COACHING IN ELECTIVE ATHLETICS /SpSc 3143/

CHAPTER ONE -DEVELOPING A COACHING PHILOSOPHY IN

ATHLETICS
What do we mean by Philosophy?
Philosophy is simply the way you see situations and experiences in your life. It is the way
you view People and develop relationships with them. It is also the value you put on all of
these. You already have a philosophy of life and this may be well developed. You may be
aware of your philosophy or you may be unaware, behaving and doing things without giving
much thought to the reasons for your decisions. Whether you are very aware of your
philosophy, partially aware or completely unaware, this personal philosophy is always
developing and will do so throughout your life.
What is coaching?
The term ‘coaching’ is often used to cover a wide range of activities, usually to help someone
prepare for something. Coaching in athletics has been described as the organized provision of
assistance to an individual athlete or group of athletes in order to help them develop and
improve.
Many people would claim to help in this way, for example, parents, teachers, officials and
sponsors. So what does coaching really involve? Coaching involves teaching, training,
instructing and more. It is not simply about helping people to learn sports skills, improve
performance and reach their potential. It is also about recognizing, understanding, respecting
and providing for the other needs of athletes. These needs are many and cover a wide range
such as social and emotional needs, as well as the more obvious needs related to athletics and
competition.
As a good coach you should have a code of behavior based on a code of ethics which places
the rights and needs of your athletes before those of yourself. You will need to develop a
caring and continuing relationship with the athletes you coach. Participation in athletics is a
social process. Your coaching will therefore have great power to shape the lives of your
athletes through this social process.

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The Roles of a Coach

It is possible to see your only job as a coach in setting exercises and tasks to bring about
changes in performance. Experienced coaches will point out that this is only part of the
picture. As a coach you will have many jobs and functions. Some you will perform willingly,
others will be less attractive to you, but are just as important. All these jobs or roles
contribute to being a successful coach.
Information confidential because if you do not then all respect the athlete had for you as a
friend and coach will be lost.
Facilitator –identify suitable competition for them to compete in to help them achieve their
overall objectives for the year.
Fact finder – gathering data of national and international results and to keep abreast of
current training techniques.
Fountain of knowledge – this may be part of the advisor in that you will often be asked
question on any sporting event, events that were on the television, diet, sport injuries, and
topics unrelated with their sport.
Instructor- instructing athletes in the skills of their sport
Mentor –when athletes attend training sessions you are responsible to their parents and
family, for ensuring that they are safe and secure. You have to mentor their health and safety
whilst training and support them should they have any problems or sustain any injuries.
Manager/organizer and planner/ - preparation of training plan for each athlete and organise
attendance at meetings and coaching clinics.
Motivator –maintain the motivation of all athletes the whole round.
Role model –a person who serves in a particular behaviour or social role should be a role
model for another person to emulate. The way you conduct yourself whilst in the presence of
your athletes provides an example of how they should behave what sort of example we
should be providing to someone else’s children, perhaps one of the most important roles of a
coach.
Supporter –completion can be a very nerve racking experience for some athletes and often
they like you to be around to and support them through the pressures. Role of a friend and
perhaps counsel or come in to be hero too.
Teacher – imparting new knowledge, ideas and skills.
Trainer – improving fitness.
Disciplinarian – creating an environment for each athlete’s self-control.
Administrator – dealing with the paper work.

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Publicity agent - promoting within society and possibly with the media.
Scientist – analysing, evaluating and problem solving
Student – always willing to listen, learn and look for new knowledge

Developing a philosophy of coaching

In developing a formal philosophy the coach can take four components and to his /her best
ability formulate a coaching philosophy document with the aim to be a better coach, to
improve coach/ athlete satisfaction and to achieve superior athletic results. This four
components are:-
1. Knowing yourself, your strength, weakness and areas requiring improvements.
2. Knowing what you want to achieve/knowledge of objective/
3. Knowing what you are up against and the obstacles you may encounter
4. Understanding your athletes, their personalities, abilities, goals and why they are in
your sport.
1. Knowledge of your self
It takes honest assessment to admit to having weaknesses but we all have them. We just
do not want them to interfere with good coaching judgement. By focusing on your
strengths you will able to identify consistent ways to coach that utilize those strengths.
Are you a good teacher or motivator or academic or communicator or a formal athlete?
Are you dynamic or easy going or hardnosed or open and friendly? Use your strength to
your advantage. By taking time to make a series assessment of your strength and
weaknesses and recognizing your morals, values and beliefs you are better able to adapt
your own style to the athletes being coached.
2. Knowledge of objectives/ knowing what you want to achieve/

If you ask questions what they want out of coaching. The answers usually include:
 Winning
 Fun
 Athletic development
All are important, however: an athlete’s development is affected by the importance placed on
winning or losing. Striving to win is always important. A ‘win at all cost’ attitude, however,
ignores the development of athlete. It is an attitude frequently used by those coaches judge
themselves by how well their athletes finish. By contrast the view takes by many successful

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and experienced coaches is to place the long term development of the athlete at single most
important consideration.

An emphasis on the development of athlete is more likely to produce better performance,

greater consistency and more satisfaction for the athlete and coach than one over emphasis on
winning.
Competition then becomes merely challenging and satisfying way of measuring personal
development. This philosophy has been expressed many times as ‘athletes first, winning
second’ which means;-
-athletics is seen as one aspect of a person’s life not this/her whole life
-there is respect and appreciation of the coach and his/her work
-athletes decide with the coach and importance of performance and strive to meet their joint
expectations
-there is for the laws and spirit for their competition
-athletes reaching their potential are seen as success.
-there is respect to opponents, other coaches and officials
3. Knowing what you are up against /your coaching context
As important as it is to understand what makes you tick, it is equally important to understand
the confines of your coaching context. By this it means that a good understanding of the age,
gender and training level of the athletes you coach. How much time you and your athletes
available to train and compete? What is your development program based up on and how far
can you take it by enhancing and incorporating other aspects such as sport psychology,
nutrition, education or sophisticated technique analysis? What funding, facilities, services and
equipment are at your disposal? In addition what are your short medium and long term goals
for your athletes?
There could be other restrictions that will affect your coaching delivery. This includes:
Law or policies on safe practices, club or school rules of behaviour, competition with other
sports, school pressures and outside activities, parental interference or performance standards
to qualify teams and competitions. Knowing what you are up against enables you to tailor
your annual training program to the specific needs of the athletes you have under your
charge. By understanding the outside influences that will affect your program, you can
incorporate those that are good practices.

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4. Understand your athletes/ their abilities, personalities, goals and why they in your
sport/
Communication is a vital aspect in a coach-athlete relationship. It is very important to talk to
your athletes individually to determine what their values and beliefs are, what their goals are
and why they are participating. Without this knowledge you might be delivering a coaching
bag of apples to athletes wanting a bag of oranges. The program just will not or properly. As
a coach you are a powerful role model and can have a tremendous influence on your athletes
if you and your athletes are on the same page. Take to get to know each of your athletes just
as if you examined your own values, beliefs and habits. Once you know and understand each
of your athletes, check strengths, weaknesses, abilities and skills, then I suggest you develop
an approach to coaching them. Will you focus on the stars? Will you treat every equal in
terms of your attention and help? Perhaps the teamwork approach will work for you.
Conclusion
All coaches operate under a coaching philosophy of some kind. It may be by instinct or it
may be formally documented and well thought out. The advantages of a well thought out
coaching philosophy are four folds.
1. You learn about yourself how you tick and what strengths you have, why you are
coaching and how you can effectively go about enhancing your coaching delivery.
2. Knowing what you want to achieve / knowledge of objectives/
3. You gain an understanding of your coaching context, the obstacles you have to face
and how to deal with limitation, appropriate and safe training methods, and the goals
you are trying to achieve.
4. You get to know your athletes on a more intimate basis and therefore can tailor your
training to meet their needs, strengths and limitations.
Coaching style
There are perhaps three coaching styles.
1. Autocratic /do as I say/
2. Democratic /involve the athletes in decision making/
3. Laissez faire /athletes decides all what to do/

