Tag Archive: equestrian

1. Athlete empowerment- gone too far?

   20th July 2010 11:21 am 1 Comment

   One of the buzz catchphrases for the last year has been “athlete empowerment” when dealing with young athletes. The young athletes (a loose term, most of them are recreational games players)are supposed to be able to choose what type of training programme they follow, and even give feedback on it.

   Has this gone too far?

   Is this an excuse for athletes to dictate how and where they train,

   I liken this to the difference between the original Star Trek series where the crew went out and explored and got on with things and The Next Generation where Deanna Troi wanted to cuddle everything in sight. Guess what, the original series stands up quite well (except for the effects) but TNG looks dated.

   At some point you have to stop the cuddling and get on and toughen up a bit; unless your sport requires cuddling at International Level.

   For me, it doesn’t make sense for 16-17 year old school children with 3-4 years of recreational playing experience to dictate whole training strategies to coaches. If I “empowered” my daughter when we went to the supermarket she would stock up on olives and ice cream. O.k for one meal, but disastrous as a long term diet.

   The whole point of having coaches who are experienced and educated, is that it helps shape the training programme for the athlete. I empower the athletes as far as gaining feedback and asking questions of them. but I shape the programmes, in conjunction with their sports coaches.

   I think a lot of it comes down to some youngsters wanting to get a tracksuit, feel part of a squad or team, but not actually having to confront the reality of hard work and dedication that is necessary to succeed at International sport.  By molly coddling them and allowing them to dictate in the short term, we are actually harming their long term prospects

    

2. Role Models- Coach versus athlete

   25th May 2010 3:00 pm 2 Comments

   Who would you rather have preparing you for a World Championship Boxing match: Cus D’Amato or Mike Tyson?

   At a recent level 1 S&C coaching course I brought up the idea of athletic development and having an idea of a great athlete to try and model yourself on. We also discussed how much of a role model a Coach should be and what this should entail.

   For me Tyson would provide a visual, psychological and emotional imprint of a boxer.

   D’Amato would be the trainer who could help me achieve that. 

   The athlete may be a short term inspiration, and we need that, but the Coach provides the long term solution.

   “A boy comes to me with a spark of interest and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze.”
               
                – Cus D’Amato

    

    

3. Flexible Non Linear Periodization- “Brand new concept” – Not.

   29th March 2010 11:07 am 1 Comment

   Flexible Non Linear Periodization is a new concept according to research published here. The concept is that if your athlete turns up to the gym fatigued, not having slept, or feeling ill or stressed, you adapt the workout to that situation.  You don’t inflict the prescribed periodized workout onto the athlete.

   Let me think about that for a second… yes, that is what I thought- FNP is simply another word for COACHING. I sometimes wonder what little world these academics live in.  Most of the research quoted that supports periodization models, or the benefits of practising the 2nd pull in the Olympic Lifts is done in a little bubble of academia, not familiar with the real world of athletic development and coaching.

   The authors think that this is a brand new concept, because in their review of literature, not other researchers have used this flexible approach.  They state that “FNL periodization is a new strategy that should theoretically maximize athletic performance in numerous sports and physical performances”.

   Last year I was in part of a group session of peer review with a “distinguished academic”. Each coach had to put up their programme that they had been working on with their athlete. Apart from one coach, who actually expressed a bit of a mish mash and making do around the many travels and problems of the athletes, the rest of the programmes looked like they had been cut and paste from the beginners guide to periodisation. They all looked very neat and tidy, but I doubt if anyone of them had actually been implemented.

   When planning for your athlete, it is important to have an overview, and an idea of what you want to get from that workout, that week and that month, as well as the overall development of the athlete. But the single most important part of coaching, is communicating with the athlete and then being flexible enough to adjust accordingly. That does come with experience.