How I'd coach kids. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
A friend of mine has been conscripted to coach middle school track and field. He has no formal coaching experience, but he's a real student of strength and conditioning and has been for many years. He asked me for advice. Here’s what I said: 1. Give plenty of rest. Track meets aren’t wars of attrition like, say, a marathon is. Kids should be going fast not breaking down. Particularly true for sprinters.
2. Distance (800/1600m runners) kids will need more volume, but still not as much as you might think. 3. Err on the side of brief and fun for practices. Less is more, and you don’t want to “condition” 12 and 13 year olds to hate physical activity. Kids should come away energized and in a good mood from practice. 4. Don’t get too serious. Kids should just try the events that interest them without worrying about “conflicting energy pathways.” 5. But take things seriously. Whatever the kids do try, they should really try and be their best. 6. Everyone has something they can do well. You'll probably get a fair number of heavier or unathletic kids. They can often turn out to be great throwers, and they will still benefit from sprinting and trying the other events even if they aren't going to win. 7. Introduce “weird stuff.” Go barefoot on the grass for warmups, do bear crawls, try some strength training, play games that appear to have nothing to do with their events. Nothing wrong with “practice” being a long walk or a game of ultimate frisbee. 8. Stress that "your main opponent is yourself." If a kid improves over his or her previous performance, they're winning. It's not necessarily about beating anyone else. What else would you add? Let me know on Facebook or Instagram. |
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Mark's Daily Apple 1101 Maulhardt Ave. Oxnard, CA 93033 |
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