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New book published: ‘Coaches’ Corner’
7th November 2024
Essays to help sports coaches and P.E. teachers. My latest book, ‘Coaches’ Corner,’ is now available to buy on Amazon. It contains over 50 essays about athletic development, coaching, and physical education based on my work over the last ten years as Head Coach of Excelsior Athletic Development Club. How and what I’ve coached has […]
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Training young athletes: Part 5:Kelvin Giles

Strength and conditioning for children appears to be a popular topic. Unfortunately, short cuts are often desired (4 hour International Athlete anyone?). One of the common, if unpopular, themes from the guest Coaches this week has been fundamentals, process and detail. Today’s author is a great exponent of that.

Kelvin GilesKelvin Giles has a vast experience working with International athletes.  His “This isn’t a text book” is on my recommended reading list.

These are probably best for coaches:

  • ‘Give them the physical competence to do the technical stuff and the technical competence to do the tactical stuff – in that order.’ 
  • ‘In the early stages let them solve movement puzzles in their own way. Don’t overcoach – let them work things out.’ 
  • ‘Progress exercises in a variety of ways – Static to Dynamic; Slow to Fast; Simple to Complex; Unloaded to Loaded.’ 

For the Athletes:
‘This is a test of your patience – you might not get it right to start with.’ 

  • ‘Have you had your water bottle with you all day?’ 
  • ‘The best way to recover is to get a good night’s sleep.’ 
  • ‘It’s not whether you try hard today but whether you try hard all the time – tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade.’ 
  • ‘Don’t worry about what the person next to you is doing – focus on what you have to do.’ 
  • ‘Be smart in training and more importantly be smart outside training. You are an athlete all the time.’ 

Kelvin Giles

Thanks to all of our guest authors who have given such great tips on training young athletes. It is very useful to hear from such a wealth of experience.

If you wish to have an easy to follow guide to training young athletes, then click on the book cover to the right. I wrote this standing on the shoulders of giants.

Comments

  1. […] be able to efficiently & effectively brake we need to have a level of physical competency. Kelvin Giles  describes physical competency […]

  2. […] The coaches were asking lots of questions as we went along, and I was happy to answer them: the downside being that we were behind schedule. We touched on the difficulty of monitoring in season. It is important to collect and use the right data without becoming “random number gatherers” (Kelvin Giles) […]

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Josh Steels: wheelchair tennis
I started working with James 3 years ago via the TASS programme. When James first met me, physically I was nowhere the best I could be. Since working with James I have seen vast improvements in my fitness and strength which has been put into great use on court. Each session is worked around making sure I am able to get the best quality training as well as catering for my chronic pain and fatigue levels. On top of this James has always been happy to meet at facilities that are best for myself meaning I could fit training sessions in on route to tournaments or camps.
 
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