The great Carl Lewis is in town. Arguably the greatest athlete of this century, Lewis had won 9 Olympic golds and a silver in 5 Olympiads and once held the world record for the 100m sprint. He has retired since 1997 and has moved into showbusiness. Hurdler Liu Xiang As reported in the Straits Times of 2 Dec, 2006, Lewis emphasized that "one of the key factors to an athlete's success was good coaching", and he cited the case of China's Olympic gold medal hurdler, Liu Xiang, as one having the best techniques because he has received good coaching. He also lamented that the biggest problem in athletics today is the lack of good coaching. Doping "A lot of the doping problems we have right now stems from the fact that the coaches don't know how else to get results." "If we can get good coaches into the sport, we will be able to cut down a lot of these problems with doping." He then cited the case of coach Trevor Graham, who has 11 athletes tested positive for drugs over the years, including his compatriot and former Olympic and world champion, Justin Gatlin, who was banned for up to 8 years earlier this year. Lewis claimed that Trevor Graham doesn't know anything about the sport but is still very popular because his athletes achieve results. Lewis stressed that parents should focus on teaching their children the correct values and how to do the right thing. "People cheat in work, in all areas of life. Why should we tell our children to avoid sports just because some people cheat there too? "Sports can teach us incredible lessons about how to be successful in life." Good Coaches Lewis doesn't think that good coaches must be ex-players and he cited the example of American football: "If you look at a sport like American football and the National Football League, the coaches there are not ex-players who have retired. "They are well-educated, trained and experienced and have to work their way up the ranks before they can become the main coach of a team". He pointed to former top athletes, such as British sprinter Linford Christies, who made the switch to coaching once they retired and asked what qualifications does Linford have.
Thanks for posting that! I completely agree. A coach has to know not just how to train his/her athletes physically, technically, and mechanically, but has to inspire and motivate them mentally if they want the athletes to perform at their peak. I find that a lacking skill with many coaches. I've considered starting to get my coaching qualifications, but I realize I certainly don't have that skill, either. The best coaches I've ever had are the ones who actually have Masters and even PHDs in coaching! I guess studying the sport in uni, in fact, does impart knowledge workable in the real world of sport! Unfortunately, none of those great coaches have been badminton coaches, blargh.
check out this thread, it has viewpoints from many posters. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19499&highlight=coaching
