Expectation Management

The absolute preparation of an athlete for the emotional stress and effort required in competition is not possible without long-term mental development, a process that should begin with the very first training session. In my previous blogs, I have not written about the relationship between coach and athlete, and about how that relationship must be structured, adjusted and aligned in order to function at the highest level. I have called this relationship the Ying and Yang balance, for the simple reason that the coach removes from the athlete what harms him, and gives what he needs. Although the relationship is never completely symmetrical, it is our duty to keep the athlete in emotional balance, ready for the emotional peak he will experience in competition.

The techniques I use in training and outside of it for mental development are: emotional periodization, expectation management, developing mental resilience, adaptability, decision-making, perception of success, speed of information processing, and so on. I will write about these techniques in the continuation of this blog, with a special focus on the aspects of mental preparation that, in my opinion, are extremely necessary for athletes from our region.

The Athlete’s Geography and Mental Development

My understanding of sport is strongly connected to the geographic origin of the athlete. The environment, the sporting tradition, the conditions in which the athlete grew up and formed all of these influence his emotional readiness to withstand maximal effort. A coach must understand this wider picture and recognize what his athlete needs, because the mental profile will differ from one athlete to another.

In his planning, the coach always visualizes what the athlete should look like, how he should act, think, strategize and compete at the highest level. My personal position is clear: the athlete is a modern gladiator. To survive, he must be the strongest, the most relentless in determination, but above all, the smartest and the most mentally prepared for the effort that awaits him. His execution must be surgically precise, and his mental resilience at the highest possible level. Even under maximal physical effort, he must be capable of tactically analyzing the situation, making simple but correct decisions, controlling his emotions, and competing with one goal in mind -"victory".

Can Every Athlete Reach This Level?

Yes, they can. But not in the same way.

Each athlete has a different mental framework, unique charisma, weaknesses and strengths. The task of the coach is to build the athlete over years of work and mental development, shaping him individually into what he needs to become: a winner.

The first step is expectation management.

A coach must not be only a physical guide, but an architect of the athlete’s mental structure. He decides how and when the athlete grows, how he develops mentally, how much stress he can absorb and how he understands his own progress. We are the ones who determine when the athlete has met expectations, and when he has fallen short. We must protect the athlete from outside influences, which often misjudge his development and thereby damage his confidence or create a false perception of failure.

Gradual Exposure to Stress and Objective Evaluation

An athlete must be gradually exposed to controlled stress in order to develop mental resilience. The coach is the one who sees the bigger picture, knows the final goal and must be absolutely objective when assessing the athlete’s performance on assigned tasks.

Sometimes, for motivational purposes, we will tell the athlete that he has met expectations even when he has not. And sometimes we will claim that expectations were not met, even when he objectively performed better than planned. All of this is part of mental development, part of stabilizing the athlete so that on the day of competition he is in the best possible emotional state.

By managing expectations, we prevent situations in which an athlete, after a poor result, experiences enormous disappointment that can lead to emotional burnout or quitting the sport entirely. When that happens, it is the coach who must take responsibility, give a different perspective, and explain to the athlete that the goal was in fact achieved, even if the results on paper do not show it. We must never allow the environment to influence his perception of whether he has fallen short of expectations or fulfilled his own and ours.

Pushing Limits on the Vogošća Course

About ten years ago, Lejla and I were doing a training session on the first XC track we built in Vogošća. The weather was brutal, cold, rain, and temperatures barely above freezing. In several sections, the mud mixed with snow. The plan was to do four lactate-threshold intervals lasting 13 minutes each, meaning ten minutes of climbing and three minutes of technically demanding downhill.

After the second interval, Lejla began showing signs of fatigue and a drop in mental strength caused by the harsh conditions. Under normal circumstances, I would have ended the training, but competitions were approaching where similar conditions were expected. The third and fourth intervals were objectively poor. But this is where expectation management begins: after a short rest, I demanded a fifth interval, with clear instructions: maximum focus, maximum effort, tactical thinking as if she were racing a World Championship.

Highly motivated, Lejla started her fifth interval. Her time was still bad, but better than on the previous interval. When she asked how she rode, I told her the time was under 14 minutes, the fastest of the day. The actual time of the interval was irrelevant to us. I was the one deciding whether expectations were met. I rewarded her focus, precision and effort, and she went into the next competitions with tremendous confidence, believing that her execution and not time, not conditions, not chance determines the result.

In the following races, that mental moment made the difference.