Coaches Corner

I prepared the following presentation back in 2015 highlighting what I saw as a coaching deficit and the effects it would have on the performances of Irish athletes in Global Championships. Some caveats up front. I am not a world class coach. I am not an elite coach. I am not an expert in this area. I see myself as a development coach, a hobby coach. I see short comings in the coaching landscape from my perspective as a development coach and also from my time as an average athlete. This is my opinion and may not be correct, it's just an opinion. However, what I feared would happen in 2015 has materialised in both Rio '16 and London '17. Two athletes have achieved Top 16 finishes in those Championships - Robert Heffernan and Thomas Barr. Ten years ago in the 2007 World Championships we had 8 athletes who finished in a Top 16 place. Depending on what statistics you use, the 2017 Worlds is our worst championship in 12 years (2005) and 2nd worst in 26 years (1991). ...

Some very interesting splits from the women's 400m at last weeks Irish Nationals. The race was won by Cliodhna Manning in a storming finish. Her first 200 to second 200 split was an extraordinary 0.67 seconds. The other top four were in a more standard range of 2.5-2.8 secs. Also, in comparison was the athlete's first 200m versus their 200m PB. Manning was 2.59 outside her 200m PB at 200m. Denny (0.88) and Moynihan (1.07) were probably more typical while an under par Healy was slower through 200m than normal. Christine Ohuruogu, renowned for her storming finishes, had a 1.80 split when she won World's in 2013. TV footage would only allow analysis  of the top 4.

  In the Derek Evely 'Shovelling Shit' article from 2013, here , there is one bit that stood out for me and I keep referencing back to. Evely talked about the factors of a successful program and the sequencing of those factors. The factors are: Coaching Excellence Quality Sports Medicine Access to Warm Weather But he warned against putting the cart before the horse and building a centre without these factors already in place. "Do not kit out a Centre with support and medical staff and then try to figure out who your coaches are going to be.  All the bells, whistles and support staff expertise can really help but only if driven by a coach who knows what to do with the information harvested from such tools. Without this, it is all a waste of money…money that could be better used for a coach’s salary". Now most coaches in this country will have little or no access anyway to the bells and whistles of a formal support structure or centre, but they ...

There is a lot of chatter on social media at present regarding the great success we are seeing at underage level and how we can ensure these great young athletes and their coaches are navigated through the post-junior years. Three articles in the past week have touched on the point. Cathal Dennehy, writing in the Irish Examiner on Saturday, link here , said "At some point, though, the association needs to dig deep into its coffers and appoint a full-time director of coaching, and it has to be someone of international repute, one whose results speak louder than a powerpoint presentation that can easily fool a boardroom". Along similar lines, on his RTE Sport blog, link here, David Gillick said "I think Athletics Ireland have an opportunity now to look at that talent and think: how do we nurture that? Is it a case where someone comes in and tries to manage it to the next level? Perhaps, because we always have talented juniors but the key is what happens to them...

Some great insights from coach Roddy Gaynor. "one basic principle however when it comes to applying a coaching method to a specific athlete, just ask ‘does this make sense’?"   Q - What is your background - as an athlete, as a coach? My background in competing dates back to the 80’s. Overall, I won 7 national titles from Schools through to Senior level. Winning the senior outdoor 800M in 1982 was something of a breakthrough and I went on to gain a number of senior international Irish vests. My best over the 800 was 1.48. I was a graduate of the US collegiate system and made All-American on three occasions at NCAA Div 2 level. The US experience was very much an eye opener as a young aspiring athlete. Having not been beaten as an Irish secondary school student for two years, to being completely off the mark against senior collegiate athletes was somewhat devastating.   I was released from scholarship at the University of Arkansas after one year and I was very fortun...

There was a good night for Irish 4 x 400 relay running on Wednesday night when both u20 teams qualified for this summer's European u20 Championship in Italy. The women's team qualified and broke the Irish record. That was achieved without the #1 and #2 ranked athletes (at the time) who were unavailable. The quartet of Ciara Deely, Ellie O'Toole, Nicole King and Davicia Patterson guided by their team coach, David McCarthy, acquitted themselves very well. Nicole King in particular ran a 55.28 split (using Dartfish), excellent considering her PB is 56.47. Two key components to a strong relay programme are strength in depth and athletes who always seem to run well when given a baton. The last Irish relay team to qualify for an Olympics (and only the 4th ever) was the women's 4 x 400 team in London 2012 and they had depth and excellent relay runners. Granted they had a 'once in a generation' in Joanne Cuddihy to spearhead it all but it was a great team. The Clas...

What a phenomenal day of athletics in Tullamore yesterday at the Irish Schools. It seems to be a regular occurrence in recent years. It is evidence the athlete talent is there. It is evidence the coaching talent is there. But the amazing talent who have competed in their last schools competition will now enter the most critical phase of their careers that will define whether their dreams are realised or not. Our official coaching framework is letting these athletes down in that key phase of their career. It is letting the coaches, who have developed them, down. The most critical years for our athletes are their collegiate years. This is where the wheels will usually come off if they are going to come off. A whole new world. Away from home in many cases. New temptations, new pressures. Their normal support circle has disappeared. A huge void can appear. Of course there will be athletes who will thrive despite this neglect and you could argue that it's that resilience that make...