Developing Athletes - Art & Science

This whole process of developing athletes is both an art and a science. This is a careful blend, not an either or proposition. In today’s world of rapid change and scientific advances it is easy to get caught up in the science and minimize the art. It is very important to strive to constantly achieve a balance. Coaching practice should be rooted in science, but ultimately it is practice-based evidence that is important. There has never been a sport scientist that invented a new technique or training method, they have only verified or validated, usually after the fact, which technique or method devised by a coach or an athlete worked. We can’t wait for sport science to lead; coaches have to be on the cutting edge of innovation and change. Everything coaches do must be based on sound principles and sport science; it is imperative that we keep accurate and detailed records so that we can look retrospectively at why something succeeded or why it failed.