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A. Autocratic coaching style/ telling/

When using the telling style the coach;
 Decides on what is to be done
 Defines what to do and how to do it
On the circuit training session, the athletes are told the exercises in the circuit.
Autocratic style /selling/
When using the selling style the coach;-
 Decides on what is to be done
 Explains what is required and the objectives
 Ask the athlete questions to confirm understanding
 Defines what to do and how to do it
On a circuit training session the athletes are informed of the exercise in the circuit. The
coach plans the object of circuit training and the purpose of each exercise. Athletes can ask
questions to clarify any points.
B. Democratic style –sharing
When using the sharing style the coach;-
 Outlines the training requirements to the athletes
 Invites ideas /suggestions from the athletes
 Makes the decision based on the athletes suggestion
 Defines what to do and how to do it
The coach identifies a circuit training session. Athletes identify possible exercises for the
circuit. The coach selects from the suggestions a set of exercises.
Democratic style- allowing
 The coach outline the training requirements to the athletes
 The coach defines the training conditions
 The athletes brainstorm to explore possible solutions
 The athletes make the decisions
 The athletes define what to do and how to do it
The coach identifies circuit training. The coach defines the conditions of the circuit to
ensure it is safe and meets the overall objectives of the session. Athletes identify
possible exercises for the circuit and the select a set of exercises that meet the coach’s
conditions.

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C. Laissez faire coaching style/causal/

 The coach has no emphasis
 Athletes decides all what to do

Eventually, the characteristics of the three styles are compared in the following tables.

Authoritarian Cooperative/democratic Causal/laissez fair

Philosophy Win centred Athlete centred No emphasis
Objective Task objectives Social and task objectives No objectives
Decision making Coach makes all Decisions are guide by Athletes make most
decision coach but shared if not all decisions
Communication style Telling Telling, asking, listening Listening
Communication Little or none High None
development
What is winning? Judged by coach Judged by athlete and Not defined
coach
Athlete development Little or no trust Trust in the athletes Trust not shown
in the athlete
Motivation Sometimes Motivates all No motivation
motivated
Training structure Inflexible Flexible None
Table 1 -Comparison of Leadership Styles

The Coach-Athlete Relationship

There have to be alternatives to the escort system if athletes are not to drop out of athletics,
should they out-grow the availability of the coach’s time, knowledge and skills, or the coach
stops coaching.
The coach-athlete relationship can be based on one of three models, or a combination of these
as the coach and athlete move through their developmental pathways:
1. The Escort System -the coach escorts the athlete from the moment the athlete commences
in athletics to the athlete’s retirement from the sport
2. The Partnership System - the coach recognizes that they cannot meet all the needs of the
athlete and works together with more experienced coach to meet the athlete’s needs

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3. The Transfer System - the coach transfers the athlete to another coach as the athlete
moves through the educational, institute or club system or when the coach recognizes that
they can no longer meet the needs of the athlete.
Code of ethics and conduct for athletics coaches
Introduction
Athletics coaches are expected to confirm ethical standards in a number of areas;-
Competence, Trustworthiness, Respect, Fairness, Caring, and Responsibility, humanity,
relationships, commitment, cooperation, integrity, advertising, confidentiality, abuse of
privilege and safety.
Humanity
Coaches must respect the rights dignity and worth of every human being and their
ultimate right to self-determination. Especially, coaches must treat everyone equitably
and sensitively, within the context of their activity and ability, regardless of gender,
ethnic, origin, cultural background, sexual orientation, religion or political affiliation.
Relationship
The good coach will be concerned primarily with the wellbeing safety, protection and
future of the individual performer. There must be a balance between the development or
performance and the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical needs of the individual.
A key element in a coach relationship is the development of independence. Performers
must be encouraged and guided to accept responsibility for their own behaviour and
performance in training, in competition and in their domestic, academic or business life.
Coaches are responsible for setting and monitoring, the boundaries between a working
relationship and friendship with their performers. The coach must realize that certain
situations or friendly words and actions could be misinterpreted, not only by the
performer but also by outsiders (other members of a squad or group of performers)
motivated by jealousy, dislike or mistrust and could lead to allegations of misconduct or
impropriety.

The relationship between coaches and performer relies heavily on mutual trust and
respect. This means that the performer should be made aware the coach’s qualification
and experience, and must be given the opportunity to consent or decline proposals for
training performance or competition.

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Commitment
Coaches should clarify in advance with performer (employers) the number of sessions,
fees (if any) and method of payment. They should explore with performers the
expectation of the outcome of the coaching. Written contracts may be appropriate in some
circumstances.
Coaches have a responsibility to declare to their performers any other current coaching
commitments. They should also find out if any prospective client is receiving instruction
from another teacher/coach. If so the teacher /coach should be contracted to discuss the
situations.
Coaches who become aware of a conflict between their obligation to their performers and
their obligation to their NGB (National governing body) or other organizations body
employing them, must make explicit to all parties concerned the nature of the conflict
and the loyalties and responsibilities involved.
Coaches should expect a similar level of reciprocal commitment from their performers. In
particular the performer should inform the coach if any change in circumstances that may
affect the coach/performer relationship. Coaches should receive appropriate
acknowledgement for their contribution to the performer’s progress and achievement.
When money is earned from performances, it is reasonable to expect the coach should
receive an appropriate share of the rewards. Such apportionment with any attendant
conditions should be agreed in advance/in writing/ to avoid any misunderstanding.
Cooperation
Coaches should communicate and cooperate with other sport and allied profession in the
best interests of their performers. An example of such contact could be the selecting of:-

 Educational and career counselling for young performers whose involvement in

sport impinges upon their studies.
 Sport science advice through the British Association of sport and exercise
sciences /BASES/
Coaches must communicate and cooperate with registered medical and ancillary practitioners
in the diagnosis, treatment and management of their performers medical and psychological
problems.

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Respect
A coach shows respect towards others, one self, the sport, the organization and property.
Respect towards others means to show tolerance and to treat everyone equally regardless of
their sex, age, race, language, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, disability, or religion and
to respect their rights and dignity. A coach respects the decisions made by others (officials
and opponents). The coach treats each athlete as an individual with own rights and needs. The
coach respects promises and commitments and keeps to them, both written and verbal. The
coach respects the fact that the athlete is entitled to seek opinions and help from a third party.
The coach respects the privacy of the athlete. The coach avoids any form of harassment (sex,
gender, disability) towards the athlete.
Fairness
The coach is fair to the athletes. The coach provides each athlete with the same opportunities
and training times. A coach shows no favouritism to one athlete over the other. A coach
teaches athletes to be fair (fair-play) to their team-mates and opponents. The coach has to
refrain from using any unfair and illegal training methods (including performance enhancing
drugs). The coach has to forbear from allowing any bribery to his person or his athletes.
Competence
Coaches only use methods and techniques that they are confident in teaching, where they
possess the qualifications for. The coach avoids using methods that are a risk to health and
safety of the athletes. A coach seeks continuous personal improvement. The coach keeps up
with the latest developments in coaching and teaching. The coach only uses training methods
that will benefit the athletes.
Trustworthiness
The coach has to inspire trustworthiness in athletes. The coach keeps to the rules of
confidentiality and discusses with others matters concerning the athlete only if he/she has
discussed with the athlete beforehand which information he/she is allowed to share with a
third party. The coach involves athletes in decisions that concern them and their future.
Caring
A coach provides feedback to the athletes, and avoids too much negative feedback. A coach
cares for the well-being of the athletes but avoids any kind of intimate contact with the
athletes. The coach ensures that the training and competition requirements meet the abilities
of the individual athlete in fitness and age. The coach instructs the athlete to a healthy life
style and explains the lifelong benefits of sport. The coach leads the athlete towards
becoming a mature individual who is able to take care of him- /her, make decisions, and show

