Sport Coaching Sessions and Its Importance - Essay Example

Sport Coaching Table of Contents Introduction 3 Six Coaching Session Plans 3 Identification and Justification the Rationale of the Sessions 5 Conclusion 8 References 9 Appendix 10 Introduction Sport coaching is a new concept which has emerged and gained importance in the recent times. To keep up with the pace of the growing trend and to improve the quality and efficiency of the sports coaching, the government policymakers in the nations such as the United Kingdom are taking steps such as supporting the World Class Coaching Conference. Moreover, the government is taking initiatives to improve the opportunity of sports coaching since 2006 (The Higher Education Academy, 2005). Coaching acts as a significant catalyst for the development of the effective coaching guide in order to increase, to sustain and develop participation in the sports. By considering athletics as the multi-skill sport, the key target audience will be young sportspersons within the age group of 12 to 25 years. Development of psychology and discipline as a part of sport coaching would be the key result areas for the coaches with regard to this group of athletes. The relevance of the coaching sessions and its importance will be evaluated through the essay. Six Coaching Session Plans Coaching is an important aspect in the field of sports as it assists the athletes in developing their skills and leading a disciplined life. Quality coaching aids in enhancing the safety, health and self-esteem of the sports person. It promotes fair play, social unity among the players, teamwork and assists in developing a quality life with enjoyment (The National Coaching Foundation, 2008). The process of coaching includes three major elements i.e. planning, conducting and evaluating. The planning is to develop a proper training schedule to assist the athletes belonging to the age group of 12-25 years in achieving their goals. Conducting refers to the applicability of the training sessions as planned prior by the coach. Evaluation of coaching refers to determining the progress of the athletes in the games of athletics which is a multi-skilled sport discipline (BrianMac Sports Coach, 2014). The Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model is a part of the coaching regiment for the physical development of the athlete with regard to the sports such as track and field, long jump and high jump. LTAD model facilitates in the development of proper physical activity, balance, coordination and agility of the athletes which in turn will aid to channel the energy of the athletes in the right direction (SCCU, 2011). Warm Up is a significant part for the athletes at the beginning of the session as it will help them in gaining the rhythm along with energising them for the training. Warm up signifies a steady start by doing some shuttle activities such as jogging, skipping, and star jumps before beginning with the strict training sessions. It can be done for about 10 minutes in a day at the beginning of the practice. The following session plan is skill revision of the skill learnt such as drill and techniques for high jump which will enable the coach to get the understanding of the athletes about the game. This session will be of 15 minutes. The next part of the session plan is the skill development in accordance with their sports for instance the athlete should be able to do the S shape pull in the freestyle. Besides, the need of the coaching is to assist the athlete to be able to make a comfortable landing in case of high jump. Also, in case of long jump, the landing technique which is to land on the heels is one of the basic features to be trained in the second session. This session will be done on a regular basis for about 40-50 minutes. The fourth stage of the coaching session is skill Practice. This signifies the time given to athletes to practice all the learnt techniques related to their sports. The strategies and tactics are required to be taught by the coach to get the best result. This session would last for a period of 35 minutes. The subsequent stage is physical development session which is done to increase the stamina of the athletes in order to achieve their goals. Energy, balance and teamwork are coached in this session wherein the athletes have to work harder to improve their stamina which is an important aspect for a sport person especially in track and field. This session would be conducted for 15 minutes and finally the cool down session would take place which would facilitate to make the athletes relax. This would be done to allow the athletes to walk from jogging, stretch their backs, hamstrings and hip flexors which will in turn assist them to relax after a strict disciplined coaching session (Sport New Zealand, n.d.; Physical Education Association of Ireland, 2012). Identification and Justification the Rationale of the Sessions The growing trend of coaching and its importance with the athletes is creating the need for a coaching session framework. This encourages the athletes to lead a disciplined life and hence helps them in enjoying their game. Regular proper regimes make them excited, motivated and encourage in building the sportsman