The United Kingdom Sports & Exercise Medicine (UKSEM) Conference for 2011 was on at the ExCel Conference & Exhibition Centre in London in the last week of November.
This blog will continue to bring some of the edited highlights of the four days of lectures, discussions & workshops with some of the key personnel involved in various aspects of sport and physical exercise for the physically active populations worldwide.
 |
| Vern Gambetta at UKSEM, November 2011 |
One such expert was the acclaimed coach, Vern Gambetta, who speaks from decades of personal experience, as well as from sports science theory.
For more information and background on Vern read this blog post from a month ago, or his own blogging which we continue to feature in the right column of this blog.
Vern continues to preach that Functional Training should develop athleticism: that is the ability to perform the athletic movements of running, jumping, throwing & lifting with sound technique. These should, he continues, be performed at optimum speed with precision, style & grace.
His aim for UKSEM was to establish whether modern coaching was an art or a science.
His coaching eye is important, and he urges coaches to develop this whilst avoiding the 'confirmation bias' that can be present in physios or doctors who see what they expect to see, not what actually occurs in front of them.
Sports' science can aid and assist a good coach who needs to know how to communicate with athletes and grow with them. As the art of coaching is learned the technology becomes even more useful. The support team are also to be encouraged to check their egos in before giving potentially key feedback independent of the coach-but must ensure and respect that just because it's measurable doesn't mean it's meaningful. Testing & monitoring has to be systematic but also for good reason. Food for thought?
And a view of stats.
"Statistics " Vern states, "are like a ladies in bikinis:
what they reveal is appealing, but what they hides is vital"
Vern went on to offer practical advice, and stated Four Key Points in making information presentable and useful to the coach:
- Keep information simple
- Make it understandable
- Ensure it's reliable
- Make the results available
There are areas of contemporary sporting practice which Vern struggles to hide his contempt for, and these are what he ranks as voodoo sport science as this piece has been titled:
These are, in no particular order of scorn:
- Cryotherapy - chambers or baths
- Pitchside Vibration Machines
- Bananas for matchday anti-cramping
However, all told, Vern figures that in coaching, art & science can make The Difference!
Just as long as the scientists are on tap, not on top!
Very informative and impressive post you have written, this is quite interesting and i have went through it completely, an upgraded information is shared, keep sharing such valuable information.
ReplyDeleteCarrara Physio