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responsibilities for their own behaviour and performance in all life situations. The coach has
to consider the wishes and opinions of the athletes. The coach has to carefully consider how
to deal with the media and always keep in mind what is best for the athlete. The coach cares
for the well-being of the athletes and animals he/she is in charge of.
Responsibility
The coach has to give the athletes the opportunities to develop their skills, confidence and
self-esteem. The coach ensures that the training-program is adjusted to the needs and
capabilities of each athlete. The coach promotes the values of team spirit and fair-play and
that winning is only one part of athleticism but that fun and enjoyment are more important.
The coach has the responsibility to keep up with the latest developments in training and
coaching techniques and makes sure that the training facilities are in good and appropriate
conditions. The coach also has the responsibility to act as a role model and to promote a
healthy life style for the athletes to follow. The coach acts as an example that the athletes can
copy and follow. The coach also has to keep in regular contact with the parents or legal
guardians about training schedules, possible trips, rules and regulations, as well as with
doctors, physiotherapists and other people involved in the athletic development of the athlete.
Coaches should not over train the athlete, but have the athletes well-being at all times as a
priority, as well as keeping them interested in the sport. Each individual athlete should be
trained in a way that they reach their full potential. Coaches promote sportsmanship on and
off the field. The coach also has the responsibility to care for the well-being and appropriate
treatment of animals involved in the sport. The coach should also show responsible behaviour
towards natural resources and the environment and should motivate the athletes to take the
same care.
Coaches refrain from the use of performance enhancing drugs, smoking and alcohol. Coaches
do not start sexual relationships with their athletes and also discourage attempts from the
athletes to initiate sexual relationships with them.
Integrity
A coach should be a person of integrity, keeping to their personal values in word and action
at all times. A coach does not take any bribes and discourages any notion of the athlete
towards taking bribes or displaying non-sportsmanship like behaviour. A coach has to keep a
high moral standard and has to follow it at all times. The coach acts as a role-model.
Coaches must not encourage performers to violet the rules of their sport. They should
actively seek to discourage and condemn such action and encourage performers to obey the
spirit of the rules. Coaches must not compromise their performer by advocating measures that

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could constitute unfair advantage. They must not adopt practices to accelerate performance
improvement that might jeopardise the safety, total well-being and future participation of the
performer. Coaches must never advocate or condone the use of prohibited drugs or other
banned performance enhancing substance.
Confidentiality
Sport coaches inevitably gather a great deal of personal information about performers in
the course of a working relationship. Coach and performer must reach agreement about
what is to be regarded as confidential information.
Confidentiality does not preclude the disclosure of information about a performer to
persons who can be judged to have a right to know. For example:-
Evaluation for competitive selection purposes
Recommendation for employment
In pursuit of disciplinary action involving performers within the sport
Legal and medical requirements for disclosure
Recommendations to parents/family where the health and safety of performers might be
at stake
In pursuit of action to protect children from abuse
Abuse of privilege
The sport coach is privileged to have regular contact with performers and occasionally to
travel and reside with performers in the course of coaching and competitive practice. A
coach must not attempt to exert undue influence over the performer in order to obtain
personal benefit or reward.
Coaches must consistently display high personal standards and project of favourable
image of their sport and of coaching to performers, their families, other coaches, officials,
spectators, the media and the public.
Personal appearance is a matter of individual taste but the sports coach has an obligation
to project an image of health, cleanliness and functional efficiency. Sport coaches should
never smoke while coaching.
Coaches should not drink alcohol so soon before coaching that it would affect
competence to coach, compromise the safety of performers or obviously indicate they had
been drinking (i.e. smell of alcohol on breath).

Drugs in Athletics

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One of the greatest threats to fair competition in all sports is the taking of drugs designed to
artificially enhance performance. These drugs are banned world-wide by national rules, by all
international sport governing bodies and by the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency,
WADA. Prohibited drugs are a form of cheating and can produce long term medical
problems for the athletes who use them. Athletics is taking the most active measures to
remove drugs from training and competition through education of coaches and athletes,
testing of athletes and, finally, punishment of offenders.
Drugs are a symptom of the ‘win at all costs’ philosophy and of ignorance on the part of the
coach and athlete. The majority of successful coaches around the world have a well-
developed, balanced philosophy and use well planned, long term training program. This
philosophy places athlete development first and produces performances at the highest
international levels without drugs. There would be no use of drugs if all coaches followed in
words and actions the “Athletes first, winning second” philosophy.

CHAPTER TWO- THE SKILLS OF COACHING

The process of coaching can be simply stated as a process of planning what you are going
to do, doing what you have planned to do and then reviewing what have done. This plan
review process of coaching is cyclical, repeated over and involves the skills of planning,
doing and reviewing.
The basic skills of coaching
When a coach first begins to work with athletics he tends to be initially focused on
developing his competence in the doing of his coaching. With this competence comes
confidence in working with athletes. Here the focus is on the competence of doing your
coaching by identifying the five basic skills of coaching that all coaches should use as a
foundation for their work with athletes. These five skills of coaching can also be
represented on the fingers and thumb of a coaching hand.

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Figure 1. The five basic skills of coaching

1. Building and developing relationship- the primary skills of coaching.
It does not matter how much knowledge a coach has, what qualification they hold or what
other skill of coaching they possess. If a coach cannot build and develop effective
relationship with athletes he cannot be an effective coach. This is a primary skill of coaching.
When you are in the presence of your athletes it is important that the view you as an
appropriate confidence at all times. This confidence will be reflected by the way in which you
stand in front of them, communicate with them and how you are seen to communicate with
others. If you are not familiar with the athletes you are coaching, it is important to smile and
make eye contact. It is often beneficial to establish eye contact before making an important
point, even if you know if you know your athletes very well. In general to build and develop
relationship:-
Be confident as a coach in front of your athletes
Smile and make eye contacts
Show interest in and respect for each athlete
Use athletes names
Coach the athletes rather than the athletics
2. Providing instruction and explanation- the telling skill of coaching
Coaches also need effective communication skills. They need to be able both give and
receive information. Coaches need to do this with not just with athletes but with their parents,

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partners, other coaches, officials, administrators and all other people who are involved in
athletics.
Providing instruction and explanation is, for the coach, the giving or telling part of
communication and is necessary for conveying information and for organizing people and
groups. But coaches should never forget that good communication is always a two-way
process. Before start speak get attention. Athletes must be ready to listen to you before you
start speak. There a number of ways to gaining attention such as whistle, a raised hand or
simply being silent at you look all the athletes. Whichever method is used it is important to
have the full attention of athletes.
To sum up, while providing instruction and explanation
Think about what you are going to say
Seek attention
Keep the instruction and explanation simple
Group athletes according to number, ability and activity
Check for understanding by asking the athletes a question and having them say what
they are going to do.
3. Providing demonstrations- the showing skill of coaching
For the coach demonstration can be way of providing a visual picture of a technique or drill.
It does mean that every coach should be able to provide a demonstration which may mean
that they physically do it that they provide the demonstration through other means.
Before using a demonstration it is important to decide:-
The purpose of the demonstration
What type of demonstration you will use
Who should provide the demonstration
Demonstration can be used for a number of purposes. They may be used a new skill to
introduce and show the whole skill. The may act as a cue for an already learned skill. They
may provide a simplified model of skill or be used simply to motivate or inspire. The may
also be used to illustrate a particular point. For example, instead of giving feedback after
watching an athlete, the coach does the demonstration again but this time emphasizing the
correction to any observed fault.

Demonstration must be both:-

Accurate- provide a correct image one that provides an accurate demonstration of the
technical model.

