Coaching Track

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Coaching Track Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a successful track coach and coach your protégés to a successful season? Through job shadowing, personal experience, and research, I have found out just how much hard work goes into coaching. Of the more than twenty million Americans who are running today, most who start do so for the wrong reasons, with the wrong attitude, and tend to lose interest after a few weeks or months. Many quit. This is usually because they become concerned with superficial goals such as time and distance and never discover the more profound mental benefits that running offers. (Lilliefors 15) To be a successful coach, the first thing a coach has to do is become well acquainted with the athlete. The coach should get to know the athlete’s life outside of track. If the coach does not know the person as an individual then he would not be able to coach them. According to a collegiate track athlete, “a track coach should not only improve your running, but he should improve your way of life” (Jones). I believe that statement is true. A coach needs to have that close personal connection with their athletes. Like a teacher would have a connection to a student. With out that teacher, student connection the athlete will not enjoy learning nor will the coach be able to teach the athlete. In fact, a coach is a teacher, and the athlete is a student. That should be true for all coaches, not just a track coach. The second thing a coach has to do is assess the athlete. Then they need to find out what type of runner the athlete is. That way they can design a workout program that will prove to be the most effective with that person. Every athlete i... ... middle of paper ... ...dcaster for track. If you are a good coach, your former players will want to come back to visit and stay in touch. They will feel very comfortable around your current players. Honesty is the centerpiece of a coach/player relationship. Bibliography: Clark, Josh. Road Rhythms. Online Internet. Dec. 2000 Available:*http://kicksports.com/good/cycle.shtml* Connelly, Pat. Coaching Evelyn. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. Jones, Cedric. Personal Interview, Nov. 2000 Lilliefors, Jim. Total Running/ All About the Mental and Spiritual Side of Running. New York: William Morrow and Company, INC, 1997 Robinson, Charles, Personal Interview. June 1999. Spurrier, Steve. Getting Player to Play the Best They Can. .Online Internet. Nov. 2000. Available 1999 *http://www.y-coach.com/CD/coaching.htm* Washington, James, Personal Interview, Nov. 2000

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