I must say I feel somewhat vindicated after arguing for years that the World Youth Championships are not in the best interest of long term athlete development. Back in August, following the IAAF’s Council meeting, president Sebastian Coe announced that 2017 will be the last instalment of this championship, saying that “it’s not the best pathway for those athletes at that stage of their career.”
Athlete development
Recommended article: What Separates Champions From ‘Almost Champions’?
I have always been a strong believer in long term athlete development. This article is a good, short summary of what that means. Essentially, for kids to excel in a sport, they need to follow their passion and interests, enjoy competing and practicing, be self-driven, and enjoy a supportive but not pushy environment (ie coaches and parents) which fosters their long-term development.
The development of shot putter Christina Schwanitz
Over the last few years Christina Schwanitz has slowly but surely evolved into a world class shot putter. Last year she won two medals at international championships. In an article which recently appeared in the German coaching journal Leichtathletiktraining (published by Philippka Sportverlag), coach Sven Lang (who also coaches David Storl), provided a fascinating insight into Schwanitz’s development. Below is my summary of the article, The development of shot putter Christina Schwanitz.
Fascinating feature on shot putter David Storl
In 2012 Schmidt Media posted “Vision Gold – Kugelstoßen”, a fascinating portrait on Germany’s latest shot put sensation. The film provides interesting insights into David Storl’s training and development as a thrower as he prepares for the 2012 Olympic Games. Below is my edited summary in English for those who would like to know what is being said in the video.
New AA high performance plan
Athletics Australia has published its new high performance plan, leading up to the 2016 Olympics. I was pleased to see statements (on pages 16 and 17) which suggest AA has ‘downgraded’ the importance of the U18 World Championships and only athletes who can easily qualify and are likely to do very well should be sent to this event (ie they should not have to train specifically and try very hard to qualify). As my own research has shown, a tiny minority of U18 World Championship participants will ever progress to make a senior team, let alone do well at a World Championships or Olympic Games.
A new approach to athletics competition and training for children in Australia
In my paper “A new approach to athletics competition and training for children in Australia” I argue for a complete overhaul of the athletics competition and training system for children in the interest of a more effective long term development of our athletes and improved retention.
Feel free to comment below or email me directly.
A new approach to athletics competition and training for children in Australia
London 2012 – some thoughts
Another edition of the Olympics belong to the past, and what great Games they were. But our athletes didn’t bring home enough metal? Too many of them disappointed? For athletics the declared goal by AA was 6 shiny medals. In the end the team won 3.
Are we wasting our talents?
The IAAF World Junior Championships are just around the corner, and we have a lot of young quality athletes representing Australia in Barcelona. Let’s hope they can gain from this experience and use it as a stepping stone towards a senior World Championships or Olympic Games in coming years.
But before long, the focus will again be on the IAAF World Youth Championships (WYC), with many young talented athletes wanting to qualify.
I thought it would be interesting to make a more detailed analysis of the first three generations of Australian WYC participants, ie. athletes who participated in 1999, 2001, and 2003. What happened to them? What did they achieve subsequently?
The statistics confirm that very few of these talented teenagers actually make a successful transition through to the senior ranks. The statistics are really quite sobering…
Are we wasting our talents? What do you think?
Analysis first three generations of Australian WYC participants