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Appropriate- to the level of athlete on that provides an image that is possible for the lrarner
to copy.
Types of demonstration
Demonstration can be:-
A/ Live demonstration
B/ Video demonstration
C/ still picture /photograph demonstration
4. Observe and analyse – the seeing skill of coaching
Observation and analyse becomes increasingly important as your coaching skills develop and
as our knowledge of the specific events and biomechanical principles develops. When this
happens you now have detailed technical models which help you to focus on your
observation and provide a basis for your subsequent analysis.
Any people watch athletics as spectators, but coaches observe athletics in a different ways.
They want to help the athlete to develop and so analyse their observations to understand the
actions of the athlete. This combination of observation and analyse is given the term the
‘‘coaching eye’’. For a beginner coach, you should practice observing before analyse. As
your coaching skills develop the combining together of these two actions will become
increasingly automatic. It is often said that good coaches watch and listen more than they
speak, good observation skills are essential to the effective coach.
5. Providing feedback – the teaching skill of coaching
Feedback is essential to learning. Without feedback athletes will not where to focus their
attention to improve their performance. There are two sources of feedback available to the
athletes.
 Naturally, the available feedback from within the athlete as a result of making a
movement. This feedback is sometimes referred to as intrinsic feedback and is always
present for the athlete but may not always be aware of it.
 Additional feedback to the athlete that can be provided by some external source such
from a coach, other athletes, spectators, mirrors, or from watching a video replay.
This feedback is sometimes referred to as extrinsic feedback.

In case of extrinsic feedback, it is firstly to reinforce the need for a coach to observe several
times before providing feedback. The reasons for this were emphasized when considering the
skill of observe and analyse and include identify what are consistent actions against one time
actions. This means that the coach should provide their extrinsic feedback intermittently, not

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all the time. Constant feedback from a coach may produce rapid short term gains in athlete
performance but slows down long term learning by not developing intrinsic feedback.
Constant extrinsic feedback can also make totally coach dependent and not able to function in
training or competition without coach. The athlete centred approach in coaching encourages
the athlete’s self-analyses, self-determination, and self-correction through their well-
developed awareness and use of intrinsic feedback. It gives owner ship and responsibility for
performance to the athlete.
The skills of communication –the foundation of the basic skills of coaching
Communication is two way process of exchanging information between the athletes, coaches,
and assists motivation goal setting and all skill of learning. Communication is not simply
talking and listening. It also includes form of non-verbal communication such as facial
expressions, clothes and appearance and bodily posture.
Every message a person sends is composed of two parts;-
1. Content- refers to the information in a message that usually sent verbally ( what you
say)
2. Emotion – refers to the feeling you have about the message that usually sent non
verbally (how you say)
Developing communication skills
Effective communication involves the following skills
Learning to use your voice
Developing non-verbal skills
Developing questioning skills
Developing listening skills
Knowledge of athletics
Talking only when necessary
Clothes and appearance
Behaviour (consistent with the IAAF code of ethics for coaches)
Listening skills can be developed by using the following techniques:-
Being attentive listener
Not interrupting
Agreeing – show understanding by nodding, repeating or rephrasing what he said
Asking questions
The following table provides a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of different
demonstration methods:

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Demonstration Coach uses video Coach demonstrates Coach uses athlete

Method: to demonstrate
Advantages -Unlimited replay Quickly set up Quickly set up
Accurate, expert model  View different angles  Physically able
Slow motion and freeze frame  Adaptable to group  Identification with and by
Consistent image  Trust and influence athletes
 ‘Coping’ model  Experienced model
 View different angles
 Adaptable to group
Disadvantages Unrealistic model May not be physically May intimidate – no
 Passive involvement able identification
(physically)  Possible inaccurate  Personality clash – no
 Two dimensional model identification
 Only camera angle  Varies each time  Possible inaccurate model
 Takes time and  You are not in control of  Varies each time
equipment the group
When and with -Can be used at all levels at all -Very useful when -Using a senior athlete
whom to use stages of learning. introducing a skill to with junior/novice group
Usually before a session athletes in the earliest  Athlete from group to
 Use normal speed – slow stages of learning demonstrate learning –
speed - normal speed  During a session beginning /end of session

Table 2. Comparison of methods of demonstration

CHAPTER THREE –ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT

It is obvious that young children have special needs in sport and should follow programmes
which are specific to their needs. As coaches we are also aware that any individual who has
just commenced athletics has different needs from and capabilities for training than someone
who has been doing it for longer. This is true no matter what age an athlete starts being
involved in athletics and emphasizes the importance of coaches knowing the training age
and as well as development age of each athletes they coach.
Athletics is recognized as being a let specialization sport’. This is because most athletes
achieve their best performances generally between 24 to 34 years of age. Taking a long term
approach to athlete development and training benefits all athletes, whatever their age or level
of competition.
The main concept of athlete development involves taking a long term approach to athlete
development and training. This long term is designed to help individuals of all ages all
abilities to optimize their development and their potential. Effective coaches choose a long
term approach as it helps them to improve their athletes year after year, possibly after the age
of 40, the time when the body’s biological clock causes performance to decrease. Even then
it will help athletes to get the best from what they have.
In its simplest form, athlete development relates the structure and nature of training at any
time to where an individual athlete is on their development pathway. This means that

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individuals are ‘’doing the right thing at the right time’’ for their long term, not necessarily
immediate development.
Thomson (2009), having a base on long term approach of athlete development, developed a
five stage athlete development model. Let’s see the pathways in detail.
Stage1. The kids’ athletics stage (Thomson, 2009)
This stage is bounded in between 5-7/11-12/ optimal biological age and 0-2/4 training
age range and is the first stage for athletes in the IAAF development path way
reflecting the well-established IAAF kids’ athletics training and competition programs
designed for young children.
The kids’ athletics development stage should be structured fun introduction to
athletics like activities with emphasize on developing basic fitness and foundation
movement skill. It emphasizes such skills as the ABCs’ movement: Agility, Balance,
Coordination and Speed.
All these foundation skills and movements add together to provide a vocabulary of
movement which are referred to as ‘’physical literacy.’’ To develop this physical
literacy, there should be participation in as many plays or play like games and
movement patterns as possible. The annual plan should have no periodization
structure but they should be a well-planed programme of basic conditioning with
proper fitness and skill progressions that are monitored regularly. Competition can be
take place at any time but training is not structured for or specific to competition.
Stage 2. The multi-event stage (Thomson, 2009)
This second stage of development is bounded in between 11/12-13/14years optimal
biological age and 2-4 training age where all individuals learn how to train and develop their
athletic skills. For young athletes this means participating in and learning all the events of
athletics along with basic technical, competition and tactical skills. Although the focus is on
training, competition can be used to test and refine skills at any time for the year. In this stage
training can begin to be advanced in a periodized way but because of the need to build a solid
base the training year should only have one macro-cycle making it a single periodized year.

Stage 3. The event group development stage (Thomson, 2009)

The third stage is the event group development stage sometimes referred to as the stage for
building the engine. This stage is bounded between 14/15-16/17 years optimal biological
age and 5-7 years training age range. During this stage there is emphasis on greater
individualization of physical fitness and technical training. For young athletes this is the time

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to begin to focus on an event that should be select rather than all events. But they are a runner
and walker rather than 800m athlete, a thrower rather than javelin thrower, a jumper rather
than triple jumper.

The training year may be either a single or double periodization structure but the longer
single periodization is maintained, the better for the athlete’s foundation for the future.
Planned training and competition modelling is introduced towards to the end of this stage.
Programming becomes more structured with defined taper and peak periods, which requires
on-going evaluation and modification introduction of event specific training begins at this
time during this stage, over the course of 4 weeks or 10 months depending on the program
other sports are reduced 1or 2. Training should approach a total time of 12 hours per-week
towards the end of the stage involving 4-7 sessions of physical training and activity 3-5 0f
these sessions should be in athletics event specific areas.

Stage 4. The specialization stage (Thomson, 2009)

This stage is bounded in between 16/17-18/19 years optimal biological age and 7-9 years
training age range and is referred to as ‘a fine tuning of engine’. There is a continued
emphasis on physical conditioning, maintaining high volume training but now with
increasing intensity at appropriate time of the year. The athlete now well tend to focus on an
event or small number of events, individual strength and weaknesses are more clearly
identified and action can be taken to improve these. There is a gradual shift towards
performing techniques and tactics in a variety of competitive conditions during training
which increasingly model competitive environments. The coach will focus on optimizing
preparation both physically and mentally. The training year again be a single or a double
periodized plan and for the first time, competition will influence the structure of the annual
plan. The number of athletics sessions per week will increase to 5-9 as participation in other
sports decline 2 or less sessions per week. The practice to competition ratio is 90/10 and
length of the athletics season can be anywhere from 8 weeks to 10 months. The number of
competitive opportunities in the season becomes event specific and dependent up on the type
of periodization is used the number of competitions should be 10-15. If double periodized is
used the number would be 12-18.

