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Coaches
Decathlon Training
Decathlon is a physically taxing set of events. It's essential to have a good understanding of the basic concepts underlying training in general:
- Recovery
- Balance
- Technique
Coach and athlete alike must understand that improvement in athletic performance is the result of both training and recovery. Hard training alone simply fatigues the body. The body's natural response to hard training is to rebuild weary muscles so that they become stronger than before. This rebuilding is done in the recovery phase of training. The length of the recovery phase depends on the amount of stress placed on the body during training.
The amount of physical work a young athlete can handle will be unique to the individual and depend on factors such as age, physical development, training background, and work ethic. All must be taken into account in arranging a training program for an event as rigorous as the decathlon. Please remember to build recovery and rest (track's R&R) into the training schedule. It makes no sense to do a workout so strenuous that you are unable to train the next day.
Successful decathlon performance is a balanced effort. Therefore, balance in decathlon training is an ideal that needs careful and diligent planning. Decathlons are rarely won with one or two terrific events. They are certainly lost by one poor one. Balanced training requires a long-term commitment. After all, training for many of the decathlon events cannot take place simultaneously. The shot put, with its focus on power, and the 1500-meter run, requiring endurance, demand different types of training. The world's best shot putter does not need much endurance training. Conversely, developing endurance capacity does not require shot put drills. However, to become a multi-event athlete, some of both forms of training are desirable. Balance in training seeks a compromise between the two.
Perfect balance, though, is not the goal. For example, receiving the same number of points in each event is not a winning decathlon strategy. Scoring the maximum number of points is the goal. Remember the goal and don't lose sight of it. To better understand balance in training, consider the following potential "disaster events." Spills are frequent in the hurdles. Occasionally, decathletes fail to clear the opening height in the pole vault. It is not uncommon for the discus to land outside the sector in all three throws. All three instances result in a zero score. The first priority in training, then, should be to practice for dependability and confidence in these events, even though other events might be weaker.
Finally, sound technique should be given primary emphasis in training, especially at the beginner's stage. Experience will enhance a young decathlete's speed, power, and endurance. Flawless technique does not occur naturally. Sam Adams, the long-time track coach at the University of California at Santa Barbara put it this way: "The decathlon is the art of executing correctly." Many decathletes have eliminated themselves by throwing the discus outside the throwing sector, crashing down the hurdles, or missing low heights in either the high jump or pole vault -- all for a deficiency in technique. A lot of technique is developed in the early teen years, as early as junior high school. Technique should be biomechanically sound. Otherwise, it needs to be unlearned, then relearned. This is time-consuming and disrupting. Ken Doherty, Ph.D., author of Track and Field Omnibook, observes that for athletes who intend to make a career of the decathlon, no-learning is far better than learning poor technique.
Excerpted from A Basic Guide to Decathlon by
the U.S. Olympic Committee.
© 1996 by Griffin Publishing Group
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The U.S. Olympic Committee
A Basic Guide to Decathlon
Paperback $8.95
© 1996, Griffin Publishing; ISBN:
1882180682
128 pages
For information
on purchasing the book from bookstores or here online, please go to the Web page for A Basic Guide to Decathlon (Griffin Publishing).
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