Bearman’s Beliefs and Magic Milers

My main personal objective is to try to make an athlete as good, fast and as best as they can be and so not surprisingly my training programmes focus on Sprints, Hurdles and Jumps. My approach to coaching is firmly based on my own philosophy about what sport should be about i.e. enjoyment and being the best we collectively can be, helped over the years by the experience and learning from some of the best coaches in the UK and from abroad.

Over the years I’ve been extremely fortunate that so many volunteers, to one degree or another, have all combined to support the vision for the club and help transform the club into a highly successful competitive club whist still retaining the original ethos.

Apart from the expectation that we all work hard when we are actually training, we have also retained the “social” element that I always wanted us to have that makes it a fun and enjoyable club for all of us involved to be part of. Our ongoing retention rates over the years prove we must be getting it right.

Primarily athletics is about an individual athlete gradually developing and finding an event/s where they can be the “best they can be” and hopefully excel at. A major part of a coach’s job is to get to know an individual’s personality, motivation, aspirations, objectives, strengths and weaknesses etc. to help them achieve their potential and goals and so listening is a key component.

This will hopefully earn an athletes respect and trust and vice versa and the quid pro quo and challenge is that the better the athletes get the more we have to up our game as I’ve had to over the years e.g. Pozzi, Dwyer, Sumners, Byng etc. This has meant many more athletes and coaches throughout the club get the benefit from that improved knowledge, ability and experience.

We coach 49 weeks a year but every September I usually spend some of my holiday on a sun bed abroad with a cold beer reviewing the year and plotting the year ahead and thinking of new ways to enhance what we do to get the best out of all of our athletes. This year has obviously been an exception and so I had to spend a few days mulling over the programme and the challenges of the next year in my garden with a cup of tea instead!

The preparation for each session is based around my yearly training programme using the widely used criteria i.e.

• Macro, the main overall plan focussing on the objectives for the year e.g. ESAA, England Champs, leagues etc.
• Meso training blocks e.g. Autumn/Winter conditioning/technical, indoor, outdoor etc.
• Micro activities e.g. specific training leading up to a specific event.

I very rarely programme the same session or activities in successive weeks to alleviate boredom and repetition for the athletes and coaches…. variety is the spice of life and I like to surprise them by not declaring what we are doing until we get there. The programmes also take into account the need to be flexible depending on who is training, weather etc. and as a coach this means thinking on your feet.

Since the coronavirus restrictions we have to have a ratio of between 6 to 10 athletes per coach. I coach on:-

• Tuesdays with the main mixed under 17 plus age group with Carolyne Johnston, Sandy Green, Cait Davis, Dave Battersby and Mandy Bee using an outline programme which is generally a “catch all” for group training. The Masters athletes also follow a variation of the programme and I’ve recently started an invited U13 training group for budding hurdlers.

• Thursdays is with an invited under 15 upwards group training towards potentially representative competitions from county to national level with Carolyne and Sandy with the throwers. The programme considers the specific athletes events, ages and the technical needs of the athletes aiming for the championships.

• Sunday mornings is a closed session with Carolyne and Sandy with a small group focussing on specific conditioning and events.

Rest is absolutely critical i.e. a few days or sometimes a weeks active rest in the Meso cycles because a burnt out and jaded athlete isn’t what we are trying to achieve for all the obvious reasons. My coaching philosophy relies on us working hard but with an emphasis on quality of execution rather than quantity and with conditioning, injury prevention and appropriate drills to emphasise good habits. These are fundamentals and as coaches we all need to coach to get the best out of our athletes and always remembering that what we are doing as athletes or coaches is our hobby.

I believe Athletics is a relatively simple sport, i.e. run, throw, jump and that getting the basics and fitness right from a young age and then gradually introducing more technical aspects is in my experience the best way of keeping a young athlete healthy and improving. Over complicating things doesn’t necessarily lead to short or long term improvements.

I still try to learn at least one new thing every week from reading, watching, listening, chatting etc. from many different and varied sources. I would also suggest the things I aim for in my coaching is good communication, keeping things relatively simple and relevant, evolve by learning and be your own person, but to always remember that the athlete is the most important person irrespective of whether they are 8 or 80.