Stage 5. The performance stage (Thomson, 2009)

The final stage of preparation and participation in athletics is the performance stage that starts
at the optimal biological age of 18/19 years and above, and training age of above 10 years

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and lasts until the individual retires from the actively competing. The emphasis now is on
further specialization and possible appropriate, performance enhancement. All of the athletes’
physical, technical, tactical and mental capacities should now be fully established with the
focus shifting to the optimization of performance at whatever level. All athletes can be
trained to peak for specific competitions and major events whether these competitions be the
Olympics, a regional competitions or a local meeting or event, with each aspects of training
individualized. An individual’s annual plan may show either single, double or multiple
periodization depending on the events being trained for and taking into account the athlete’s
personal needs and circumstance.
To sum up, Thomson (2009) while stressing on the importance of each developmental
phase’s states that even if an athlete misses the optimal biological ages for each development
stage indicates for the five stages of IAAF athlete’s development path ways, the ways should
still apply. No matter what the athlete’s age, following the stage of athlete development path
way permits the progressive introduction to and development in athletics. For instance a 14
years old athlete with the biological age of 16 years (early mature) and three years training
age should be placed in the multi-event’s stage regardless of the biological age.

CHAPTER FOUR – DEVELOPING PHYSICAL FITNESS

Physical fitness is the physical quality of enables an individual to withstand the daily life
routines with energy remaining for escaping emergency.

Fitness is how well a person is adapted to and capable of living a certain life style. The fitness
of an athlete is generally greater than that of the non-athlete. The athlete needs to be fit for
the demands of his chosen athletic event in addition to being fit for the demands of day to day
living.

4.1. Fitness components

The components of fitness each work together to contribute to the ability of the body to hands
physical demand. The more efficient, the body functions higher fitness level. Optimal fitness

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is a combination of all the components of fitness depending on the specific demands of sport
activity.

 Health related fitness components are those factors that are related to how well the
systems our body work.
 Cardiovascular Fitness
 Muscular Strength
 Muscular Endurance
 Flexibility
 Body composition
 Skill /performance related components
 Speed
 Power
 Agility
 Coordination
 Balance
 Reaction Time
Ex.1. Define the above fitness components
3. How do you develop these fitness components?
4.2. The energy systems
Energy production is both time and intensity related. Running at a very high intensity as in
sprinting, means that an athlete can operate effectively for only a very short period of time
whereas running at a low intensity, as in gentle jogging, means that an athlete can sustain
activity for a long period of time. There is a relationship between exercise intensity and the
energy source.

Energy pathway
An energy pathway (1971) divides the running requirements of the various sports into the
following energy pathways. ATP – CP and LA, LA-02, and 02.
ATP- Adenosine Triphosphate:- a complex chemical compound formed with the energy
released from food and stored

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The Components of Fitness

Basic fitness can be classified in four main components: strength, speed, stamina and
flexibility. However, exercise scientists have identified nine components that comprise the
definition of fitness.

 Strength - the extent to which muscles can exert force by contracting against
resistance (e.g. holding or restraining an object or person)
 Power - the ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive
burst of movements. The two components of power are strength and speed. (e.g.
jumping or a sprint start)
 Agility - the ability to perform a series of explosive power movements in rapid
succession in opposing directions (e.g. ZigZag running or cutting movements)
 Balance - the ability to control the body's position, either stationary (e.g. a handstand)
or while moving (e.g. a gymnastics stunt)
 Flexibility - the ability to achieve an extended range of motion without being
impeded by excess tissue, i.e. fat or muscle (e.g. executing a leg split)
 Local Muscle Endurance - a single muscle's ability to perform sustained work (e.g.
rowing or cycling)
 Cardiovascular Endurance - the heart's ability to deliver blood to working muscles
and their ability to use it (e.g. running long distances)
 Strength Endurance - a muscle's ability to perform a maximum contraction time
after time (e.g. continuous explosive rebounding through an entire basketball game)
 Co-ordination- the ability to integrate the above listed components so that effective
movements are achieved.

 Of all the nine elements of fitness cardiac respiratory qualities are the most important
to develop as they enhance all the other components of the conditioning equation.
The Energy Systems
The three metabolic energy systems operating in our bodies provide the energy we need
to contract muscles. These energy systems operate continuously and it is how long and
how hard we do whatever physical activity that determines which system contributes
most. The three energy systems are:
Aerobic Process
The Aerobic System

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The muscle energy system which requires oxygen

Anaerobic Processes
The Lactate System
The ‘linking’ energy system which is capable of operating without oxygen and produces
lactate and acid
The AT P-CP System
The stored, start-up energy system which is capable of operating without oxygen and uses
‘CP’ as fuel but does not produce lactate or acid.
Although these they energy systems are distinct they actually work together continuously to
provide the energy needed for movement. There is no ‘switch’ inside of our bodies that
suddenly says, “O.K., now you’re going to switch to the aerobic system.” Or, “Now, you’re
going to switch to the lactate system or the ATP-CP system.” It is how long and, equally
important, how hard or intense we do whatever physical activity that determines which
energy system is emphasized and contributes most.

Contribution of the three energy systems over time

The aerobic-anaerobic split refers to how much the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems are
emphasized in a particular activity. Long distance endurance athletes, for example, produce
most of their energy aerobically; while sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers depend more
on anaerobic processes for their events. The aerobic-anaerobic split is determined by
identifying how long and/or how hard our athletes work and the nature of their recoveries.
Aerobic Energy – The Endurance Energy System
The aerobic system requires oxygen. This system is emphasized in lower intensity exercise
and is the basic system which provides the energy for most human activity from birth to
death. As such it is also important in recovery from exercise of all intensities. It is very
efficient and does not produce waste products. The heart and lungs are important in aerobic
activity as oxygen and fuel are carried to the muscles in the blood.

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The aerobic system resists fatigue. It takes longer to overload than either of the other two
energy systems. Training the aerobic energy system must be a minimum of a total of 20
minutes duration. The work load for aerobic training can be either continuous or broken up
into repetitions of harder and easier running or exercise. Correct aerobic training will improve
aerobic energy production in the muscle and also improve the efficiency and function of the
heart and lungs, the oxygen transport system.
ATP-CP Energy System – The ‘First 10 Seconds’ Energy
The ATP-CP system is the one referred to as the ‘stored’ or ‘start-up’ energy system. This
system provides the majority of energy when our athletes do bursts of high speed or high
resistance movements lasting up to 10 seconds. The stores of energy, ‘CP’, in the muscle
which are used up in the intense burst of activity return to normal levels within 2-3 minutes
of rest.
The ATP-CP energy system is developed by alternating periods of work and rest. The work
time should be very intense, usually of 2-8 seconds and should not exceed 10 seconds, as this
is the limit of the energy system. The rest periods should be 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the
duration of intense activity, to allow the muscle energy, CP, stores to build up again. If an
athlete shows the effects of fatigue, allow more rest time or decrease the work time.
Lactate Energy System – The ‘Linking’ Energy System
The lactate energy system is called the ‘linking’ system because it provides the bridge
between the capabilities of the aerobic and ATP-CP systems. In the late 1990s our
understanding of how the body produces metabolic energy changed dramatically. As a coach
you are probably aware that lactic acid can form when you’re exercising, particularly when
it’s an intense activity. You may believe, or have been told, that it only forms when you ‘run
out of oxygen’, that it is a useless waste product, that the burning sensation that comes, for
example, from a long, fast sprint is caused by this lactic acid. You may also believe that the
soreness that comes the day after a hard training session is again caused by lactic acid and
that massage will help to get rid of this waste product. From all this you may still believe the
old view that lactic acid in the body is very bad news.
The reality is very different. All the old beliefs of how bad lactic acid was are now known to
be unfounded.
It is not produced just when the body ‘runs out of oxygen’, it doesn’t produce burning
sensations and it doesn’t produce muscle soreness. Far from being a troublesome waste
product, lactic acid or part of it, can help us produce more energy, more quickly. We now
know that lactic acid, as such, just does not exist in the body. As soon as it is formed it splits

