End of season: reviewing the season together
A one-hour routine at the end of the season: look at the numbers, agree what worked, and choose three points to work on next season.
The weeks after the last race are the best time to look back: memories are fresh and the next season has not started. A good season review ends with a few clear, specific goals — specific goals tend to lead to better performance than a general “do your best” (Locke and Latham, 2002).
One hour in four steps
- Look at the numbers (15 minutes). Training, race and rest days, disciplines, race runs — including runs that did not finish — and how the athlete felt and slept. Missing answers are missing, not zero.
- What worked (15 minutes). Athlete and coach each name two things that went well, with an example from training or a race.
- What held you back (15 minutes). Look for situations that repeat, for example late pressure in steep sections or poor sleep before early starts. A repeated situation is a starting point for a conversation, not a diagnosis. Compare the errors you both noticed with those only the coach noted — the second group is where awareness grows next season.
- Three points for next season (15 minutes). Choose at most three, write each as an observable goal, and agree who is responsible and when you will first review it.
- Numbers
- 96 training days, 9 race runs: 5 finished, 2 DNF, 1 DNS, 1 DSQ. Sleep quality 1–2 in about a quarter of the answers.
- Worked
- One cue before each start; clean transitions in giant slalom.
- Held back
- Late pressure in steep rhythm changes; short nights before early starts.
- Next season
- 1. Earlier edge in steep sections. 2. Bedtime plan before races. 3. One breath after a mistake. First review after the autumn camp.
In DOME5 a season runs from 1 June to 31 May. When it ends, the entries are archived and you get a season closing with the season numbers and the points to watch next season. The coach can also issue an annual report. Start the new season with a fresh training diary routine.