This is a guest article from coach and PhD candidate Adam Kelly.

The traditional image is that coaching is about developing the techniques of batting, bowling and fielding.

But another way to define coaching is, 'performance-improvement technique'. So coaches should use any technique that enhances performance.

Using psychological techniques in your coaching will enhance the learning curve of your athletes. Here are several methods you can add to your coaching:

1. Self-talk

Everyone talks to himself or herself, every time you say something that is not directed at another person that’s self-talk. When you are walking with a song stuck in your head that is self-talk.

Self-talk has been shown to work in skill development within football, basketball and many other sports. Neil Jenkins - the British Lions and Wales kicker Rugby Union- used cue word of 'rhythm' when kicking in practice and competition.

But how can we use this to develop skills?

In my dissertation I analyse the self-talk of international fast bowlers. I discovered they use self-talk to tell themselves where to bowl. Examples are 'Get the Yorker full' and 'hit the top of off stump'.

Notice that they focus on what they want to do and avoid saying 'don't' bowl here or there.

They also use self-talk to develop technical issues. Examples are 'stay tall' and 'drive through the crease'. Notice that they are again telling themselves what they want to achieve.

So while you coach you need to find out what the players are saying to themselves. Then focus on saying what they want to achieve.

2. Imagery

Imagery is one of the most powerful psychological skills. If used correctly it enhances learning and performance at all levels.

Our brains store information like a slide show. If we can imagine performing a skill in enough detail the brain will think it is performed the skill.

Michael Phelps - 18 times Olympic champion - imagines the perfect race and has been doing so since he was 7 years old. Jonny Wilkinson imagines a women reading a newspaper in the stands behind the goal as a target to hit.

The key to imagery is to incorporate all the senses into the image. This helps athletes familiarise themselves with the skill before it is executed. Using the demonstration as reference points ask the athletes to image themselves executing the skill.

For example, take a front foot drive;

Feel your feet on the ground and your weight evenly balanced. You feel the warm sun on your skin. You can smell the freshly cutgrass. Your head is level as you see the bowler running in. You feel the weight of the bat in your hands and forearm as you lift the bat. You see the ball leave the bowlers hand and coming towards you. You move your front foot forward, feeling your foot pushing off the ground and landing again, your back foot is on the tip of your big toe. The whole time your watching the ball. You move you bat down feeling the momentum as your bat moves down and the forearm holding the bat high and straight. You see the ball bounce and then make contact with the bat. You feel the ball in the ‘sweat’ spot on the bat and watch the ball fly off the face of the bat.

Get all the senses involved, write this down in an 'imagery script' (details on doing that in this online course) and the imagery should take the same time as the event happens in 'real' life.

3. Attention

Attention and concentration are different. Concentration is just part of attention (the ability to maintain focus). The other parts are 'selection of stimuli' and 'mental time-sharing' ability.

How often do we hear commentators say 'he has lost his concentration'?

As coaches we know it is important for our athletes to concentrate on the right stimuli (i.e. the ball when batting).

But how do we help athletes understand this?

Follow these steps;

1. Concentrate for the time the ball is in play or the drill which is being run.
2. Tell the athletes what stimuli to select.
3. How long to spend on each stimuli (time-sharing).

For example, slip catching. Tell the fielder, once in the base position, to concentrate on the bowler until release, then concentrate on the batsmen. WHen the ball is edged, concentrate on the ball and 'nod' (nodding the head helps watch the ball all the way) into your hands.

The key message to deliver is about where to concentrate, how long for and what stimuli to pay attention to.

Adam Kelly has played county cricket for Somerset, Worcestershire and Northamptonshire, Wiltshire. Adam is currently working on his PhD theis in sport psychology: 'Investigation into pre-delivery routines in cricket batsmen'. You can read his blog here.