USOC Olympic Coach E-Magazine Spring 2004 ______________________________ Headlines MESSAGE FROM THE USOC'S DIRECTOR OF COACHING AND SPORT SCIENCES By Peter Davis, Ph.D In this issue of Olympic Coach, we have some of the leading experts of children in sport with Dr. Istvan Balyi, Dr. Maureen Weiss along with Ann Hamilton. We then added the voice of a familiar coaching name- Marta Karolyi to give us the perspective of a coach from early specialization sport. You will find her interview interesting regardless of the level that you coach. Mike Niederpruem provides some sound advice in dealing with the difficult topic of a coach’s responsibilty in preventing drug usage. Click Here For Full Article... LONG-TERM ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT: TRAINABILITY IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE Windows of Opportunity, Optimal Trainability By Istvan Balyi, Ph.D., National Coaching Institute British Columbia, Canada and Ann Hamilton, MPE Advanced Training and Performance Ltd. Victoria, B.C., Canada Scientific research has concluded that it takes eight-to-twelve years of training for a talented player/athlete to reach elite levels. This is called the ten-year or 10,000 hour rule, which translates to slightly more than three hours of practice daily for ten years (Ericsson, et al., 1993; Ericsson and Charness, 1994, Bloom, 1985; Salmela et al., 1998) Unfortunately, parents and coaches in many sports still approach training with an attitude best characterized as "peaking by Friday," where a short-term approach is taken to training and performance with an over-emphasis on immediate results. We now know that a long-term commitment to practice and training is required to produce elite players/athletes in all sports. Click Here For Full Article... WORKING TOWARD PERFECTION: AN INTERVIEW WITH MARTHA KAROLYI By Catherine Sellers, USOC Manager of Coaching The Karolyi name is synonymous with women’s gymnastics. Most spectators are familiar with Bela Karolyi, but Martha (pronounced Marta) Karolyi, Bela’s wife and coaching partner of forty years, is now in the leadership role for women’s gymnastics. Martha Karolyi was named the United States Women’s National Team Coordinator in January 2001. We were able to catch up with her just after one of the National team training camps at the Karolyi ranch. Gymnastics is considered an early specialization sport. This interview provides us with some insight into the training of young athletes in an early specialization sport. Click Here For Full Article... ______________________________ Mind Games COACHING CHILDREN TO EMBRACE A "LOVE OF THE GAME" by By Maureen R. Weiss, Ph.D at the University of Virginia Coaches occupy multiple roles in children’s lives as sport participants. Coaches must be excellent instructors so that youth learn and improve skills, increase knowledge of strategies and tactics, and achieve their goals. Coaches can also inspire children to maintain motivation for participating in sport and, in so doing, allow them opportunities to accrue such benefits as positive self-esteem, enjoyable experiences, long-lasting friendships, and a positive attitude toward the value of lifetime physical activity. In short, coaches can ensure that youth want to continue their sport involvement—that is, participate for intrinsic reasons—rather than participate for primarily external reasons such as feeling obligated to others to continue. How can coaches maximize their positive impact on youths’ motivation in sport? Click Here For Full Article... ______________________________ ACSM INTERVENTIONS FOR COACHES By Mike Niederpruem, MS, CSCS. Mike, is the National Director of Certification and Registry Programs at the American College of Sports Medicine. Also an Elite Coach with USA Cycling, Mike received the 1997 USOC "Development Coach of the Year" in Cycling. For better or worse, participation in sports by many young athletes has evolved beyond healthy activity. Indeed, in 2002, Blue Cross/Blue Shield conducted a survey which indicated that one million adolescents, aged 12 to 17 years of age, had used ergogenic aids and/or supplements (ES). Click Here For Full Article... ______________________________ 60-Second Summary "60-Second Summary" is a regular feature of OLYMPIC COACH. EXERCISE-HEAT TOLERANCE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS Pediatric Exercise Science, 1995, 7, 239-252. By Lawrence E. Armstrong and Carl M. Maresh This excellent review of literature regarding children and exercise-heat tolerance provides some insights that coaches of youth sports should be familiar with. "The greatest risk of health illness for children is heat exhaustion and not heat stroke." Click Here For Full Article... ______________________________ Hot Off The Press "Hot Off The Press" is a regular feature of the OLYMPIC COACH. This column provides a reading list of a topic(s) covered in the current issue, or information that is of interest to the coaching community. The list will include websites, books, and/or journals. To obtain a copy of the books and journals listed here, contact your local library. If they do not own the publication, they may obtain a copy for you through interlibrary loan. Click Here For Full Article... ______________________________ Directory USOC Directory For The Coaching Resources Staff Click Here For Full Article... ______________________________ Print Version Download a PDF copy of the USOC Olympic Coach, Spring 2004. Click Here For Full Article... ______________________________ End of Publication Please share this publication with your colleagues and friends! To SUBSCRIBE to this publication, visit this URL and setup a new account: http://coaching.usolympicteam.com/coaching/ksub.nsf To UNSUBSCRIBE or modify your interest profile, visit this URL and edit your account: http://coaching.usolympicteam.com/coaching/ksub.nsf . . . . . . . . . . . . . UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE PRESIDENT William Martin (Acting President) VICE PRESIDENTS Herman Frazier Paul E. George Bill Stapleton Frank Marshall (Treasurer) CHIEF OF SPORTS PERFORMANCE Jim Scherr EDITORS USOC Coaching Department/Catherine Sellers The OLYMPIC COACH E-MAGAZINE is a publication of the United States Olympic Committee Coaching Division. Readers are encouraged to submit items of interest for possible inclusion. Submitted materials will be acknowledged but cannot be returned, and inclusion cannot be guaranteed. Materials should be sent to Catherine Sellers at the address listed below. PUBLISHER United States Olympic Committee Coaching Division 1 Olympic Plaza Colorado Springs, CO 80909-5760 Telephone: (719) 866-4984 or 866-4802 Olympic symbols, marks and terminology protected for the exclusive use of the USOC, 36 USC 22506 (formerly 36 USC 380). This publication is copyrighted © by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and contents may not be reproduced. http://www.usolympicteam.com Title Photo 19 year-old Sasha Cohen on ice at the State Farm US Figure Skating Championships, January 11, 2004. Corrections: John Lucas wrote to us to make the following corrections to the Olympic Coach magazine Volume 15, No. 4: Charley Paddock was not in the photo on page 5 and Frank Wykoff’s name was misspelled. John is an historian of note of the Olympic Games. We appreciate his thorough reading of the Olympic Coach and his corrections. Copyright 2001-. USOC Coaching. All Rights Reserved.