Quality is an often-used word in coaching. It is common to hear statements like “quality effort” or “quality session training.” I had not really thought about the definition of quality much until last week when Wolfgang Ritzdorf, professor at Deutsche Sporthochschule, Köln, spoke about the need to improve the quality of training. He defined quality as a percent of perfect, in contrast to intensity that is a percent of 100. Simple statement, but in reviewing my notes from the IFAC conference this got my attention. If perfection is what we are striving for in performance then it makes sense that training should be measured as a percent of perfection. Think about it and see if it makes sense to you. I know I am going reaffirm an emphasis on quality in my coaching.
1 Comment
Smith Wilbanks
It makes sense to view training this way. If you say your athletes’ exercises were lacking quality and they know you mean 50% or 60% of perfection, they are more aware of how far they are off the mark. It’s like a grading system, and if they are graded for quality in their drills, exercises, etc. it might give them an extra sense of motivation to improve that quality.
Smith