Coaching
Club Coaches
(List under preparation)
Child Protection Officers
Michael Cossor
Ann Kirkham
Godiva Coaching News
Details of planned coaching meetings will be posted here.
At the meeting held on 12 December 2007 Graham Knight gave a practical presentation of his coaching methods. Click here for a written summary.
Coaching Support information
Local Coaching Courses
The England Athletics - West Midands Region Coach Education website provides information on forthcoming courses, and coaching handouts from courses held in the region.
Nutrition
Recognizing the differing nutritional needs for different levels of training and competition is very important, and the IAAF has produced a very useful 38-page guide entitled "Nutrition for Athletes".
Their 2007 consensus statement provides a useful overview of nutrition in athletics.
Sports drinks manufacturers websites also provide useful information.The Lucozade site provides information about its products in the context of a sports science background, and sports science information is also available on the Gatorade site.
Further afield, there are some interesting recipes and sensible advice on the Australian Institute of Sport website.
Anti-doping
It goes without saying that athletes should be allowed to compete on a level playing field, and the use of illegal drugs should be penalised. This means that at club level we must do our utmost not only to train our athletes to compete fairly, but we must also be able to give them guidance on what is permitted. Incidents like the discovery that US manufactured "Vick" contained a prohibited substance not present in the UK version means that even innocent actions can give rise to problems. Likewise people suffering from such conditions as asthma need to know what they can and can't use, and what declarations are needed to the authorities (before, and not after, a problem is found!)
The IAAF provides a guide on Drugs in Sports which covers the evolution of dope testing and provides the rules which apply to testing.
Both the UK Sport and the UK Athletics website have comprehensive cover of anti-doping requirements.
In addition the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) provides a definitive list of drugs which are on the banned list. To get the latest version click here and then click on the relevant document on their download centre.
Lifestyle and Support
Specific information relating to the Coaching of Women and Girls has been written by Gwenda Ward and is available here.
Strength and Conditioning
(Section under preparation)
Sport Science
Sport Science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance. Traditionally it incorporates the areas of physiology, psychology, motor control and biomechanics, and also includes other topics such as nutrition and diet, covered above.
Useful articles on this subject are available from UK Athletics.
Another excellent source of information is the English Institute of Sport website. Accessing the "What We Do" page gives an extensive menu of topics including Sports Medicine, Physiotherapy, Nutrition, Psychology, Physiology and Bio-mechanics, as well as Performance Life Style and Sports Massage.
Coventry University provides facilities for exercise testing, muscle function testing, and technique analysis, as well as providing a strength and conditioning suite. This is supported by training programme design and other supporting facilities.
Technical Information
Sports Coach UK is the UK lead agency for Coach Development. Their website provides a wealth of information across all aspects of coaching.
Athletics Weekly also produces advice, techniques and tips for beginners in its AW basics section. Be prepared to scroll down the page, which provides links to a whole range of topics.
And finally ...
Bob Phillips, Athletics writer and broadcaster, writes: "Bill Adcocks was - and still is - one of the very finest of Britain's marathon men". Bill's book "The Road to Athens" provides an insight into how he became one of the fastest marathon runners this country has seen.
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