Sport science support can involve a variety of approaches including mono, multi and inter-disciplinary. In the last 4-5 years there has been a clear shift towards supporting the athlete as a ‘whole’ person and not from a mono-disciplinary approach. A senior male
Devon County badminton player was recently referred to the sport science support team from the Devon Badminton Association of England. The player was specifically interested in advice on the technical aspects of his game as well as basic fitness and training plans. Prior to any sport science support an initial meeting helps clarify the role and requirements of the sport scientist and the athlete respectively. This is then followed by a series of discussions and video observations before any intervention can take place. The player has met with a member of the team on a number of occasions. This has involved initial informal discussions, video analysis at competitive events, feedback using the video data and formal feedback and planning meetings.
The initial meetings identified the athlete’s perceived strengths and weaknesses and from there a needs analysis was constructed. This initially resulted in competitive events being video taped followed by notation analysis and feedback. To date the athlete and sport scientist have identified, and agreed, the key areas that are to be worked on. This not only involved technical input, following the video analysis, but also included fitness plans and schedules on how best to maximize his training and competition management. The balance and interaction between these two important aspects is the key to a successful interdisciplinary approach to maximize the athlete’s performance. Furthermore the sport scientist is also a fully qualified BAoE coach and has been approached by the player to coach, as well as provide sport science support, which can add another dimension to the interdisciplinary approach.
The sport science support and coaching is in its early stages but over the course of the year should provide useful information and evaluation on athlete performance, interdisciplinary support (technical and fitness advice) and the dual role of the sport science team member as a sport scientist and coach. This information can then be used to provide students with a current working example of the process of sport science support, demands on the player in terms of coping with the changes and the role of the coach in disseminating sport science data directly to the coaching process.
Lance Doggart
# posted by A Sociologist : 4:19 PM
