Coaching and Care of Athletes

CHAPTER VII COACHING ORGANIZATION AND ROUTINE BEFORE the track and field season starts and the coach assembles his athletes he should himself have gone through a revision period, in which he should have studied last year's training-books kept by his athletes, summed up the results he has achieved, read every– thing new he could get hold of appertaining to his subject, and, in doing so, have decided for himself which are the best text-books to use. He should pay particular attention to what has been written about the events which happen to be his weak subjects. Before he assembles his athletes he should draw up a general plan of campaign for the course of instruction or period of training of which he is to be in charge. In preparing his programme he should decide how much time he is going to devote to (a) theory, (b) prac– tice, (c) class instruction, (d) individual tuition, and (e) revision. He must realize that some of the athletes who will be in his charge will most certainly need more individual attention than others; but, all the same, the best thing for him to do will be to set aside a definite period each day for the purpose of giving individual instruction. In deciding the hours of work a coach should remember that the athlete cannot train for anything like the length of time for which a coach is capable of going on instructing. If, however, the course is to be, not for active athletes, but for those who wish to become coaches, then it is probable that the head coach and his assistants will give up long before their students. At Loughborough College we work normally on Course I-for those wishing to learn how to coach-from g A.M. to 4.30 P.M., with a one-hour lecture in the evening as a rule, and yet we invariably find that the stamina of the coaches is severely taxed by those students who desire additional instruction out of working hours. Whether you have active athletes or coaches in embryo to handle, it is always well at the beginning of the course to assemble the whole of the coaching students or the athletes who are to be trained, and explain to them clearly the system of instruction or training which you are going to follow. 75