To have or not to have a coach? Similar to the unresolved question which Hamlet puts to himself in the form of “To be or not to be”, every athlete at some point in his career puts this question to himself, and like Hamlet often remains in a state of limbo, unable to decide which path to follow. There are some who decide to find a coach, others who decide to organise their own training plan or download “standard” training programs from the internet, while others may decide to “just go out and run”.
But why should an athlete choose a coach, what advantages would or could this bring ? And, once decided that he or she should have a coach how do they go about deciding which is the ideal coach for them?
It is a generally acknowledged fact that an athlete when left to their own devices will almost certainly do too much, too fast and too soon. Magazine articles and websites are full of warnings about “burnout” of athletes, consequent to the syndrome of “too much, fast and soon” , yet we all know someone or have heard of someone who has fallen into this trap, maybe we have fallen into it ourselves on the wave of enthusiasm and a healthy diet of endorphines.
A healthy training plan is one which balances exercise and recovery, intensity, frequency and volume, strength and flexibility, resistance and maximum output, coordination and mental resilience. All bound up within the confines of a normal life in which the athlete is, at turn, worker, companion, parent and friend. On top of which we are all individuals and each of us will have a different response to the training workload. A coach should serve as an external observor, impartially judging the performance, guiding the athlete through micro and macro cycles of training, motivating at the correct time, guarding against injury and overtraining, finding a balance between sport and everyday life, a mentor whose only objective is that of indicating the optimal path, not only for the best possible athletic result, but also the health and well being of the individual.
But once we have decided that having a coach can be the best solution for our personal objectives, how can we decide on the right person for us? What are the characteristics of a coach that an athlete should be looking for?
In our opinion there are 4 basic areas in which a coach must be prepared to provide his support and expertise.
Creating an Individualised Training Plan
The plan must be holistic, periodised and individualised.
In order to do this the coach must firstly find out as much as possible about the potential athlete. His atletic history, how long he has been running, what type and volume of training he has carried out (distance, vertical, intensity, pace) and how many times he trains a week. Then the performances - which races has he done and with what results or personal bests. A vital component is the injury and medical history. Which kind of injuries has the athlete experienced and whether these were running induced. On top of this it is important to understand which other athletic activity the athlete may be involved in during the present time or in the past, such as cross-training, cycling or swimming.
Within the social sphere it is vital to understand the athlete’s family situation (marriage, children). Work is also another major component – typology (office, manual, driving) and intensity of work (hours worked, traveling, responsibility). All of these factors can cause stress, which, on top of the training stress, can cause disruption of sleep or hormonal balance eventually leading to sub maximal performance or even burn out.
The coach also needs to understand the objectives of the athlete. Does the athlete wish to finish a particular race or do they wish to place within the top places in their category? Is the objective that of extending the race distance from 50 to over 100km? It may even be that of trying to win a race or, at the other extreme, of completing a first year of trail racing without suffering any injuries.
Only when all of these factors have been gathered and understood can a coach begin to prepare a training plan in which the overall plan of periodisation and various stages of specific skill construction are established. However this does not imply that the training programme for the entire season, whether that be 3, 6 or 9 months should be established in detail at that time but that only the bare bones of the programme should be established. A concientious coach should never establish a detailed programme of more than one month at a time, though many coaches work on 2 or even one week tables, and even in this case there should be a system of feedback and discussion which can allow the programme to be modified. The reason for this is that the progression of improvement is not linear and may vary not only by athlete but also from period to period.
The plan must accommodate suitable periods of rest and recovery and a reasonable level of variation in order to guard against plateauing and boredom.
Knowledge
A good coach should have an excellent understanding of human physiology and training theory, most probably but not necessarily obtained through specific studies at graduate level, as well as having notions of psychology and basic medical knowledge. In the case of endurance sports it would be preferable that the coach has participated in similar events so that they can anticipate and/or understand the requirements and specifics of the sport. Knowledge and discoveries within sports science have been evolving rapidly over recent decades and therefore coaches should be willing to keep up to date through continued studies and reading of research.