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up, separates, into a ‘lactate bit’ and an ‘acidic bit’. The lactate bit is definitely not a ‘bad
guy’ but is instead is a ‘good guy’ playing a positive and central role in our metabolism and
in how we produce energy. Understanding this role of lactate in the body is important and can
be applied to produce major improvements in athletes’ performance.
The lactate system is capable of operating without oxygen but is operating all the time, like
all of the three energy systems. This energy system is more emphasized in exercise of high
levels of intensity but this high intensity may prevent the removal of the lactate and acid bits
if not enough oxygen is available. When it does operate without sufficient oxygen, the lactate
and acid accumulates within muscle cells and the blood.
The lactate is a useful source of fuel for the athlete and correct training helps the body both
use and clear lactate but the acid is a major cause of fatigue, which eventually slows the
athlete. The more intense the exercise rate, the faster the rate of acid accumulation to high
fatigue-causing levels. For example, the 400 meter sprinter will accumulate high levels of
acid after 35-40 seconds. The 800 meter runner runs more slowly and accumulates acid at a
slower rate, reaching high levels after about 70-85 seconds.
In summary, all three energy systems work continuously:
 The relative contribution of energy from each energy system to a particular physical
activity will depend on the energy requirements, which will be directly related to the
intensity and duration of the exercise.
 Different events have different types and amounts of activity
 Different events therefore emphasize different energy systems.

CHAPTER FIVE - DEVELOPI NG A PLANNED APP ROACH TO TRAINING

What is Training?
Training is a systematic process with the objective of improving an athlete’s fitness in a
selected activity. It is a long term process that is progressive and recognizes the individual
athlete’s needs and capabilities.
Training programs use exercise or practice to develop the qualities required for an athlete’s
long term development. The process of training can be planned because training follows
certain principles. These principles of training need to be fully understood before the coach
can produce effective long term programs.
The three most important of these principles are:

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 Principle of Overload
 Principle of Reversibility

 Principle of Specificity
Principle of Overload
The human body is built up of millions of tiny, living cells. Each type of cell or group of cells
carries out different job. All cells have the ability to adapt to what is happening to the body.
This general adaptation takes place inside the body all the time. There is also an adaptation to
the training for athletics.
A training load is the work or exercise that an athlete performs in a training session. Loading
is the process of applying training loads. When an athlete’s fitness is challenged by a new
training load there is a response from the body. This response by the body is an adaptation to
the stimulus of the training load. The initial response is of fatigue. When the loading stops
there is a process of recovery from the fatigue and adaptation to the training load.
This recovery and adaptation returns the athlete not just to his original fitness level, but to an
improved level. This higher level of fitness is achieved through the body’s overcompensation
to the initial training load. So, overload causes fatigue, and recovery and adaptation allow the
body to overcompensate and reach higher levels of fitness.
Principle of Reversibility – “If You Don’t Use It, You Lose It”
If the athlete is not exposed to regular training there is no loading and the body has no need to
adapt. This is shown in the illustration of the principle of overload, where the fitness level of
the individual returns slowly to the original level. For training to be effective the coach must
understand the relationship between adaptation, the principle of overload and the principle of
reversibility. Fitness improves as a direct result of the correct relationship between loading
and recovery.
The term progressive overload is used to explain that increasing levels of loading will lead to
progressive adaptation and overcompensation to higher levels of fitness. These increasing
levels of loading would include such things as a higher number of repetitions, faster
repetitions, shorter recovery times and heavier weights.
Principle of Specificity
The principle of specificity states that the specific nature of a training load produces its own
specific response and adaptations. The training load must be specific to both the individual
athlete and to the demands of their chosen event or events. This may be obvious when
comparing the demands of events such as marathon and shot. It is less obvious but just as

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important when planning the training of a 200 metre specialist compared with a 400 metre
specialist. Or, a 100 metre hurdler compared with a 400 metre hurdler.
General training must always come before specific training in the long term plan. The general
training prepares the athlete to tolerate the loadings of specific training. The volume of
general training determines how much specific training the athlete is able to complete. The
greater the volume of general training in an athlete’s foundation the greater is the capacity for
specific training.
Summary of Training Principles
 The body is capable of adaptation to training loads
 Training loads of the correct intensity and timing cause overcompensation
 Training loads that increase progressively cause repeated overcompensation and higher levels
of fitness
 There is no increase in fitness if loading is always the same or too far apart
 Overtraining, or incomplete adaptation, occurs when training loads are too great or too close
 Adaptation is specific to the specific nature of the training.
In addition to the basic principles of adaptation, overload, reversibility and specificity there are three
other principles that we should consider as coaches in setting out the training plan for an athlete
Principle of Individualization –The Individual’s Response to Training
Each individual is unique. Each individual brings to athletics his own capabilities, capacities
and responses to training. Different athletes will respond to the same training in different
ways. There is no such thing as an ideal training program that will produce optimal results for
everyone. You, as the coach, need to understand the principles of training and apply them
with your knowledge of the individual athlete.
This knowledge should be of the many factors that affect the planning of the individual
athlete’s training program. These factors include heredity, developmental age and training
age. Athletes inherit physical, mental and emotional characteristics from their parents. This is
heredity. These inherited characteristics should be recognized by the coach. Many of these
characteristics can be modified
by systematic training but the extent to which they can be changed and modified will be
limited by the inherited potential. Not every athlete has the inherited potential to be an
Olympic champion. All athletes have the ability to make the most of what inherited potential
they do have.
Developing a Plan

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Good planning, organization and review are essential in whatever we do in our lives. Whether it is
small things like arranging to meet friends, to bigger things like learning something new or to very big
things such as building a house we need to plan, then build and review. If your goal, for example, is to
travel to see a distant relative you may start by finding out how far away they live, what are the
possible means of transport, when is it convenient to visit, how long will you stay there and will you
come back the same way? Deciding these things is all part of the planning process. As you set out on
your journey you will monitor your progress to ensure that everything is going to plan. Once you have
returned home and the journey is now complete, you review how the trip went; what went well in
addition to what did not go as well and what you might have learned to apply to any future travels.
The exact same steps are required in being an effective coach and the planning, organization; doing,
monitoring and reviewing skills are all part of the coaching process. If you do not plan and review
when you coach do not be surprised if, on your ‘coaching journey’, you and your athletes do not
‘arrive’ at where you want to be.
We have already seen that the process of coaching can be simply stated as planning what you are
going to do, doing what you have planned to do and then reviewing what you have done. This ‘Plan-
Do-Review’ process of coaching is cyclical, repeated over and over.

