Decathlon Training Concepts
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NSA ROL3N1) [ABIAF [rPi] 2 I28 1989 by I A A F /7 In this c’clitu,n of the 1VS,•l R(flnzd ThIh’, our panel looks a! the issue c Special !bpic. the coininned events. ihi! questions. set hr ,4thvisorv Board lIenil;cr Ji,ii ll— lord (6 BR). are desisuu’d to provide a havic background thscussion of the Decathlon and Ilepthathlon whu.h will coinplenient the other articles of the issue. Once again, ice have contributions from our regular participants .11/oil and [rank Dick (GBR,i, In uldition, .4dvisorv Editorial Board inetiifwrs I/er,; Ganheua (USA). Iicior (opec (PURl and Tom MacWilliam ((‘.4 N) have prepared their con tributions together with cvn;hined event specialists. Joining Gain betta is Steve GIg- cry (USA) ‘ho works as a c’onditionint’ consultant for professional sports teams in the (S.l sihilt’ training and competing in the Decathlon (best of 799!). .-lssisting (o pt’c ic lirian Mondvchein (USA) an assistant coach at the Unii’ersitv of Vagina and i?mise/l a 7719 Decathlon perlornier. Macli illiam hicis the help of Canadian col leagues A ,zth’ Higgins and Life Sanders on who are the Coin bined Event Group Coordinators for tile C ‘ill. 4hai qualities ss.’iiM si’i’ .-\LroRl) lool For iii a prospeciie Phs-sical: Must be a compromise between the comlienuil en’iii heavyn, explosive events (throws) and the ((light>’. Il)ecaihlon Ilepiathion) eNpiosive events (jumps and sprints), with a bias at hide. - towards I he lat icr. Common to all is power strength plus speed. The lSOOm stands on iL Own. To put it simply, you need athletes who are tail, fast, strong, with good nut ural coordination and ‘u ppleness. Menial: Competitive urge, enjoyment of sersatili ty, resilience and determination. Dl (‘K — Speed — Height — Elastic Strength — Coordination 17 Wliai qtiaiilics would ‘‘ ( AM IIETTA/ODGERS look for n a prospal I’. C combined ent Junipllig ability, speed, motor learning aptitude, I Decaihlon/Heptaililon) commit ment — willingness to t rain, potential for aililete? physical size, throwing power, durability and psycho logical stability. / L OPE 7 MONDSCH El N Certainly one major quality for the prospective combined event at hlete to possess would be speed — bin ii absolute speed (as in top r mining speed) and quickness or explosiveness (maximum velocity for certain limb movements). Sprinting speed for decatliletes is needed for the 100 metres, Long Jump, 400 metres, Pole Vault and Hurdles, while explosive ness would factor into all the jumps, the vault and the throws and would contribute greatly to the sprints and hurdles. Although individual differences in speed, explo sive power and strength outweight minor differences in size, generally speaking decathletes of high calibre rarely measure below 180cm and successful heptath letes are not often under 165cm. The Shot Put, Dis cus, Pole Vault, High Jump and Hurdles are all events where performances, while not dictated by the performer’s size, are facilited by it. The successful combined event competitor must also be durable, both mentally and physically. Not surprisingly, the most successful combined event competitors (and athletes in general) are the ones able to spend the most time training, To an extent, tendons and ligaments thicken and toughen over time muscles strengthen etc., but certainly the ath letes who remain injury tree, who are not “injury prone” especially in their early careers (in tile U.S. this means the 17-20 age bracket for combined events) where a high volume of technical training is needed, have the highest chance for later success. Ideally the athlete will need to spend less time on technique as he or she masters the events and more time developing his or her speed, explosive power, strength and endurance. Often overlooked, along with physical durability, is an athlete’s mental toughness, both his or her ability to persevere through the ups and downs of so many is training sessions and the ability to concentrate and What qualities 5OUI(I VOlt locus on the sped tic task at hand in t lie face of ex 11)0k lor iii a prospective treme fatigue (in competitions and sometimes iii Ct) tibi ned event practice). The will to excel, subsumed under mental (I )ccat Iii on ‘Ilepiathion) athlete? toughness, doubtless plays a large part in combined event success. Add to these the capacity to accept criticism, the patience to await quantitative and qualitative improvement, and the ability to learn (hot h motor educability and the mental ahi lit> to grasp the biomechanical concepts of the various events) and you have the major qualities for corn hitied event success. MACWI I I.IAM/HIGGINS/SANDERSON Finding athletes who are ot an appropriatefl silt. for the event Decathlon - 1.854 m/85 kg; Heptathlon - l.70-+-m/60 kg is important as size and lever