What is the role a performance coach within the interplays of biomechanics, technique and psychology.

In the simplest level, biomechanics could be defined by how the body moves, whether it’s optimal or not is determined by how muscles ( on the surface level) operate together or against each other, leading to overactivity or underactivity. Traditional technique determine athletes to move the same way according to a set of ‘touch points’. Let’s look at batting, in cricket.

If you examine 20 best batters in the world for the past 50-60 years, how many “follow” the traditional technique of batting so to speak? I am not talking about the foundational level technique here, for example, ‘watching the ball really well until it hits the bat’, also, I’m not talking about the outliers here, even though athletes coined “freaks of nature” are very much in the conversations, if not definitely should be. This begs the question, is the only technique relevant to  batting is to watch the ball? 

Let’s look at the interplay of biomechanics here on the surface level. Every athletes’s body moves differently, especially when postural and biomechanics are concerned, a batter with rounded shoulders would find it  difficult play with a high elbow, without adjustments all through out the body to get in position to enable him/her to drive with a high elbow, or would simply have to build a technique unique to hit the ball right under their eyes. Where is the role of a performance coach in all of this? 

Should it not be to look at the problem in multiple angles? To find the root cause of all of it from the ground up? Exactly how a surgeon or a doctor would approach a condition? Just addressing biomechanics isn’t enough and like wise just “correcting” technique isn’t enough. 

Let’s look at how the Psychology plays in all of this? Every players mentality has to be prepped differently, from all the way to ‘ animal of destruction to a zen master’, however this never works in cricket, at least in my experience! Athletes require different approach to mentality. As a batter, better your biomechanics and “unique technique gets” the better your psychology gets because confidence accumulates by doing things better with every single ball, the more the player learns about themselves, what is most natural to them is  directly proportional to performance. This is however only one element of psychology forgoing the psychological analysis of a player. The role within these interplays is clinical. They should look at the root cause and find answers unique to you!