Even the best players go through periods of poor form. Strikers sometimes misplace their shooting boots, midfielders get their coordinates mixed up, defenders become as fearful as a basket of kittens and goalkeepers find that their gloves have football si

1 Before you can treat a disease, you need to be able to diagnose it. “You need to take ownership,” Goodenough says. “You want to be proactive and rectify what the problem is before it costs you in a big game.” 2 “Did you give 100-percent in this game or did you let yourself down with effort?” As Goodenough says, effort is an easy variable to measure. Poor form is not always down to a loss of skills. Sometimes an upswing in performance simply requires a look in the mirror. 3 If you have been putting as much effort as you do at your peak, then it's time to start looking at how you're executing your task. As a striker, are you putting away your chances? Are you out of the action or struggling to read the play? “Break it down into individual moments in the game." 4 Before you start working on your shooting technique or running extra laps after practice, ask yourself if there are external interferences that could be clouding your performances. “This is a ‘what' question, not ‘why' question,” Goodenough says. “What is going in your life? What is the interference?” Relationship troubles, agent disagreements, clashes with teammates? Address these first before you tinker with your technique. 5 “Elite athletes often perform more consistently in training than they do in matches. Why? Because there is no pressure." That is why it is imperative that a failure to execute a task in practice has consequences. Miss a shot: run extra laps. Fail to deliver a certain number of balls from wide: buy a teammate lunch. As minor as these repercussions may seem, they place an importance on executing when there are no crowds or cameras to watch. 6 “Most coaches want to coach poor form away, but this really should be the last thing they do." If there is a technical flaw in a player, muscle memory needs to be reset and retaught. This can take time. The trick is to keep it simple. “What is the most important part of your game that you need to be successful? Find that and work on it until you are supremely confident in your ability.” 7 When you were a laaitie chasing after balls barefoot, you didn't worry about slumps in form. You played the game because you loved it. “Most people want to try fix problems as soon as they identify them, but all too often they do so from an agitated place,” Goodenough concludes. “Find your enjoyment, find your meaning. Everyone performs better when they're in a good space.” KO