spirit. Coaching session will enable to build performance standard for the athletes. The coach is the guide for the athletes and coaching is the process of guiding for improvement and development of the skills (The National Coaching Foundation, 2008). The frameworks of coaching such as warm up and skill development help in creating an environment for the athletes as they get the support and build relationship along with team bonding which is another important aspect. The key motive of the sessions is to encourage and motivate to win and compete which is a vital constituent of LTAD. Figure 1 gives an overview of the LTAD model and the result of the coaching session which is ‘training to win and compete’. Figure: 1 Source: (International Council for Coaching Excellence, 2012) The sessions plans evaluated are important as they deal with the safety of the athletes, mental preparation and the philosophy of coaching. The warm up session is of relevance to avoid injury. This session will help to raise the body temperature and muscle flexibility of the athletes to make them face the vigorous strict coaching schedule. The performance of an athlete would improve if the warm up is done in a proper manner as it increases the efficiency of the muscles which is an important element for track and field as well as high jump. This session will give a good enjoyable start to the athletes. Also, skill revision is another important session which aids the coach to derive an appropriate analysis of the athletes’ learning trends. Similarly, if the reviewed skills are learnt properly then it will boost and motivate the athletes. Motivation is another reason for the coaching sessions’ development. A proper schedule and regular regime will help the athletes in a major way (Lyle, 2002). The coaching plan segmented in six sessions is justifiable as it will encourage the athlete to be happy, ensure safety and health quality. The sessions will allow the athlete to be active, have clear goals, and record their progress through the second session which is skill revision. Besides, the sessions will encourage enjoyment as the athletes will be trained with fun. The skill development session would be of potential help as it would facilitate in learning the running basics, sprints, hurdles, relay and long jump. The cool down session is certainly rational as ending the training abruptly may cause few health issues such as ‘pooling of blood’. The other major issues without this session can be soreness and cramps of the athletes due to the sudden discontinuation of the exercise. Thus, cool down is important as it helps to lower the temperature of the body through the light exercises such as ‘jogging into walking’. Furthermore, this session is important for the athletes and the coaches to have an interaction to get feedbacks (Physical Education Association of Ireland, 2012; Sport New Zealand, n.d.). The session plans are important as they are aimed to be executed on a regular basis for a specific period of time. This will enable to ascertain the safety and health regarded issues of the athletes as every session has its own importance. Every session is segmented for a specific time which would help the athletes to have a disciplined life which will in turn aid their success. Conclusion The essay evaluates the concept of sport coaching while considering the athletics as a sport discipline. The athletes belonging to age group of 12-15 years are considered to be well trained and groomed through the coaching session. The session plan is important as it ensures the safety and creates an environment of coaching. The sessions would facilitate to bring about discipline and motivation among the athletes in order to achieve their goals and win through the coaching regime followed on a regular basis. References BrianMac Sports Coach, 2014. Coaching Principles. Is Coaching an Art or a Science? [Online] Available at: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/coaching.htm [Accessed January 22, 2014]. International Council for Coaching Excellence, 2012. International Sport Coaching Framework. Human Kinetics. Lyle, J., 2002. Sports Coaching Concepts: A Framework for Coaches Behaviour. Taylor & Francis. Physical Education Association of Ireland, 2012. Athletics Coaching Guide. Planning an Athletics Training and Competition Season, pp. 1-185. Sport New Zealand, No Date. Planning a Coaching Session. Module Nine, pp. 1-13. SCCU, 2011. Coaching for Long-term Athlete Development. Quick Guide, pp. 1-5. The Higher Education Academy, 2005. Sports Coaching. Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network, pp. 2-12. The National Coaching Foundation, 2008. The UK Coaching Framework. The Need for The UK Coaching Framework, pp. 1-77. Appendix Date: Age Group: 12-25 Years Duration: 2 Hours 15 Minutes Venue: Sessions Plan Session Name Duration Activity Warm Up 10 minutes Jogging and skipping Skill Revision 15 minutes Revision of the skills learnt Skill Development 50 minutes Developing strategies for the given multi skill sport Skill Practice 35 minutes Learning of the given sport Physical Development 15 minutes Teamwork and building the stamina Cool Down 10 minutes Walking and feedback given by the coach Sessions Plan Read More