Coaching Characteristics
Spend some time at a track meet and see if you don’t notice the same
characteristics of these event coaches. Makes you wonder if coaches
find an event based on their personality or vice versa. Here
generalization and stereotypes.
Distance Coaches
These ones are the easiest to pin down. Roll into the
office with a big cup of coffee. Read letsrun.com and other sites
for an hour. Stress about recent workouts just recently completed by
the team. Go for a run. Stress some more about recently completed
practice. Usually have a meticulously kept office. Spend time on the
phone with other coaches talking about other teams in the region or
conference. Comes up with predicted scores of conference meets, without
ever having run against another team. They score it like this… if team
A ran against team B and we ran against team B, then we would score 'x'
against A. Never happy with the strength training coach for their team.
The word power might as well be Russian to these coaches. Metric field
event distances just confuse the hell out of these folks. Technical
talk includes things like “strength” to explain long runs, “spring” to
explain jumping high, and “heave” to explain the shot put.
Office attire- Running shorts or running pants and dri fit tops.
Meet attire- Running shorts and a polo shirt.
Throws Coaches
Roll into office with a big cup of coffee also. Have a
video camera with tripod in front and center. TV and VCR front and center
to review. Lunch is big part of the day. Spend time offering advice in
the area of strength training to other coaches.
Usually try to help distance coach with their run training programs,
because these folks think they are well versed in training and that
distance coaches don't know what they are doing having their athletes
run so much. These are the coaches at track meets, who mug their
athletes before they even have left the ring and give them 10 different
things they did wrong, 10 more to think about. They also are the ones
emulating the event right outside the ring. Typically seen with two
hands in front of the body doing turns while telling the athlete what
they need to do. A typical post-practice comment to others on staff
revolves around someone PR'ing in practice. At meets, something about
so and so PR'ing in warm-ups or having a HUGE PR, but it was a foul.
They never quite grasp the concept of doing it in a meet, and not
fouling.
Meet attire- A t-shirt of some sort, maybe a “Field and Track” shirt,
showing their disdain for those that disrespect that field events
carry. Usually sweat pants or those nice running pants. If the temp
gets above 35, they've got shorts on. Also, carrying a foldup chair,
backpack full of food, and very roughed up metric conversion book.
PV Coach
This group has its own cult, a very scary cult. Has an
endless list of drills and exercises for the pole vault. Always looking
for new ones. Get in big debates with other PV coaches over technique
and minute details, such as where the right hand should be in relation
to the right shoulder at exactly 3 milliseconds after the pole is
planted, but before it hits the back of the box. These folks think that
anyone who is A) fast or B) tall, can be a great vaulter. These coaches can be
divided into two groups, those that coach the vault as an A) jumping
event or B) a gymnastic event. The more gymnastic event
coaches, the more the apparatuses and toys they want and need for their
endless drills. Hard to find at meets, because they will watch the
vault until it is well past over, even if they have no one in the
competition. Much like throws coaches, talk about practice pr's,
usually over bungee cords. Again a group that never grasps the concept
that it only counts in competition.
Recruiting- They swear every kid who is not that good, could be good
and they want big money for them.
Meet attire- Flip flops and a big sombrero hat
Sprints Coaches
Wired people. Fast talkers who roll into the office
later then most. Can talk an athlete to death to get them to believe in
whatever it is they are saying. Favorite
two words are "get out" and "drive". Stand in the middle of the track
yelling split times at
the top of their voice. Mug their athletes from start of warm up to the
time the athlete hits the track. Lifting technique and on track
exercises never look great, but they get the athletes to the start
line. Lots and lots of pacing before event. During the event, lots of
animation, leaning sideways to see race from different angles.
Generally like to assume the pose of folding their arms across their
chest, gripping a stopwatch as they strain to get relay splits.
Meet attire- Varies, could be wind breaker jacket if any weather below
85 degrees, slick sunglasses.
Jump Coaches
The nerdier group of track
and field. They are the scientists of track and field. Have lots of
books on the book shelf on biomechanics and such. They spend hours
writing up detailed training plans, reading new research, and talking
to the folks in the labs on campus. Usually competing with the throws
coaches for most time spent at the track for practice. Favorite line
is, "it's all about the approach'. Always moving people forward or back
during competitions. Will mention the HUGE foul that occurred in the
meet like the fisherman
who talks about the big fish that got away. Don't have a video camera
and claim they don't need one. Always watching the board and want to
know where the athlete was in relation to the board. A quieter group at
meets and during competition. When talking with an athlete from the
stands across the runway, they can be seen standing with one leg on the
ground, one leg up a 90 degree angle and their chest up. Then showing
how the 90 degree leg should cycle, or the torso should be up or some
combination of the two. If high jump coaching, torso is more arched and
they attempt to lean one way or another. Also carry roughed-up
conversion books.
Meet attire- Blue jeans.
