baddabingbaddaboom wrote:
Personally I would look at the current roster and see who's performing and who has not, etc.. This is something easy to do now and wasn't so easy back in the pre-internet days.
Myths- You will THINK that everyone on the team is a "runner" and cares about the sport.
Reality-There are lot of kids just going through the motions, spend their time complaining about everything, everyone, doubting the training.
Myth- The HC is going to make a detailed training plan meant to make each athlete the best they can be.
Reality- The coach as a plan he uses and rarely deviates from his normal practices. Athlete either makes it or doesn't, if they don't it doesn't matter because the coach will just a new one next year.
Yep, I remember the pre-internet days. Heck, I remember before chip timing.
That first myth you have listed is one of my biggest problems on my team. ---- That "going through the motions" effect. I always told some (or all) of them when they pissed me off that you ought to leave the team, and join the college's soccer team and sit on the sidelines if you don't want to do anything but have your name on a roster.
I disagree on the second myth. I split my team up into groups (usually 3), and have a A, B, and C group. All three groups will have custom tailored workouts to PREVENT injury. Occasionally I have a "D" group, which are the injured ones, that I work on to help get back on track.
If the athlete doesn't show up, well, I can't do anything about that, except to talk to them, and find out what's going on in life/mentally to see if I can help.
Being a runner myself, I go and run with any one of the groups to make sure they are doing the workout correctly and to monitor their "thoughts". I also have another coach that goes out, and drives/bikes to also keep an eye on things.
One of the biggest compliments I get from all the other college coaches, parents, and the athletes is that I know what their practice is like -- frankly because I DO THE WORKOUT WITH THEM.
I hate these coaches that have either never run a minute in their life and they try coaching, and when they have practice, they just send the athletes out and forget about them until they return. Those types of coaches are getting paid to do nothing.