SPORTS PERFORMANCE 25COACHING IN SPORT 2

A typical coach in Canada is not just the coach of the team, they are also the overseer of their program.

It is now their job to decide many aspects of the program and how they will be run

What are the key components to any program?

Designing a Sports Program

How much time are you willing and able to put into the program?

What are the expectations of the athletes and parents?

As time level increases, the expectations of both the coach and the athlete increases

Coaches that expect a lot of time out of their athletes need to be able to continually challenge athletes.

Time

A coach must decide what events he or she will enter their athletes in. Many things must be considered when deciding this: What level is appropriate? Are you developing or winning? What is best for the athletes you

have? What time period will you have the

athletes for

Events

What is the participants reason for being in the sport? Achievement Affiliation Sensation Self direction

You need to be able to recognize and respect individual differences in this area because participants drop out when the program does not match they reason they participate

Intention, Objectives, and Priorities

Manipulating training intensity and volume while being respectful of the seasonal demands of a particular sport and athlete Regular variations in training to provide sufficient

intensity and volume while also avoiding or minimizing monotony and staleness

All sports programs must have a schedule that consists of off-season, preseason, in season, and post season mesocycles

Periodization

In a typical season volume decreases as intensity increase

Later in the season= more active rest for athletes

The goal is to peak at the right time

The main goal of preseason is to prepare athletes for the upcoming competitions (mesocycle)

Can be broken into multiple microcycles or subphases Physical and mental training Development of skills Provides the groundwork for the

season High volume of training, with a

much lower intensity As the inseason approaches,

tactical and technical work take priority and intensity approaches competition levels

Preseason

The competitive part of the season The primary goal is to stabilize athletes performance Once competition starts the athletes program should

incorporate training and performance goals The amount of time athletes spend on a given type

of training is directly related to the importance and frequency of the competition

Inseason

Pre-competitive Competitions are less

important Fine tune training How ready are the

athletes? Main competitive

The focus is on results Maximum performance

Microcycles of Inseason

Depending on the sport this cycles may only last a few weeks

The goal of this phase is to maintain, increase physical fitness. Work on aspects of fitness that could not be addressed

inseason Rehab any injuries

Intensity of training is low, volume may also be low.

Post season or Off-season

Every sport program in Canada has a specific athlete development model for coaches to follow

These models provide step by step guide lines for coaches

Stage 1: Active Start (0-6 years) Stage 2: FUNdamental (girls 6-8, boys 6-9) Stage 3: Learn to Train (girls 8-11, boys 9-12) Stage 4: Train to Train (girls 11-15, boys 12-16) Stage 5: Train to Compete (girls 15-21, boys 16-

23) Stage 6: Train to Win (girls 18+, boys 19+) Stage 7: Active for Life (any age participant)

Long Term Athlete Development

In General Sport Canada recommends that athletes participate in a wide variety of sports until the ages of 15 for females, 16 for males.

It is important for athletes to develop physical literacy. This helps athletes reach higher level of sport when the choose to specialize.