SPARK PRACTICE
IVC Paris Decoding your Performance Profile
- Sarah SPARK
- February 18, 2026
For several years, I was an elite rower, competing in nationals, international competitions, and going through the
whole NCAA Division 1 recruiting process. I worked with experienced coaches that also worked with national teams,
olympians, and often had their own careers as elite rowers.
Why this is important
Elite Sports has been on forefront of performance psychology and physiology for a long time now - and as musicians (aka super-precision athletes), we can absolutely relate.
Many of the lessons I learned as a rower are directly applicable to the very physically and mentally challenging activity of practicing and performing music at a high level.
Let’s look at some of the big differences between elite sports and elite music.
What most people don't know
A couple major differences that I experienced as an elite rower were:
- 60-70% of my time training was accompanied by a coach, even at an elite level. Imagine if 60-70% of the time you played/practiced was with your teacher?!
- I didn’t have to worry about what to practice, all I had to do was show up well-rested with a good attitude, and I could trust that my coach had a plan.
- My coaches had a training path mapped out for my progression - leading my training towards big goals, and also accounting for rest and recovery.
3 Secrets to Get Better Every Day
The difference in time means that as musicians, we miss out on active feedback and are left to fend for ourselves much earlier in our musical, technical, and mental game development than sports athletes.
In music, our expectations for excellence are often unmet because students / learners don’t have the support they need to install the right information (theory & practical)
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Some teachers are better at this than others, but many don’t work with learners to figure out WHAT the goals are, and fewer communicate clearly to the student HOW to get there.
This is why graded repertoire lists / repertoire benchmarking per year (the kinds of rep you can anticipate playing in which year o
SOUND
Bow / Air Alone
Homeopathy is a safe, natural form of medicine, based on the practice of treating like with like. Homeopathy is derived from the Greek words homios.
PERFORMANCE
Trailmarkers
Homeopathy Improvisation Visualisation with Feelings
ATTUNED INTONATION
The Scaleton
Homeopathy is a safe, natural form of medicine, based on the practice of treating like with like. Homeopathy is derived from the Greek words homios.
RHYTHM
Sub/Superdivision Ninja
Homeopathy is a safe, natural form of medicine, based on the practice of treating like with like. Homeopathy is derived from the Greek words homios.
KINETIC INTEGRATION
Hand Frame Choreography
Homeopathy is a safe, natural form of medicine, based on the practice of treating like with like. Homeopathy is derived from the Greek words homios.
BONUS MAGIC
Anticipation is Mastery
Everything has a Personality
Homeopathy is a safe, natural form of medicine, based on the practice of treating like with like. Homeopathy is derived from the Greek words homios.
Try this SPARK Practice Plan
IVC Paris Decoding your Performance Profile
SOUND
Everything you need to know about Cake
PERFORMANCE
What Elite Sports Teaches us about Audition Preparation
ATTUNEMENT
What Elite Sports Teaches us about Audition Preparation
RHYTHM
What Elite Sports Teaches us about Audition Preparation
KINESTHETIC
What Elite Sports Teaches us about Audition Preparation
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The point of using dummy text for your paragraph is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters. making it look like readable English.
The point of using dummy text for your paragraph is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters. making it look like readable English.
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Don't Practice Too Much
Most teachers have a good understanding of what it takes to be a “good player”. This means that we’re building technique, communicating a musical story, and know how to get on stage and give a good performance.
However, very few teachers have a proven formula or framework to follow to make sure you’re a Total Package Player.
Having a tested framework that gets results changes everything - and
Then, let’s take that another step with finding the missing SPARK in our playing.
First we look into the zones of excellence: Technique / Artistry / Presence / Support. What’s working / what’s not?
Next, we look at where we want to improve, and map out the Path to Performance, following the SPARK Practice Audition Accelerator phases of invincible performances: Pathways / Accelerator / Triumph / Hero.
Spark the conversation
This all comes back to Intention. When we know why and how we want to do something, and we commit to it with determination and intention, the chances of us succeeding are much greater.
Further, when we have a strategy and framework to work from, these elements come together more quickly and more organically - because we’re nurturing a clear pathway to success rather than giving equal weight to all of the confusing options.
We can always refine and modify our goals - but to act with intention will give us more options and help us make the impact we really look for: the connection with our audience.
See you in the practice room!
Sarah ⚡️❤️
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