We use cookies to give you the best experience and to help improve our website. By using our website you are accepting our cookies.  Learn More

UK Coaching Team
108
Rapport Building and Communicating Developing Mindsets

The Art of Practice: Intentional Training a Model Way of Embedding New Skills

Dan Abrahams is a former professional golfer and golf coach who is now forging a successful career as a qualified sports psychologist and author. Headhunted by Eddie Jones to work with the England rugby team, he is also employed by Premier League side AFC Bournemouth. Blake Richardson picks his brain on the importance of training with mental intensity, and explores Dan’s concept of ‘intentional training’ and how to embed its principles into your coaching practice

The volume of high-profile international coaches who extol the benefits of incorporating a psychological approach to training continues to grow.

The belief that mental conditioning is as crucial as physical conditioning is fast becoming accepted as a universal truth.

When sports psychologist Dan Abrahams was invited to become the England rugby team’s ‘mind guru’ building up to the World Cup in Japan in 2019, it was the coming together of two kindred spirits, with head coach Eddie Jones a self-confessed sports psychology aficionado.

Dan doesn’t deal in psychobabble. Psychoprofitable is an altogether more apt term to describe his methods.

His number one topic of interest is the controversial link between practice and excellence and its fundamental role in developing new skills and making them stick.

And he was only too pleased to share his views.

Quality of practice determines rate of progress

Dan is convinced that an intention to train hard and improve, and then act on those intentions with physical intensity, is not nearly enough. To develop permanent new skills, what performers must do is train intentionally. There is a hugely significant difference between the two.

More than simply giving your all physically, intentional training is when performers practice with purpose, with focus and with intelligence.

To unlock this full resource, you need to subscribe to the exclusive UK Coaching Club.

Not ready to subscribe yet? Register for free to receive the latest #GreatCoaching news, tips and offers delivered straight to your inbox, access our Duty to Care digital badge and much more!

Already subscribe? Login below to access this resource.

Unlock with Premium


To unlock this resource, power your coaching with our Premium Membership


Elevate your skills with 12 months’ unlimited access to 1000+ resources, plus premium benefits that save you money and provide 24/7 support to reduce stress in your life beyond coaching


Join for £36 pa (just 69p a week!)


Let's Go

Already a Premium Member? login here.

Power Your Coaching with Premium Membership

 

Transform your coaching with unlimited access to 1000+ resources and 24/7 support, including hundreds of money-saving discounts

UK Coaching Team