Planning begins the Cyclical Process of Coaching

Planning the Training Program
One of the most important responsibilities of the coach is planning the athlete’s training
program. Planning is a long term process since elite athletes may not reach their full
performance capabilities until24 years of age or older. In this long term planning the coach
has traditionally looked at what the athlete wants to achieve in competition for a particular
year and has divided this year into a number of periods, structuring the year according to
these competition needs. Now we know that this traditional approach to planning ignores the

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long term developmental needs of the younger and beginner athletes. There should be
structure to the training and periods of differing activities but these should reflect the athlete’s
stage of athlete development, not the demands of competition.
The first thing that a coach needs to do in planning the training program is to identify what stage of
athlete development each athlete is in by looking at their chronological age, biological age and
training age.
In those situations where the coach uses competitions to determine the training structure for athletes in
the Kids’ Athletics, Multi-Events and Event Group Development stages, this is a clear sign that the
coach has not understood long term development and is specializing too early.
Periodization – What to do and When to do it
The term ‘periodization’ is used simply to describe the division of the training program into a
number of periods of time. Each of these periods will have specific training objectives.
The time that the coach and athlete have available for training can be divided into specific
periods. These periods of training should be followed whether the time available is a full
year, six months, twelve weeks or any other amount. There are three main periods to any
training which make up a larger cycle of training known as a macrocycle:
 A preparation period
 A competition period
 A transition period

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The general structure of a macrocycle of periodised training

Volume and Intensity
Volume refers to the quantity or amount of any training. It is the total of all repetitions, such
as metres for running or total kilograms lifted for weight training. For continuous endurance
training it is the kilometers or miles covered in training runs. In the jumps and throws it may
be the total number of jumps or throws performed in a session.
Intensity is the quality of training and relates to how hard you try to do something. In speed
training it maybe the time taken to cover a set distance. In endurance running it may be
related to the pace or rhythm that the athlete reaches during the run.
The Preparation Period
The first and longest period of any training program is the preparation period. In this period
the athlete will move gradually from very general to specific training. The main objective of
the period is, as its name suggests, preparing the athlete for the competition period. The
general training can be thought of as a foundation of ‘training to train’ and may, for athletes
with a low training age, last as much as one half, or more, of the whole plan of preparation,
competition and transition. All round general fitness is developed by gradually increasing the
volume of training. This general fitness will allow the athlete to do the more demanding
specific training which follows without injury. Volume should not increase in a straight line,
but in steps to allow time for recovery, adaptation and overcompensation.
The Competition Period
In the competition period the volume of training is gradually reduced and the intensity is
increased. Heavier weights can be lifted, but much less often. The speed of specific walks,
runs, jumps and throws should be faster with longer recovery times. The training during this
period is most related to the characteristics of competition. Endurance, however, should not
be forgotten during this period since enough endurance training should be done that the
athlete can maintain endurance during competition. Training loads should be heavy enough to
keep the athlete’s fitness improving and light enough to keep the athlete enthusiastic and with
high energy levels for competition. ‘Athletic shape’ refers to how fit an athlete is for his
chosen event. This athletic shape should be at its highest in the last part of the competition
period.
The Transition Period
The transition period comes at the end of a period of planned training and can be thought of
as an ‘active rest’. The main objectives of the transition period are to allow the athlete an
opportunity to recover mentally and physically from the training loads of the preparation and
competition periods. Athletes should be encouraged to try different types of low volume, low
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intensity activities away from the usual training environment. The activity should provide
change and allow the athlete to return to athletics refreshed and eager to resume training for
the following season. The transition period is also a useful time for the coach and athlete to
evaluate what was achieved and to make plans for the future.
Planning the Session and the Training Week
We have seen that it is possible to plan training because athletes adapt to training loads
according to the principles of overload, reversibility and specificity. The time available for
preparing an athlete will vary greatly from a year to a few months. By creating an annual plan
and dividing the time into periods the coach can plan progressive training. But how does this
affect what we do from day to day, and how and when do we design the training session
itself?
The effectiveness of a coaching session is largely dependent on your planning. Some coaches
believe that they can plan the session as they are travelling to the track facility or even as they
go along through the session.
While a very few coaches may have a wealth of experience on which to draw for these
‘improvised’ sessions, and they may be enjoyable, they do not fit into the ‘big picture’.
Coaches simply cannot devise a series of progressive sessions tailored to the specific needs of
the athlete, the period of the annual plan and the conditions unless they commit time to some
previous planning. This does not have to be time-consuming and like all skills, the more the
coach plans, the more skilled and the more quickly achieved his planning becomes.
We have seen that training progresses in periods and cycles of activity and the smallest of
these cycles is given the name microcycle. The microcycle is usually considered to be 7 days
duration. The number of training sessions in a microcycle will depend on the athlete’s
chronological age, biological age, training age, fitness, capacity for work and where the
microcycle comes in the two active periods of the training program, the preparation and
competition periods.
Planning the Microcycle – The Training Week
The ‘training ratio’ or ‘density’ of training is the ratio of training load to recovery. This
recovery may be a complete rest but more often it is a lighter, easier or, in advanced program,
different training load.
The training load is varied by increasing or decreasing the number, volume, intensity or
combination of volume and intensity of the training sessions.

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CHAPTER SIX - DEVELOPING MENTAL SKILLS

It is as important for a coach to help individuals develop how they think, their mental skills, as it is to
develop their physical skills. In this chapter you will be introduced to some of the factors that
influence performance and how these factors may be controlled by the use of mental skills. This is a
clearly psychological aspect of coaching, but it is also true that no part of coaching is without
psychological aspects.
Mental Skills
Once you gain an understanding of how you can apply and develop mental skills you will find that the
benefits will extend far beyond the world of athletics. These skills are of great benefit to coaches and
athletes in everyday life. Mental skills are not just a means of avoiding or recovering from disasters.
They also play a very important part in organizing practice and training effectively so that things go
correctly in the first place. Remember that no matter what labels you apply to this aspect of coaching,
the most important part of the coach’s responsibility is getting to know your athletes. You can’t help
them to think without knowing how and what they think.
Most athletes and coaches recognize that physical development alone is no guarantee of success in
athletics.
An athlete must have the correct frame of mind. Psychological preparation is as important as
physical conditioning. Getting both right together is what creates an excellent or peak
performance rather than an average performance. It is important to emphasize that everything
in this chapter relates to anybody who wants to be better at what they do. These skills can
help your athletes become better athletes, and can also help you to become a better coach.
When we talk of basic mental skills for athletes these can be summed up by the five ‘Cs’:
 Communication
 Commitment
 Control
 Confidence
 Concentration
Communication
Good communication skills are needed by both the athlete and the coach. We have looked at
communication in the chapter on developing the skills of coaching and you will have read
that communication is a two-way process. The coach should be a role model in
communication skills and this will assist the athlete in the development of their
communication as well.
All mental skills require practice in exactly the same way as physical skills. Just as with
physical skills, some individuals will pick up mental skills much more easily than others. But,

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with practice, anyone can improve their mental skills. Before looking at the techniques for
developing other mental skills it is necessary to understand what is meant by the terms
personality and commitment.
Personality
Professional psychologists have tried to measure personality in many different ways. The
most important conclusion from all their research is the apparently obvious statement that no
two people are the same.
This is an important statement for the coach because it means:
 People will interpret the same piece of information differently
 People will respond differently to the same situation and the same person will also
respond differently in different situations
Commitment
Commitment basically means how much an individual wants to achieve a goal. To
understand this commitment we need to know what motivates an individual and what goals
they have. Individuals have many different goals in being involved in athletics. Typical
reasons are:
o To have fun
o To master new skills
o To compete and win
o To make friends
o To become fit
o To experience excitement
Understanding the reasons why your athletes are taking part is very important. Unless they
obtain what they are looking for from sport, they are unlikely to want to stay involved with it
and will choose to drop out. It is also unlikely they will develop the necessary commitment to
their development. External pressure from coaches and parents is unlikely to increase the
commitment of an athlete in the long term and may actually decrease it. Self-commitment,
self-motivation and fulfillment are what makes a truly successful athlete, not the imposed
ambition of someone else. As a coach you can help develop commitment in your athletes by
helping them understand what they want to achieve, their goals, and how they will achieve
them.
Goal Setting – Helping your Athletes to Know what they Want to Achieve
Perhaps one of the most fundamental skills for a coach is goal setting. Athletes need clearly
defined goals so that they have targets to aim for. They need to know exactly what they have

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to do to achieve these targets and know when they have achieved them. Goals need to be set
out for the next training session, the next week, the next month and the whole season.
The goals should build towards well defined, important events in the athlete’s experience.
Good goal setting increases commitment and also helps to build self confidence in the athlete.
The key to success in goal setting is focusing the athlete’s attention on an appropriate goal.
The precise choice of goal can be influenced by almost everything that influences
performance, but the athlete must believe them to be appropriate. If they don’t, then the goal
will not motivate and guide their behaviour. Athletes will only be committed to achieve goals
which they accept. Consequently, goal setting must be a shared experience.
Goal setting should be a joint effort between the coach and the athlete. The main features of
good goal setting are:
 Goals should be specific and should determine what an athlete has to do. They should
not specify outcomes that depend on others
 They must be measurable so that progress and success can be recognized
 They must be agreed with and accepted by the athlete
 They must be of varied difficulty with some challenging but realistic and should be
seen as stepping stones to success
 Time phased so that they are structured into long term, short term and intermediate
 As the athlete is involved with the process they should be exciting every time he
thinks of them
 They must be recorded so that they form almost ‘a contract of commitment’.
Control – Learning to Control Emotions and Anxiety
Anxiety means simply how much an individual is aroused or ready for a given situation.
Anxiety is always present in any situation, although when levels are low we may not even
notice it. Many times anxiety is anxiety. When you know an athlete well it is often easy to see
whether they are over-anxious or not. The symptoms of anxiety can be seen as falling into
two types:
 Worry
 Physiological arousal
Helping athletes to control their anxiety levels is one of the most important responsibilities of
the coach.

