Coaching Techniques

To aid in sports coaching, coaches use many different techniques to observe, mark improvement and guide their athletes. Such techniques include:

Performance Profiling – Performance Profiling is where the coach and athlete list all the technical, physical, psychological and biomechanical traits required by their sport. Between them they select a successful elite athlete, who matches the coaches’ athletes’ performance style. They will then rate this athlete on the scale, for each performance trait. This can then be compared with a performance profile done on the coaches’ athlete (which may be a general one, or one done on a specific game or training.)

By comparing oneself to an elite athlete, they aspire to be. They can see how their performances differ and what areas they need to look into most to change, to improve. If for instance their a sprinter and they rate their own knee lift as a 4/10 and the elite runners at 9/10, then this could make a lot off difference. With higher knee lifts an athlete will have their legs higher off the ground for longer and therefore be able to increase their stride length, meaning they spend less time on the floor and allowing for leg rotation speed to become slower, which will make them ultimately be able to run faster. The coach can use this information to work on specific exercises and drills which will help the athlete achieve this.

Fitness Assessment – A fitness assessment of an athlete is where they will do multiple tests in relation to their sport and the results will be recorded. From these results the coach can then work out the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses, so they know which areas to work on in training. It also sets marks, so they can see improvement when re-taking the tests after a bout of specific training. To find out what is a strength and a weakness the coach can look at resources detailing this, use their own personal knowledge or compare the athlete with others in the group doing the same tests or... [continues]

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