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Coach education
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How to Start Your Own Training Diary
The Rules of Athletics
See Tipperary Athletic Bye-laws here.
See Munster Juvenile Cross Country Booklet here.
See Munster Juvenile Indoor Competition Booklet here.
See AAI Juvenile Competition Book here.
See AAI Competition Rule Book here.
Coaching Athletics
It will not happen without coaches like you. Athletics needs excellent coaches, skillful guiding young athletes through the fun and excitement of early competition and training, instilling a love of working hard to achieve goals, but avoiding the dangers of over specialization, over training and too much pressure. Athletics needs expert coaches who can identify and nurture talent in its widest sense, allowing it to blossom. Athletics needs coaches who can guide world class athletes towards that most elusive of prizes, Olympic Gold. We have some brilliant coaches in our Club and we need more. We want to ensure that in our Club, our coaches are effectively supported, developed and deployed, that coaches work together for the good of athletes and other coaches throughout our sport of athletics.
Athletics at young juvenile level involves learning through participation in the fundamental athletic activities of running, jumping and throwing. The skills associated with these activities can, at juvenile cycle, begin to be applied to modified forms of standard events. The element of competition inherent in athletics is presented here with reference to the abilities of the individual student. Hence the student’s experience of competitive situations is in the context of personal goals rather than relating performance to that of others. Athletics seeks to develop in the student:
• the ability to participate in running, jumping and throwing activities in a variety of contexts
• enhanced knowledge and understanding of athletic activities
• the capacity to set personal goals and understand and appreciate the concept of fair play
• a love for and enjoyment of athletics
• enhanced social development through participation in group activities.
Prepare to Coach
Prepare
Think about what preparation is required before training.
Prior to the training session look at the safety aspect of the location.
Keep distractions to a minimum.
Consider effective aids to use to enhance your training session.
Reason
(1) Why are you coaching?
(2) You need to grab your athlete’s attention from the very start as they will filter out whatever
information does not appeal to them.
(3) Look for interesting statements to keep their attention.
(4) Just because you understand what you mean, are you sure that your athlete does?
Why
What incentive is there for athletes to listen, consider why any athlete would listen to you? They won’t listen because you are the coach. Think about sporting people your athletes can relate to and make brief positive statements about them during training. A training session should not just be one way, let the athletes have a say, it will give them more of an interest.
Outline
This is important as it’s here that you will detail major stages of your training session.
Decide on the major points you want to train on.
Athletes will only be able to cope with a small amount of information at any one time.
Don’t think you have to go through every aspect in each coaching session.
Preparation
Read through the stages that you are going to introduce.
A good beginning and a good ending are important if you want athletes to remember.
Consider the effective aids required for a successful training session.
Don’t assume that you have all the answers and ask the athletes their opinions.
Don’t include too much talking in your training sessions as athletes learn faster from doing.
Delivery
Your attitude is important as it will show in the way you present yourself. You need to convey a sense of enthusiasm.
Be positive This comes from preparation.
Be firm Get the message across, don’t side track.
Be Confident Look at athletes and get them involved.
Be serious Your athletes outlook on sport is in your hands.
You can only correct one action at one time, remember these athletes have been doing this, their way, for most of their lives and one training session is not going to change them over night.
Always listen to your athlete and try to bring them up to your level and not you down to theirs.The ideal situation is to let the athletes do the action first, then ask the questions, but also allow the athletes to have their own say. You don’t always have to agree with it but it will make them feel important. Remember, to get the athletes attention you may have to get down to their level, even if this means kneeling on the ground, but remember, bring the athlete up with you, a little at a time, until both of you are at the same level.
The Warm Up
A warm up period is the first part of every training session or preparation for competition. The warm up starts slowly and systematically and gradually involves all muscles and body parts that prepare the athlete for training and competition. In addition to preparing the athlete mentally, warming up also has several physiological benefits.
Raises body temperature
Increases metabolic rate
Increases heart and respiratory rate
Prepares the muscles and nervous system for exercise
The warm up is tailored for the activity to follow. Warm ups consist of active motion leading up to more vigorous motion to elevate heart, respiratory and metabolic rates. The total warm up period takes at least 25 minutes and immediately precedes the training or competition. A warm-up period will include the following basic sequence and components.
Activity Purpose Time (minimum) Slow aerobic jog Heat muscles 5 minutes Stretching Increase range of movement 10 minutes Acceleration strides Increase blood circulation and oxygen intake 2-3 minutes Event specific drills Coordination preparation for training/competition 10 minutes
Jogging
Jogging is the first exercise of an athlete\'s routine. Athletes begin warming the muscles by jogging slowly for 3-5 minutes. This circulates the blood through all the muscles, thus providing them greater flexibility for stretching. A jog should start out slowly, and then gradually increase in speed to its completion; however, the athlete should never reach even 50% of his maximum effort by the end of the jog. Remember, the sole objective of this phase of the warm-up is circulating the blood.
Stretching
Stretching is one of the most critical parts of the Warm Up and an athlete\'s performance. A more flexible muscle is a stronger and healthier muscle. A stronger and healthier muscle responds better to exercise and activities and helps prevent athlete injury. Please refer to the Stretching within this section for more in depth information.
Acceleration Strides
Acceleration strides increase the athlete\'s blood circulation and oxygen intake, improve the athlete\'s running technique, and heighten the athlete\'s level of physical fitness. Acceleration strides start out slowly, and increase in speed gradually, yet forcefully. Each successive stride increases in speed so that by the final run, the athlete performs at about 80 percent effort. Runs should be about 50M long, and the athletes should jog/walk back to the starting line. The athletes should concentrate on good running technique during these strides.
Event Specific Drills
Drills are progressions of learning that start at a low ability level, advance to an intermediate level, and finally, reach a high ability level. Encourage each athlete to advance to their highest possible level.
Kinesthetic movements are reinforced through repetitions of a small segment of the skill to be performed. Many times, the actions are exaggerated in order to strengthen the muscles that perform the skill. Each coaching session should take the athlete through the entire progression so that he/she is exposed to the total of all of the skills that make up an event.
The Cool Down
The cool down is as important as the warm up, however it is often ignored. Abruptly stopping an activity may cause pooling of the blood and slow the removal of waste products in the athlete\'s body. It may also cause cramps, soreness, and other problems for athletes. The cool down gradually reduces the body temperature and heart rate and speeds the recovery process before the next training session or competitive experience. The cool down is also a good time for the coach and athlete to talk about the session or competition.
Activity Purpose Time (minimum) Slow aerobic jog Lowers body, muscles
Gradually reduces heart rate5 minutes Light stretching Removes waste from muscles 5 minutes
http://www.sprintic.com/
Track and field
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzCR8cQMkXw&feature=response_...
Shot put video
http://trackandfield.about.com/od/coachingresources/Coaching...
Coaching Track and Field
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-practice-runn
Athletics Video
www.coacheseducation.com/index.php
Coach education
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/
Sports advice website
http://www.lucozade.com/SPORT/
Advice for all athletes
www.indi.ie.
Advice for all on Nutrition
http://www.runrepublic.ie/training/10k.htm
Training for a 10K marathon
http://dublinmarathon.ie/training.php
Fuel for a marathon
http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?page_id=1251