Impostor Syndrome — BASC | Strength & Conditioning

Take home message

EVERYONE HAS DOUBTS. THAT IS WHAT HELPS FILLS GAPS IN YOUR PERFORMANCE AND YOUR PERSONAL TEAM.

For Coaches

No one knows everything. Yes, you have gaps. Guess what - everyone does! Build your team.

For Athletes

In my experience, if you ask the right way, most people love to help. If you see a gap in your performance, identify a teacher and ask for help.

The Impostor Syndrome refers to a condition where a person doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. I spent my entire PhD candidature feeling a fraud. It probably did not help being an external student and I might have felt more authentic being on campus and less of a pretend student who ‘visited’. As the Assistant S&C coach at the Western Force, I was second string to excellent Head S&C coaches, so I was safe in their shadow.

Stepping into the spotlight as the Head S&C with hockey, I’m often waiting for the director to yell “Cut, cut, CUT! Get him out of here!”. See, as the Head S&C you are supposed to know it all. That’s what the irrational part of me says anyway. I’ve all these S&C idols who are flawless in my mind. The rational part of me says, “Don’t be stupid. No one knows it all. You’re doing fine”.

I get so nervous when a senior S&C coach, someone I respect, asks to come and watch a session. I spend the whole time thinking that they are thinking, “I gave up time to watch this guy? He’s awful. How did he get here?”.

Part of the problem is knowing that I don’t know everything and the false belief that I should know everything. Another part is the completely insane, but repetitive process of adding up all the experts. Have you ever done that? Completely stupid.

I see a coach who is brilliant with shoulder rehab, a 10/10 and I think I know a bit, so maybe I’m a 6/10. Then I see a coach who’s great with technical alterations in the gym. They have a great eye and see things I had no clue what they saw. Another 10/10 and I’m a solid 5. Now I’m about an 11/20. Plus the coach who’s great with speed development. I’m a dud there, so I give myself a 2 = 13/30. By the time I’m done adding up weightlifting, squat analysis, agility training, rehabilitation, load management, GPS analysis, statistics, and R- coding, periodisation and planning, ACL rehab and MAS prescription, I’m teetering on a passing “C-grade”, being prescribed remedial catch-up classes with a tutor and labelled an S&C impostor (fraud) working with elite athletes.

My point is that I, like many coaches and players, can probably judge ourselves a bit too harshly and perhaps not recognise our own strengths. Even as I am typing, I struggle to think what mine is. Having done this for a while now, I actually know many coaches who I rate as 10’s, that it is hard to find something that I would think I am a 10 at! This generalist versus specialist debate not helping. I find it hard to think of anything I would actually refer someone to me for.

However, this awareness of my low grade is, in one part demoralising, it is also the motivation to find a study group, coaches willing to help upskill me. I think being aware of how much I still have to learn is the motivation to keep getting better. I think another strength to develop is knowing where I am failing and find smarter people than me to lean on (which is pretty much anyone!). And this is the flip side of that insane comparison system; I already know who I need to go to for help - all those 10 out of 10’s! Now I just need to find the confidence to ask for help. And the interesting thing I’ve found is most of the time, people just love to help share their knowledge and help others.

I feel with my current cohort of athletes, a little bit of vulnerability and honesty actually helps develop trust and relationships. I know where my strengths are, what lane I am best suited in, and if a problem is outside my area of expertise, they know I know who I need to seek for assistance. There is no pretending I know everything and I make effort to get back to the athlete with the right information.

My suggestion, stop thinking of yourself as a fraud, as an impostor. Not always easy to do, but thinking negatively does not help - trust me. Instead, assess your current status, be honest and fair to yourself, and then proactively seek out tutors required to help you elevate your performance to bring up your grades.

Cover image: Photo by Elle Hughes on Unsplash

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Thanks again. BA.