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The Five Rings is a phrase given by UK Athletics to five aspects of an athlete's training that will determine whether or not they actually do succeed at "world" level, whatever their physical potential.

The five ‘rings’ are:

fundamental movement skills, which are basic to advanced motor skills that underpin athletic performance in every event

psycho-behavioural aspects – the mental abilities and fitness required to train and compete with peak efficiency and effectiveness

lifestyle, the often neglected external factors that can play a significant part in enhancing or detracting from top performance

technical and tactical, the techniques and tactics required to master specific events

strength and conditioning, systematic and sustained preparation of the physical components necessary to address the demands of the event

Each of these can indicate specific strengths and weaknesses of a coaching programme and what may be missing from an athlete’s development.

Using this as assistance – and planning an appropriate competition pathway – can help athletes and their coaches to attain progressive targets.

Clubs can also use these resources to review how they operate and what they are doing in contributing to the process of helping athletes improve.

The Power of 10 website - link

...then uses some indicators so that all UK athletes can readily see what level they operate at - Good at Club level, Regional level or National level using the system described below

UK Target – the yellow line…

These figures have been raised for 2007 in line with how performances progressed in 2006 and are directly linked to the long-term aim of achieving 50% of finalists in 2012.

Some events made great progress between October 2005 and September 2006 (the UK T&F Season). For example:

Some targets proved more elusive than hoped but these statistics have highlighted where special assistance is needed. The UKA Event Management Groups (EMG), the Coaching and Teaching team and the World Class teams are committed to working closely with the Home Nations to support programmes that address weaknesses and build on strengths.

Athletes who rise above the yellow line in 2007 – whether in a Senior or Under 20 event – can be assured that the appropriate EMG will identify them and include them within the appropriate event programme. As part of UKA’s established and on-going policy of enhancing the educational development of as many coaches as possible, every personal coach of a UK Target-beating athlete will also be contacted.

Each EMG has a full set of plans in place and a full breakdown of these will be available in the Event Development section of the UKA website www.ukathletics.net before the end of April 2007. In the event that an athlete has been selected onto the World Class pathway, appropriate support will be identified through their primary performance point of contact. Inclusion in an event programme kicks-in on a 12-month cycle beginning each autumn, at the conclusion of the summer track and field season.

NB. For those events in the endurance world without P10 Targets – e.g. Half Marathon – the EMG has coaches in place to identify and assist in the development of athletes and coaches accordingly.

Progress Review – the blue line

This line sits below the UK Target and is the same whether an athlete lives in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or England. The line only appears on events in the Under 17 and Under 20 age groups.

Athletes in these age groups who perform well enough to exceed the blue line target can expect to hear from their local athletics agency, whether that is a Celtic office or an England Athletics regional office, with details of the relevant local event programme.

Programmes will focus on helping both coach and athlete to progress but continued inclusion will be dependent on their commitment to the local programme. Crossing the blue line does not mean “job done”. It is simply one indicator of progress that needs to be measured alongside others.

Within England, this responsibility will lie with each of the 9 regions and the England Athletics Performance Manager. Across the Celtic nations, Performance Development staff are also in place to lead the programmes and are employed by the respective federation.

Celtic Nation / English Region Target – the green line

This target is specific to where an athlete lives and trains. It is the first benchmark for them and their coach to gauge level of performance versus current local performance targets.

This group of targets provides a baseline for nations and regions to gauge progress in their area towards raising standards