Since the most effective form of training success is obtained through a constant fedback and dialogue between the coach and athlete, it is probable that the athlete will often pose questions or request explanations which should be answered in a competent, scientific and clear fashion. These questions can vary from clarifications on the reason for certain types of training and the expected results, to advice on the use of supplements, for example Amino Acids or Creatine. They may be a request for assistance on nutrition and hydration both in racing and in normal day life or could involve psychological aspects of racing and recovery. The coach should always be able to give clear, unbiased and documented answers. If he does not have the answer he should be able to carry out the necessary research in order to suggest a hypothesis or alternatively be able to consult an alternative expert in the field.
Planning
One of the most difficult tasks for an athlete is the programming of a competitive season. It is relatively easy to choose the biggest race of the year (A Race) or in some cases two races (for example an athlete could choose to compete in the Lavaredo Ultra Trail at the end of June and one of the UTMB races at the end of August.). But which other races (B or C Races) should be inserted into the programme? How long should they be and which is the optimal progression and recovery/training period between the various races? This is clearly an area in which an active cooperation between the athlete and the coach can pay dividends, avoiding potentially damaging mistakes and ensuring a seamless transition from training through tapering, to race and recovery and subsequently a return to training.
A coach should also be able to suggest and outline a suitable racing strategy according to the objectives of the athlete, their specific strengths or weaknesses and the morphology of the race course. Advice on nutrition and hydration can play a fundamental role in successful execution, as can the choice of clothing and equipment.
Nurturing and Challenging
The skilled coach should always have the individuals best interests in mind. This goes beyond athlete satisfaction and goal achievement.
Coaches have a fiduciary responsibility to act in a way that preserves the athlete’s best long-term interests. This may require sacrificing short-term performance and gratification, of both athlete and coach, in exchange for long term health and development. As mentioned in the introduction the coach’s position is that of an external and impartial observor, whose scope is to prevent errors while providing the necessary motivation.
At the same time it is necessary to encourage both growth and progression. This has two components: affirmation and challenge. A skilled coach should affirm positive qualities and achievements, pointing out strengths and identifying and celebrating improvements along the way.
But the other more difficult aspect is to challenge. Athletes enter a coaching relationship because they want to develop and grow, but that often requires challenging belief systems and possibly breaking old, dysfunctional habits.
A skilled coach will nurture with both affirmation and challenge, encouraging and motivating the athlete to venture somewhere different, outside the comfort zone.
This may involve a higher level of training volume and intensity, but more often it will involve doing something differently: less training, developing new skill sets, and exploring new facets of the athlete to find untapped potential. This can be an uncomfortable process both the athlete and coach, where discipline must be maintained and gratification delayed for future satisfaction.
A skilled coach will nurture in such a way that, over time, the athlete goes beyond previous limitations and achieves at a higher level.
So we have seen that a coach should be able to create an individualised training plan, dispense suitable and accurate knowledge, assist in planning a competitive season and should be dedicated to the athlete’s best future interests. But what should the athlete bring to the relationship? How should they behave in relation to the coach?
First and foremost they should enter into the coaching contract with a clear and concise idea of what they wish to achieve. Which type of competitions they wish to partake in, what kind of results they wish to achieve. Understandably these ideas must be reasonable and achievable and very often the coach can assist in defining them more precisely, sometimes moderating, other time challenging and expanding. The basic training plan will be based on these skeleton ideas.
Feedback from the athlete to the coach is vital. This does not signify that the athlete should be on the phone to the coach immediately at the end of each training session, but should certainly be prepared to give a concise summary at the end of each week in which performance, sensations and most importantly any injury or illness should be reported in a clear manner. Heart rate graphs may assist in giving a clearer picture in more complicated workouts such as intervals or hill repeats.
Thirdly, and most importantly, the athlete should respect the workout that has been prescribed. This does not negate the possibility of an exchange of views concerning the training sessions, their order, length or intensity, but once the sessions have been agreed upon then they should be respected to the letter.
On occasion, because “life happens”, the athlete may be unable to carry out the required session. In this case it is paramount for the athlete to advise the coach accordingly so that the appropriate modifications can be made, or not, to the schedule.
