WHAT IS COACHING?

What do you personally understand by good coaching? Do you think you are a good coach?
Coaching is defined as an activity that provides comprehensive sports training and prepares a sportsperson (sports man or sports woman) on a multi-level basis for participation in competition. Coaching objectives are a set of guidelines developed to help coaches in developing effective winning philosophy and to educate the athletes on the importance of having a philosophy to be embraced in ensuring victory. There are several objectives of coaching, and these may vary depending on the specifics of the coaching process. For example, a coach working with disabled individuals such as special Olympians would have different objectives from a coach working with non-disabled participants. Likewise, the objectives of coaching in a team sport are slightly different from those of coaching individuals. Nevertheless, we can summarise the objectives of coaching
as being:
(a) to identify practical methods for enhancing athlete performance by developing sport
confidence through effective coaching techniques;
(b) to develop training plans for the athlete to adhere to in the long-term;
(c) to improve the fitness of an athlete, both mental and physical, with emphasis on
endurance, strength, flexibility and nutrition; and
(d) to provide a safe and sustainable environment in which the athlete can train and
perform.
Many sports researchers feel that the primary objective of coaching in a successful coach is capable of making every individual under training to always be cheerful and possess high-spirit. We should conduct training programme which is always fun, dynamic, practical and should be alert towards the needs of their athletes under training. As a coach, you should always be creative with various practice sessions in preparing your team to face small as well as big tournament. The approaches taken in your training programme should
be varied to suit changing current situation. The liveliness will be felt by all the people including the coach, athletes, manager, and audience. The ability to develop cheerful and joyous surrounding will be more meaningful if the subjects of your coaching are young athletes. Children and youths engage in sports activities as a form of recreational activity and winning is considered as secondary objective. However, as a coach, you should be able to play your role to make sure that the athletes under your care will not lose their
concentration and to be too overjoyed that the objectives of the training would be jeopardised. Apart from being able to develop lively environment in the training, a coach should also be
able to:
(a) improve the athletes in terms of physical fitness and skills;
(b) bring forth positive behaviour;
(c) develop sporting spirit; and
(d) train athletes to respect fellow team players as well as the opponent team members.
As a coach, you should possess the necessary skills and knowledge about the work as a coach and are always eager to improve and enhance your knowledge to ensure you are not lagging behind in terms of current issues and development in the field. In addition, as a successful coach, you need to be able to realise the goal and aspiration of the athletes. Coaches are given the responsibility to mould, guide and steer the athletes towards success. As a coach, you should always have an open-mind, respect other people, possess confidence in the ability of your athletes, be sensitive to the surroundings, and be able to cooperate as a team member. You should also possess up to date information and constructive ideas in terms of the training system, creative mind and do not lose interest by the conducts of the athletes. These values are needed in developing a winning philosophy of a coach.

Jumpers Knee (Patellar tendinopathy)

The patella tendon / ligament joins the kneecap (patella) to the shin bone or tibia (video). This tendon is extremely strong and allows the quadriceps muscle group to straighten the leg.  The quadriceps actively straighten the knee in jumping to propel the individual off the ground as well as functioning in stabilizing their landing.
As such this tendon comes under a large amount of stress especially in individuals who actively put extra strain on the knee joint such as those who regularly perform sports that involve direction changing and jumping movements.  With repeated strain, micro-tears as well as collagen degeneration may occur as a result in the tendon.
This is known as patellar tendinopathy or Jumpers Knee. It should be distinguished from patella tendonitis (tendinitis) as this condition indicates an inflammation of the tendon whereas tendinopathy is more about degeneration of the tendon.

What are the symptoms of jumpers knee?

• Pain at the bottom and front of the kneecap especially when pressing in or palpating (video).
• Aching and stiffness after exertion.
• Pain when you contract the quadriceps muscles.
• The affected tendon may appear larger than the unaffected side.
• May be associated with poor Vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) function
• Calf weakness may be present

Carbohydrates Provide Important Micronutrients

When we talk about macronutrients,we understand immediately that it refers to carbohydrates, proteins and fats. On the other hand, what do you understand about micronutrients? Micronutrients refer to vitamins and minerals. These two organic substances are essential to the human diet. For example, many B vitamins are essential for energy production. However, do not be confused into thinking that vitamins are synonymous with energy. This is because vitamins on their own do not actually contain any energy. We get energy from macronutrients, which are carbohydrates, proteins and fats in our diet. However, the energy contained in these nutrients cannot be used without the help of vitamins. Fruits, vegetables and cereals that are in the carbohydrate food group are the main sources of vitamins and minerals.

