SPORTS PERFORMANCE
At that moment Hockey ’ s loss was Athletics gain .
You would be wrong for thinking it is harsh for me to refer to Louise as a ‘ control freak ’. For her it is possibly the biggest compliment she could receive , probably the most accurate way of describing her and definitely the single most important reason why she won a gold medal in Delhi in 2010 .
Out of the 7 events Louise achieved a lifetime personal best performance in 4 of them which is about as perfect an example as you will see of an athlete ‘ peaking ’ at the right time . “ I took control of everything ” said Hazel , who was left with very few options after her coach took another job in London . “ I couldn ’ t afford to move to London so decided to learn how to plan my own training - I was completely self-taught ”. With the help of a few people Louise worked backwards from the date of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and planned exactly where her performance levels needed to be on numerous specific dates .
“ The year before that event was when I took control of my own training and taught myself how to programme and periodise everything . To this day not a lot of people know this about me , but the preparation and periodisation of elite athletes is my forte . It probably helps that I ’ m an absolute mad woman when it comes to orgnisation ” she joked ... but in a way that left me knowing that she was deadly serious .
“ I had the ability , the confidence and the foresight to take my training into my own hands and to understand it . For the first time ever I knew exactly where I was going and it was extremely empowering . I would encourage more athletes to educate themselves and find out
‘ why ’ they are doing what they are doing .
This is something that Louise has maintained during her personal training career and encourages all clients to ask the question , why ?
“ This is something we don ’ t do enough of in the fitness industry . We take it for granted that clients will accept our training methods which prevents us from ever really being challenged , which then hinders our development . With the general public you don ’ t need quite as much attention to detail , but with a performance athlete when a tenth of a second can make the difference between going to the Olympic Games or not , that ’ s when you really have to scrutinise over your training methodologies ”.
Complacency was not an option for Louise as an athlete , and it isn ’ t an option for her now .
On the evening of Friday 8th October 2010 , years after having chosen Athletics over team sports so that she could be in control of her own destiny , having utilised her multi-sport background to transfer seamlessly into being an international Heptathlon competitor and after having spent 12-months of controlling every minute detail of her training programme Louise Hazel was in third place after day one of the Commonwealth Games competition , with just three events to go .
I wanted to know what her expectations were for the following day , but before I even finished my question she excitedly interrupted me and said “ I was winning it . I was always winning it ”. She went on to tell me how she vividly remembered being on the physio bed in January 2010 getting treatment from Osteopath Poora Sohal , “ I told him I was going to win the Commonwealths . He said ‘ Ok Lou Lou , it ’ s nice that you have such a positive mental attitude ’ and laughed . I grabbed his arm and said ‘ No Poora , I AM going to win the Commonwealth Games ’, I just knew it was my destiny . There was no doubt about it in my mind , every single
106 MUSCLE & FITNESS / APRIL 2018