Gaining the Psychological Advantage Through Performance Monitoring
As sport is ever evolving, teams and individuals who wish to reach the top are constantly looking at the little details or “inches” that will help drive them towards the finish line in 1st place or help them achieve that last minute winning score. One of the best ways to achieve that is to record, monitor, and analyse their own details to prepare for the future. But why do this? Why would a system like this benefit anyone in sport? Surely an athlete or player knows what they are doing themselves?
In essence, most athletes and players do have a vast knowledge of the sport they’re playing, yet a platform such as this can give them the edge, and psychologically there is more than enough evidence to support this. In a previous blog I mentioned how monitoring can improve psychological aspects of the athlete like develop higher levels of motivation and autonomy for making better choices – yet this is really just the tip of the ice berg.
Looking closely at the benefits, we can see from a training perspective that knowing when to accurately adjust training load and intensity coupled with keeping in touch with areas of training that require more attention than others are vitally important. Monitoring your training and daily habits can regulate your progression.
Looking closer at the psychological aspects, Leo Isaac found that athletes are able to identify more “self-knowledge” through this monitoring idea, and that this in turn can help the athletes identify problems that interfere with performance (both acute and chronic). Giving the athlete this extra knowledge makes them a stronger individual mentally and could in turn improve the coach-athlete relationship.
Self-monitoring can also benefit an athlete by boosting impetus and confidence – studies have shown that athletes who keep a log of their training exude more confidence in the knowledge that they have trained hard over the season and can reflect on this looking at their log (Sportinmind). Self-monitoring also allows the athlete to gain perspective, improve focus and improve training adherence and punctuality –this is done by making athletes accountable through their training log.
Goal-setting is another big influence on an athlete’s career – this can be enhanced through self-monitoring by means of athletes identifying where they currently are in terms of training and performance, and how they wish to reach a certain goal (the extra gear.com).
Again this is only a sample of what monitoring athletes training and lifestyle can do. Metrifit has been designed with this in mind, and is the culmination of a number of psychological studies based on athletes and teams in sport. When we couple this psychological aspect with the physical measurements, we can see that Metrifit is a powerful tool in the race for sporting greatness.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit”, Aristotle
About Metrifit
Metrifit is an athlete monitoring system that gathers subjective and objective information from both coaches and athletes in a simple but effective manner with intelligent visualization helping coaches and athletes to act on that data. Why not have a look at our Ready to Perform product and gain insight on the physical and mental state of your athletes through our daily wellbeing questionnaire? To find out more visit our Metrifit Product Overview page or get in touch for a free demo.

Dan Horan
Head of Fitness for International Football/Fitness Coach Men's Senior Team
Football Association of Ireland
Dan Horan
Head of Fitness for International Football/Fitness Coach Men's Senior Team
Football Association of Ireland


Richard Deuchrass
Lincoln University Athletic Performance Manager
Richard Deuchrass
Lincoln University Athletic Performance Manager


Erik Helland
Director of Strength & Conditioning and Head Strength Coach Men’s basketball, University of Wisconsin
Erik Helland
Director of Strength & Conditioning and Head Strength Coach Men’s basketball, University of Wisconsin


Paul Cremin
Head Physiotherapist, Cornish Pirates Rugby Club
Paul Cremin
Head Physiotherapist, Cornish Pirates Rugby Club


Brian Clarke
Head Strength and Conditioning Co-ordinator,Noblesville High School
Brian Clarke
Head Strength and Conditioning Co-ordinator,Noblesville High School


Kevin Schultz
Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Director of Olympic Strength & Conditioning
University of Wisconsin
Kevin Schultz
Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Director of Olympic Strength & Conditioning
University of Wisconsin


Tommy Mooney
Strength and Conditioning Coach at DCU Sport and with Dublin Minor GAA
Tommy Mooney
Strength and Conditioning Coach at DCU Sport and with Dublin Minor GAA


Dave Passmore
Head Coach, Irish Hockey
Dave Passmore
Head Coach, Irish Hockey


J.B. Belzer
Head Coach, Women's Soccer at Regis University
J.B. Belzer
Head Coach, Women's Soccer at Regis University


Edgar K. Tham
Founder and Chief Sport & Performance Psychologist, SportPsych Consulting (Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines)
Edgar K. Tham
Founder and Chief Sport & Performance Psychologist, SportPsych Consulting (Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines)


Niall O’Driscoll
Academy Directory, SJ.B (St. Joseph’s Bray ) Academy
Niall O’Driscoll
Academy Directory, SJ.B (St. Joseph’s Bray ) Academy


Brijesh Patel
Quinnipiac University, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Brijesh Patel
Quinnipiac University, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach


Jason McGahan
Sports Scientist, Kildare Football, PhD Sports Science Researcher
Jason McGahan
Sports Scientist, Kildare Football, PhD Sports Science Researcher




Cian O’Neill
Kildare Senior Football Manager
Cian O’Neill
Kildare Senior Football Manager


Joe O’Connor
NISUS Fitness, S&C Coach Clare Senior Hurling, Horse Sport Ireland and Limerick Senior Hurling
Joe O’Connor
NISUS Fitness, S&C Coach Clare Senior Hurling, Horse Sport Ireland and Limerick Senior Hurling


Tino Fusco, B.Sc. ChPC
Head Coach, Women's Soccer, Mount Royal University (Canada)
Tino Fusco, B.Sc. ChPC
Head Coach, Women's Soccer, Mount Royal University (Canada)


Robert Karlsson, Professional Golfer
Robert Karlsson, Professional Golfer


Yvonne Treacy
Nutritionist, Wexford Camogie
Yvonne Treacy
Nutritionist, Wexford Camogie




Dr. Dale Richardson
CEO Achieve Total Performance Pty Ltd
Dr. Dale Richardson
CEO Achieve Total Performance Pty Ltd


Michael Torres
CEO, Shift Performance, Miami
Michael Torres
CEO, Shift Performance, Miami


Graham Williams
Athletic Development Coach, MSc ASCC
Millfield School, UK
Graham Williams
Athletic Development Coach, MSc ASCC
Millfield School, UK


Eamonn Fitzmaurice
Kerry Senior Football, Manager
Eamonn Fitzmaurice
Kerry Senior Football, Manager


Kari Thompson
Head Volley Ball Coach, Southern Illinois University
Kari Thompson
Head Volley Ball Coach, Southern Illinois University
