What Should Athletes Write in a Journal?
If you've been told to keep a training journal but nobody explained what to actually put in it, you're not alone. Most athletes either write too much (and quit after a week) or too little (and never get anything useful out of it).
The good news is you don't need to write a lot. You just need to write the right things. If you haven't settled on where to keep them, here's how to choose a training journal that sticks.
The essentials: what every entry should include
Session basics. What did you do, how long, and how hard did it feel (1-10). These three data points take ten seconds to log and they're the foundation for tracking your training load over time. Without them, you're just writing a diary. With them, you have something you can actually analyze.
One thing that worked. Could be technical, tactical, mental, or physical. "My hip position stayed low through the full set" or "I stayed calm after falling behind." You're building a personal library of what's going well, which matters a lot more than most athletes realize, especially during rough patches when it feels like nothing is working.
One thing to adjust. Where did you struggle? What broke down? Again, be specific. "Need to work on my backhand" is too broad. "My backhand slice keeps floating when I rush the setup" gives you something to focus on next session.
One intention for next time. Based on what you noticed today, what will you focus on next practice? This closes the loop between reflection and action. Without this step, your journal is just a record. With it, each session feeds into the next one.
What you don't need to write
Long paragraphs. A good entry can be four short lines. More is fine when you have the energy, but it should never be required.
Every detail of the session. You're not writing a play-by-play. You're capturing the signal, not the noise. The moments that mattered, the patterns you noticed, the decisions you'd make differently.
Feelings for their own sake. "I felt frustrated" is fine as context, but the journal should push past the feeling into the observation. Why were you frustrated? What triggered it? That's the useful part.
When to write
As close to the end of the session as possible. The details you capture five minutes after training are sharper than anything you'd remember that evening. Your cool-down or your walk to the car is the ideal window.
Make it easy on yourself
You can do this in any notebook or notes app. If you want something with the structure already built in and AI that spots patterns across your entries over time, Sherpa is a free app designed for exactly this kind of athlete journaling.