Coach

[Niamh]

Hey

I've been orienteering a good while now and havn't ever had a coach for the fitness side of things. I'm interested in having someone to advise me cos I don't really have a clue on what to do.

Do many people have coaches? What are the advantages/disadvantages?

And finally, does anyone know a good coach willing to take someone on?

Any opinions/info would be much appreciated Cheers,

Niamh

[DIDSCO]

All juniors with a desire to improve need some form of coaching, both for physical fitness and for the technical side of orienteering. It's impossible at a young age to have all the answers, so having somebody there to guide you can be very important.

From my own perspective a personal coach is the ideal, but even just having somebody you can talk to now again will be of great benefit. It would be ideal to find a coach who you could meet/see on a regular basis - perhaps somebody in your club/region.

The majority of top runners both juniors and seniors will have some form of coach/coaching, without this very few would be able to achieve to the best of their ability. The right coaching should not only help you improve your running and technical ability, your orienteering, but also the pyschological side of competing. The right coach can help give you a higher level of confidence and the right state of mind for you to be able to be able to perform at your best on the days when it really matters. The right coach should also help you enjoy orienteering, they shouldn't be putting pressure on you to perform, or be negative towards you after a poor result, they should be somebody with a positive attitude towards training and perhaps life in general, who has the ability to congratulate you when things are going well, as well as support you when things are not going so good.

If you can think of a person that might fit into what I wrote above it's up to you to take the step forward and ask them if they'd be interested in coaching you. The worst they can say is no, but they're more than likely to be quite flattered you asked and be more than willing to give you some help, even if it's not a full on coaching role but somebody to talk to about ideas, training, injuries, planning...etc.

Also you should feel free to use Nopesport to ask any questions about training, planning, competition, food etc. There's alot of knowledgeable people on here that are more than willing to try and answer any questions you might have. Perhaps there should be a specific section where juniors can get advice..........

Good luck

Didsco Jenkins

[Niamh]

Thanks for that. I'm actually just after turning senior and hoping to run WOC this summer (!) so I'd say I'm at a relatively high level but just don't have the experience or knowledge to do it alone anymore. I'll ask around