The aim of the Identification-Control-Correction (ICC) program is to optimize performance in national and international level athletes. The ICC program is a research-based psychopedagogical approach that attempts to improve the quality of coaching and consistency of performance in top-level athletes. Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that one of the serious barriers to Olympic success for the national and international level athletes is the inconsistency and unpredictability of their performance in major competitions, especially due to unexpected technical difficulties. This widespread phenomenon is usually manifested in: (a) instability of technique and a failure to consistently deliver expected results; (b) a sudden "breakdown" (or a "loss") of skill; and (c) "habitual" performance errors under competitive stress. Most coaches and top-level athletes recognize the importance and the need to maintain and further improve technical skills. What to do is intuitively clear, but how to identify individually optimal technique, how to control it under conditions of competitive stress, and how to do rapid, necessary, and often radical corrections is usually not quite clear. Thus, there is a need for a practical and research-based tool to cope with difficulties in performance of top-level athletes as a special group of expert performers with extensive experiences in intensive training and competition. Several issues as research and application objectives were addressed in this multidisciplinary project based on evidence from sport psychology, sport pedagogics, training theory and qualitative biomechanics. Specifically, how do we more effectively use subjective experiences of top-level athletes related to their successful and poor performances? How do we help them to be better aware (conceptually and physically) of their individually optimal movement patterns? How do we re-structure their available experiences to enable them to control their performance better in competitions? How does this approach affect coach-athlete communication and relationships? And, finally, what are the major benefits of the ICC program for the development of cooperation between the coaches, sport psychologists / consultants, and athletes? The ICC program was initially developed and empirically tested in multiple case-studies in athletics including eight events: jumping (high, long, and pole-vault); throwing (javelin, hammer, shot-put); and running (100m and 400m). Additionally, it was employed in nine other sports (swimming, diving, car racing, volleyball, soccer, pistol shooting, sailing, bowling, and free-style skiing). All athletes and coaches participating in this project had several years of experience of competing successfully at the international level. Considering the specifics and the individual-oriented nature of this project, a case-study qualitative and action-oriented approach was chosen. Action-focused coping was employed to identify, control individually optimal performance, and correct habitual learned performance errors in top-level athletes. The main goal was to see how this approach affects the level and consistency of performance and whether it has positive influence on the quality of the coaching process.
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