Italy - You Out

• Date of Birth: 1 April 1982
• Height: 188 cm
• Shirt number: 11
• Position: Forward
• Current club: Ankaragucu (TUR)
• International Caps: 71
• International Goals: 20
• First international: Germany - Slovakia (29 May 2001)

Club History

• Lille OSC (FRA): From 2008 to 2010
• 1. FC Nürnberg (GER): From 2003 to 2008
• Slovan Bratislava (SVK): From 1999 to 2003

Slovakia survived a late onslaught to beat Italy 3-2, which sent them into the Round of 16 and eliminated their illustrious opponents. A Robert Vittek double and a stoppage-time lob from substitute Kamil Kopunek proved enough for Vladimir Weiss’s team to advance as Group F runners-up, after late goals from Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella had ensured the tensest of finishes to a thrilling contest in Johannesburg.

The mission for the two sides at Ellis Park was simple: Italy needed a win to guarantee a place in the knockout phase, while Slovakia required victory to advance. The pressure was, therefore, on the four-time world champions,
who had been finding goals hard to come by in their opening two matches, and it showed in their play. Disappointingly for the Italians, the visionary Andrea Pirlo was only fit enough to make the bench for this vital encounter, but Gennaro Gattuso and Di Natale were handed starts.

CARBOHYDRATES FOR SPORTS AND EXERCISE

Carbohydrates serve as an instant fuel to the working muscle. Do you know that in fact, our body uses different mixtures of fuels to support physical activity? They are glucose from carbohydrate, fatty acids from fat and to a certain extent, amino acids from protein. Muscle glycogen is the primary carbohydrate source of energy for physical activity performance. At the same time, liver will release some of its glucose in order to maintain or elevate blood glucose levels. Some studies noted that during moderate exercise, muscleglycogen and liver glycogen supply are equal to carbohydrate oxidation. However, as the intensity of exercise increases, the usage of muscle glycogen also increases.
Carbohydrates used in exercise depends upon a few factors:
1. Duration of exercise
2. Type of exercise
3. Pre-event food
4. Pre-exercise carbohydrate store status
5. Degree of training
6. Intensity of exercise

Carbohydrate as an Energy Source Depending on Types of Activity

Why do you think that carbohydrate is an important source for exercise? Carbohydrate is mainly energy food for exercise because it can be used for anaerobic energy production when the oxygen level is low. In terms of caloric value, carbohydrates yield less energy (1g = 4 kcal) compared to fat (1g = 9 kcal). However, carbohydrate appears to be a more efficient fuel than fat because more oxygen is required to metabolize the fat. In every one litre of oxygen, we will find that carbohydrate produces about 5.05 kcal while fat gives only 4.69 kcal.Carbohydrate or to be specific, glucose used during exercise depends on the intensity and duration of the activity. It becomes the major contributor of energy for contracting muscle at intensity more than 50-60% of VO2max. What happens is that, in the first 10 minutes, our body will rely solely on the glycogen stores. As the exercise is prolonged, we will use up to 20% of the available glycogen. For people who exercise longer than 20 minutes, their body
will start to use more fat for fuel compared to glucose. The summary of the correlation between activity intensity and nutrients used are as follows:

1. During very light exercise, for example walking at the low intensity
level, fat is used as an important energy source.

2. During moderate exercise, the source of fuel shifts from fat to
carbohydrate. The usage of carbohydrate increases to 50 % or more.

3.During high intensity or vigorous exercise or at 65-85 % of VO2max,
carbohydrate becomes the most preferred energy source.

Thus, carbohydrate is the key energy source for high-intensity anaerobic event lasting for less than two minutes and high-intensity aerobic activity lasting more than an hour or two. Carbohydrate is also an important energy source for stop-and-go prolonged sports such as football, hockey, rugby, tennis and squash.