Techniques Used By Coaches To Improve The Performance Of Athletes

Domenic Hughes 12JL

• In this section I will be explaining three concepts of how techniques used by coaches can improve the performance of athletes.

• They include :• Goal setting• Simulation• Modelling

Goal setting

• Goal setting should be used by coaches to increase athletes motivation and confidence. This should be the first stage of the planning process for any coach as goals should be able to provide motivation and focus for athletes.

• There are 3 terms used in goal setting .They include Short term ,Medium term and Long term.

• Short term goals – These can extend from one day to one month e.g. a target that an athlete wishes to achieve after the next training session.

• Medium term goals – This should progressively support the progress of the athlete and their coach towards acheieving the long term goals.

• Long term goals – These are set for and with athletes to help determine what their aims are and the best way of achieving them . A coach should use these to shape their coaching schedule for a season or longer.

• They can also run over a number of years as with an elite athlete who sets themselves a target of competing for example in the Olympics .

Effective demonstration

• In sport demonstrations are very important and should be used by coaches to support and develop athletes of all abilities . A coach will have to make a decision to either use video or still images to help development .

• Examples include working with children or beginners the coach will have to demonstrate the skill they wish for the beginners to achieve.

• When demonstrating a skill to athletes a coach should include the following :

• Purpose and type of demonstration• Make it clear for athletes of what they got to

do.• Repeat demonstration more than once.• Invite questions at end of demonstration.

Simulation

• When the athletes figure out the hard aspects of the coaching sessions which the coach may use video simulations to improve the skills in the training sessions.

• Also coaches would use small games to replicate some elements of the game.

• Coaches also use conditional games to enable athletes to develop more on the skills they are performing.

• It can also be sued to support athletes to prepare for a specific event .

• This can include time and also altitude training that could simulate the sporting activity.

Modelling

• This is when coaches introduce new skills to athletes and use modelling to demonstrate exactly what they expect the athletes to achieve.

• The two forms of modelling include: • Coach or performer demonstration• Video demonstration

• The model is an example of the skill, technique or activity which the coach wants the athlete to master.

• For example when a coach delivers a session with the aim of improving a players ability to correctly and safely administer a specific skill,

a coach may use a model of the action to show learners what is expected of them.

• The modelling skills should be used to help athletes achieve the skill or activity effectively.

• Dartfish technology provides an opportunity to stop movements or slow them down or freeze them which allows coaches to demonstrate difficult skills. It can also show two performances simultaneously to compare the two athletes.

• Now I am going to explain some coaches that are effective in using some of these techniques and how they help their sides to achieve a athletes full potential.

• Some examples of effective coaches include :• Warren Gatland • Jose Mourinho• Clive Woodward

Warren Gatland

• Here is a quote of How the opinion of Warren Gatland is key in the welsh setup .

• "When you look at teams and you look at success, I think it’s about overachieving." So says Welsh Rugby's celebrated Head Coach Warren Gatland in this candidate interview about his team management style, his big lessons on and off the pitch, and how four soldiers in a Jeep helped him create a siege mentality.

• Warren Gatland in the welsh setup uses his assets such as his coaches such as Shaun Edwards to be able to train effectively to be able on match day internationals to be able to make the players the most effective and improve their performance each game.

• Every game Gatland and Edwards use goal setting techniques to get the players to be able to improve a certain aspect of their performance.

• For example if their defence was not good enough Gatland will give the players a target area where they have to make every tackle in a certain amount of time to be able to be quicker up on the opposition defence.

Jose Mourinho

• José Mourinho will always be a figure who divides opinions. His apparent arrogance, his forthright opinions and occasional petulance have all got under the skin of those on the receiving end of his psychological games in the past, but there is surely little doubt that he is one of the greatest managers of the modern era.

• Mourinho though the years has learned how to help the teams he coaches and to the best of his ability .

• He is also considered himself in the past as the “Special one “ which could be considered how he has so much success in the sport he coaches and is so effective with his sporting techniques for example Chelsea or inter Milan.

Clive Woodward

• Clive Woodward is considered the architect of England's sporting achievements. His reputation as a world-class leader makes him one of the most sought after public speakers industry-wide.

• Clive Woodward's experience of achieving the worlds biggest competition was that it was a mix of sport and business.

• This is a quote of Clive Woodward's opinion of how a team can achieve something if they work together and how the coach can use techniques to help and athletes performance .

• “The ability to think correctly under pressure is as key to success in the boardroom as it is in the cauldron of a sell-out international fixture. Clive’s success lies in his ability to communicate and instil often challenging ideas with a practical and proven methodology.”

Effective Coach