Coaching long distance runners
Most coaches will tell you that "Coaching is a mix of art and science". A layman may misunderstand the statement and think that coaching is an easy job that anyone can do. After all, how could one argue with those who say running is as natural to humans as flying is to birds. Running has not changed much over the years even though the understanding and knowledge has increased. It thus came as no surprise that RI has not renewed the contract of its long distance running coach Mr. Steven Quek even though he has brought much success to the team. The news and information that I have is from Soh Rui Yong's posting on facebook. Rui Yong was coached by Mr Quek while he was in Singapore and he is Mr Quek's most accomplished athlete. Rui Yong is also the holder of Singapore's 10km record.
I do not know Mr Quek well or even the details of why his contract with RI was not renewed. Running by itself or even as a social activity is indeed not difficult. As some of the athletes I coached will testify, you may not even need a pair of shoe to run even at a competitive level. However once it comes to raising performance for competition, it is no longer an easy task especially in Singapore. The majority of the competitive athletes are not full time athletes. Most of them are studying. They need to juggle between school, family and training. Some of the students may even have to work to supplement the family income. Students sometimes run between lessons as part of training while those working will have to be more disciplined with training times.
In order for the athlete to do well, coaches have to juggle and balance between each individual's needs. When exams are nearing, the training has to tone down and students have to make sure they are ahead of their studies when the competition period begins. It is a difficult task as there is no straight forward formula or guide on how to achieve this balance. On top of that knowledge and experience is needed in the field of psychology, motivation techniques, behavioural science, nutrition, biomechanics, human anatomy & physiology, exercise physiology, teaching, injury management & prevention etc. for the coaches to to their job well.
Coaching is not my main source of income as I understand the complexity and difficulty of a full time coach. I have an interest in human performance and get great satisfaction seeing that performance can be improved through proper training. When I embarked into the world of coaching, I was quite sure that with the knowledge gained from experts and books, I could help athletes improve. As I teach and coach in the same polytechnic, I am able to guide the athletes who are not doing so well in their studies. I also have more opportunities to meet my athletes in school sharing my experiences and at the same time learning from them. Polytechnic students are also at an age where they are learning to cope with boy girl relationships, perception that their parents do not understand them and pressures of what society expects of them. Coaches sometimes need to play a part in lending a listening ear and give them the support they need. Without balancing the life of the athlete, the performance will not materialize. Performance coaches need to spend a lot of time and effort with their charges to achieve performance. Many do not see the work done off the track. In Singapore it is not possible for a full time coach to survive on coaching a small group of athletes but that is what is required to get performance.
My heart goes out to all the full time coaches whose livelihood depends on coaching as it is not an easy job. Unfortunately some school administrators do not understand the difficulty of the job and the benefits of sports to education. The book "Smarter: The new science of building brain power" which compares different methods to improve brain power has the following to say: “The greatest improvement on cognitive tasks is from exercise. Those who worked out at least once a week performed 9.8% faster, solved 5.8% more math problems and 2.7% more spatial memory than those who never exercise.”
The coaching structure needs to be reviewed. The leaders in charge of sports needs to understand that without improving the livelihood and knowledge of the coaches, getting high performance athletes is not going to be easy. It is thus not surprising to see some of the records are well over 20 years old and the records do not even match up to the neighbouring countries. It is amazing to see records broken by the current athletes with all the constraints but it is due more to a few individuals who dare to take risk and make an extra effort. It is however not sustainable in the long run and it is only when the leaders and the administrators resolve the issues that coaches face that we would see a major shift in performance.
I do not know Mr Quek well or even the details of why his contract with RI was not renewed. Running by itself or even as a social activity is indeed not difficult. As some of the athletes I coached will testify, you may not even need a pair of shoe to run even at a competitive level. However once it comes to raising performance for competition, it is no longer an easy task especially in Singapore. The majority of the competitive athletes are not full time athletes. Most of them are studying. They need to juggle between school, family and training. Some of the students may even have to work to supplement the family income. Students sometimes run between lessons as part of training while those working will have to be more disciplined with training times.
In order for the athlete to do well, coaches have to juggle and balance between each individual's needs. When exams are nearing, the training has to tone down and students have to make sure they are ahead of their studies when the competition period begins. It is a difficult task as there is no straight forward formula or guide on how to achieve this balance. On top of that knowledge and experience is needed in the field of psychology, motivation techniques, behavioural science, nutrition, biomechanics, human anatomy & physiology, exercise physiology, teaching, injury management & prevention etc. for the coaches to to their job well.
Coaching is not my main source of income as I understand the complexity and difficulty of a full time coach. I have an interest in human performance and get great satisfaction seeing that performance can be improved through proper training. When I embarked into the world of coaching, I was quite sure that with the knowledge gained from experts and books, I could help athletes improve. As I teach and coach in the same polytechnic, I am able to guide the athletes who are not doing so well in their studies. I also have more opportunities to meet my athletes in school sharing my experiences and at the same time learning from them. Polytechnic students are also at an age where they are learning to cope with boy girl relationships, perception that their parents do not understand them and pressures of what society expects of them. Coaches sometimes need to play a part in lending a listening ear and give them the support they need. Without balancing the life of the athlete, the performance will not materialize. Performance coaches need to spend a lot of time and effort with their charges to achieve performance. Many do not see the work done off the track. In Singapore it is not possible for a full time coach to survive on coaching a small group of athletes but that is what is required to get performance.
My heart goes out to all the full time coaches whose livelihood depends on coaching as it is not an easy job. Unfortunately some school administrators do not understand the difficulty of the job and the benefits of sports to education. The book "Smarter: The new science of building brain power" which compares different methods to improve brain power has the following to say: “The greatest improvement on cognitive tasks is from exercise. Those who worked out at least once a week performed 9.8% faster, solved 5.8% more math problems and 2.7% more spatial memory than those who never exercise.”
The coaching structure needs to be reviewed. The leaders in charge of sports needs to understand that without improving the livelihood and knowledge of the coaches, getting high performance athletes is not going to be easy. It is thus not surprising to see some of the records are well over 20 years old and the records do not even match up to the neighbouring countries. It is amazing to see records broken by the current athletes with all the constraints but it is due more to a few individuals who dare to take risk and make an extra effort. It is however not sustainable in the long run and it is only when the leaders and the administrators resolve the issues that coaches face that we would see a major shift in performance.
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