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It does not matter how well physical preparation has been if the athlete arrives at the
competition and is unable to perform at their best due to being under or over aroused. There
are two ways in which the coach can help prepare the mental skills of emotional control:

 Effective goal setting to increase self confidence

 Using appropriate relaxation techniques

Confidence
Confidence means how well a person views themselves in a particular situation and it is
situation specific. An athlete may be confident in certain situations but if the situation
changes they may feel less, or more, confident. So it is really about how the individual ‘sees’
how well they can meet the demands of any situation.
For example, an athlete may e very confident when competing in a local competition against
known opponents. The same athlete may be less confident when competing in national
championships against athletes they do not know. The greater the athlete’s confidence, the
more stable their performances will be in a wider variety of situations.
We have seen that increased self-confidence comes from good goal-setting and will help
increase the control of emotions. Increasing confidence will also permit the athlete to
approach technical skills in a more relaxed way.
There are many ways that the coach can build confidence during training and competition.
And many of the things a coach does and says not only builds one C but may have impact on
two or more. For example, if a coach recognizes effort and achievement at the correct time,
this will help to develop both commitment and confidence.
Concentration
The mental skill of concentration is needed in both training and competition. If it is poorly
developed it is difficult for the athlete to be consistent and to build their confidence.
Concentration relates to where an athlete’s focus of attention is and how well they can
maintain and control that focus. The athlete’s concentration is affected by where they are
looking, what they are listening to, what they are saying and thinking inside themselves and
what they are feeling and sensing.
Good concentration reflects an athlete’s ability to sustain focus and attention on ‘something’
for a defined period of time. This ‘something’ could be from varied sources of information
and in athletics the focus of concentration is different for different events. The ‘power’ events
of the sprints and hurdles, for example, require a brief but intense focus during their

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competitive effort. The jumps and throws require a similar brief but intense focus but also
have to maintain their focus of concentration though several rounds of efforts. For all events,
concentration is necessary for consistent technical performance and to respond tactically to
the changing environment.
The coach should build situations requiring concentration into practice and competition. This
can develop the quality of concentration by focusing on two areas:
 What the athlete is focusing on
 How long can this focus be maintained which is usually called the athlete’s ‘attention
span’.
Before doing something the coach can re-emphasize what the focus of concentration is for
that activity.
CHAPTER SEVEN - DEVELOPI NG A SAFE ENVIRONMENT
As a coach you must be aware that each athletics event and training or competition situation
contains an element of danger. It is important that you should have a good understanding of
these inherent safety risks and wherever possible to remove or reduce these risks. Obviously,
certain events place athletes at greater risk than others. Coaches have a duty to develop a safe
environment for each athlete and to prevent injuries. But injuries and illness are an almost
inevitable consequence of training and competition at some time, no matter how safe the
environment and the coach must be able to manage them promptly and correctly.
Prevention of Injury
The saying, “Prevention is better than Cure” is especially relevant to the athlete. Many
preventive measures are very much common sense but specific precautions are still
important. There are two ways in which injuries can occur. An injury may be caused by a
particular traumatic incident, for example a fractured collar bone from falling in a race. On
the other hand the injury may be caused by over-use, for example, achilles tendon injuries in
runners. Either may be caused by intrinsic factors, which are factors restricted to the
participant, or extrinsic factors, when outside agents are involved. In sports requiring long
periods of training the problem of over-use injuries may well be of equal, and often more,
importance to prevent.
Prevention through Skill
Skill is of great importance in safety. You must see skills training as not simply a means of
improving performance, but also as a means of preventing injury. Skill involves not only the

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athlete’s physical control to make the body do what the mind instructs, but also the mental
ability to ‘read’ a situation, to know then risks involved, and so reduce them.
Fatigue also causes a breakdown of skill. This fatigue may occur in a single training session
or result from training loads being too high or too close together. Whether overtraining is
short term or long term a coach must be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of fatigue
and reduce training levels before injury or illness occurs.
General symptoms of fatigue and stress:
 Listlessness. Lack of responsiveness and enthusiasm
 Loss of appetite
 Disturbance of sleep and waking up tired
 Raising of resting heart rate
 Possible loss of weight
 Incomplete recovery between sessions
 The skin and muscles may appear and feel ‘puffy’

 They express relief when a chance to ‘escape’ from training or competition presents
itself.
Prevention through Fitness
Skill alone will not totally protect an athlete because he is at risk if he undertakes activity
beyond the limit imposed by his general fitness. Increased fitness reduces the risk of injury in
two ways. Firstly, by its effect on the muscles, tendons and joints and, secondly, by
increasing general endurance so that the participant can compete for the whole duration of
training and competition without fatigue.
Prevention through Nutrition
Good nutrition can make its impact on preventing injury by helping an athlete to recover
between training sessions. It is important that athletes pay constant attention to eating habits
and develop a healthy diet.
The diet must meet the demands placed on the body by training. In particular, an athlete must
consume sufficient energy in the form of carbohydrates to maintain the stores of energy
within the muscles and help prevent fatigue. Athletes should eat something easily digestible
and high in energy about 2 to 3½ hours before training or competition.
Prevention through Warm Up
There are three main reasons to warm up:

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 To activate the muscles and tendons, particularly those that are going to be used, and go
through the range of muscle and joint motion for the activity which follows
 To increase blood flow to the muscles and prepare the joints
 To prepare athletes for what is to follow by stimulating them mentally and physically.

Prevention through Environment

Many injuries to athletes occur by accident when they are not actively participating. It is not
uncommon to see sprained ankles or bruised shins because an athlete has fallen over a kit bag
or piece of equipment left lying around beside the track. You must look carefully and
critically at all your training facilities in terms of safety. Safe, well designed equipment is
important in injury prevention and although it is clearly event specific, certain general
remarks can be made. Take time to ensure that any equipment is safe and fit for use every
time you come to use it, before, during and after the activity. Damaged or faulty equipment is
frequently a cause of injury. If you do not have direct responsibility for equipment
maintenance you must make sure the person responsible is aware of the need for correct,
regular maintenance.
Prevention through Treatment
There is no doubt that previous injury predisposes to recurrence or further injury. A possible
explanation of recurrent strains and sprains is persistent instability and muscle weakness. You
must have adequate arrangements, when possible, for acutely injured athletes to be assessed
and treated correctly. The use of protective strapping of injured joints can be very helpful, but
it is second best to the proper rehabilitation and recovery of an injured joint.

Reference materials:
Harraled Muller and Wolfgang Ritzdorf. (2009), Run! Jump! Throw! The
official IAAF guide to teaching athletics, 2nd edition.
Edward Derese and Skip Stolley (2008), Track and Field Coaching Manual, 1st
edition.
 International Association of Athletics Federation Competition Rules 2010-
2011
 International Association of Athletics Federation Track and Field facilities
manual, 2008 edition.
Online Component:

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www.brianmac.co.uk
www.pponline.com
www.iaaf.org
www.olympic.org

Iv/ Field Materials:

Since the course is highly dependent on practical sessions, students should
have to have a complete training suit (including shirts, socks, shorts and sport
shoes).

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