length will define the limits of performance potential. Mental and emotional qualities must be consi dered - dedication to the sport and the event: pa tience to work hard for a long period of time; corn pc!i!i;’e drive to maximize the at hlete’s physical potential; toughness to work through pain and fa tigue and to persevere to achieve the goals. General athleticism as seen by a varied and suc cessful athletic background including: sprint (jump ing ability), speed, explosive strength, coordination, ,nobthry and consistency together with the ability to learn and retain skills. Basketball and Volleyball are good sports to scout for prospective combined event athletes. What factors or A L FOR I) principlesre most Although the principles oi operiodization apply i inportana in desigiiing a to all training, for all events and all sports, they must (raining plan For be geared to the needs of the individual at any partic combined es-em athletes? ular time. This is especially true of combined event training and will involve a careful study of the scor ing tables in connection with the athlete’s perfor mance profile, so that those events can he isolated, in which even a little improvement will bring about an appreciably increased points score. 19 What tactois or DICK principles are host — Ti me available i flt pr rait t in de%ignI ‘i’z a raini it plan for — Facilities combined eseni athletes? — Personal discipline — Spreading of loads through the microcycle GAMBFTTA/ODCERS The training age of the athlete should receive primary consideration. This will be a major factor in determining the volume and intensity of training as well as the number of combined event competitions. The performance factory - by that we mean the level of achievement on the scoring table based on point production in individual events for the younger athlete and (lie balance between event groups for the mature athlete. Sociocultural factors - Can training be full time or is it something the athlete can only devote limited time to? Weather and facilities will dictate the design of the annual plan both in regards to training and compe tit ion. Progression - The progression in training should he basic conditioning to basic skill and the proceed to advanced conditioning which in turn progresses to advanced skill. Optimum combination of events - Determine the optimum combination of events in training based on the individual athlete’s strengths and weaknesses. This combination can, and in all probability will, change as the athlete progresses through his or her career. This combination may have no resemblance to the actual competition order of events. Modeling and competition simulation are very im portant early in the athletes’s career. In the beginning stages of development, the em phasis should he on speed development, Long Jump, the Hurdles and the Pole Vault. The key here is to es tablish a sound technical model that will riot fail the athlete during the latter stages of development. The number of competitions is another key area. A full Decathlon or Heptathlon is often not neces sary during the developmental stages. A quadrathlon or triathlon with the events carefully chosen can 20 serve the athlete just as well. %hai t;tctors or / / \l( )N l)SCI1 F IN I .( WI p ri nci pies are 111051 Individualization of training is probably important ri ttetl!iitiig a the single I raining plati [or itiost important factor to consider in combined event ci’iiit’i let! even! athletes? training. IVpicaI lv in t he ISA, athletes will come to the combined events during their first year of univer sib’ competition with a strong background in one or two events. One works on event area weaknesses Firstly, looking to’sards a gcneral technical prolicien cy in all seven or ten events eventually. Thus the ((jumper—runner-thrower)) or c4runller-luTnper— oil types to St rengt hrower> combi nat i need hen their weakest links. Studying the scoring tables and using common sense provides the basic guidelines tot dis ribut ion o t training effort. Specificity of training is another important princi y ple. ( )n the uiiiversi t and regional levels, the com bined event athlete with a limited amount of lime to train needs to obtain prohciency in events such as the Pole ‘a tilt; t herefore act ual aul t i ng and van It drills constitute a more efficient use oft raining time as op posed to work on the high bar, rings, trampoline ccc. All of t Ii is presupposes a proper pen od o I general physical preparation followed by a phase of specific physical preparation involving the use of medicine ball and other imitative exercises, weight traintng, ‘. and arious running and hon tiding d ri I Is. Heavy weight lifting and p1 yomet tic training should he i rn— plemented with great caution for the combined event athlete in t lie early stages of his or her career.