ABSTRACT
Nutrition is incredibly personal to each athlete but their preferences around nutrition, foods they like before or after training or during competition will need to be considered and incorporated into their performance planning. Using metacognitive processes can enhance performance and equip athletes with the strategies, beliefs and self-understanding to excel in their performances. A fun version of the process for junior athletes to use is a ‘self-awareness washing line’. A strong self-identity as an athlete can be helpful to their performance as it helps maintain their motivation to train, helps them work consistently, prepare well and pushes them to make the right choices for their sport in the rest of their lives. If the athlete’s sporting self-identity is too strong then athletes can be advised to grow their support network and interests outside of sport. The process can also act as a tool to support reflection to help an athlete look deeper into key incidents or periods in training where they struggled and could have performed better.
