity of Scalable Performance

What if living in a world that wasn’t black and white created endless opportunity? What if the idea that everything falls in line somewhere on a spectrum meant that there’s more available than “Good” or “Bad?”

In our training, rarely is there an effort that would earn a perfect ten. If there was a panel of judges evaluating everything we did, no one would get 10’s across the board. And, to me, this means opportunity.

Even the best can be better and everyone feels the pressure of what performing worse is like. This spectrum keeps us all in check. The most seasoned performers are kept in check by the possibility of improvement that a novice is. And, even the most discouraging performances have their own relative place on this spectrum.

Every snatch attempt is, well.. simply what it is.

There’s no “good snatch” or “bad snatch.” As long as Olympians come of the platform after a medal winning lift to be greeted by three coaches giving them feedback, I think we all should be willing to cut ourselves some slack. There will be things that go well and things that don’t go so well. What if an athlete hits a new PR on the lift, but she receives the bar a bit forward? Is it a good lift? Or, is it a bad lift?

Or, what if an athlete misses a lift but makes a key adjustment, like hitting full extension after a spell of efforts with a slightly closed hip? Is that a bad lift? It’s, at least, kind of good, wouldn’t you agree?

So, what are we doing here?

As I begin to poke holes in this binary view of our efforts, I hope you can see the opportunity it presents. Look for chances to improve. Congratulate yourself on the parts that go well. And, for the love of God, don’t take this stuff too seriously.

 

Logan Gelbrich