The Menu Approach
The Menu Approach is another system for implementing mental skills training into a macrocycle.
- The menu approach “provides a structured way to systematically vary key variables while providing athletes with choices on the type of exercises chosen to develop and implement targeted mental training tools, skills and plans”, allowing athletes to be flexible on which concepts and exercises they choose to tackle for any given work out (Holliday et al., 2008, p. 210).
- The athlete can choose exercises and concepts they choose.
- Given a list, the athlete may choose an exercise that is very challenging mentally during a week that requires less physical demand.
- Or the athlete may decide to work on concepts that are less demanding, because of stress and challenges outside of their training life that have been more draining on them as a person.
- Using this method, with coaching guidance, can give athletes options for choosing exercises to be performed as they coincide with their physical training, timing with competitive schedule and overall life situations.