Course Components
The course fee includes the textbook Coaching Track & Field Successfully (delivered as an ebook); access to the course syllabus; downloadable forms, checklists, and evaluations (provided as PDFs within the course); and an online test.

Course Description
This course features sport-specific content based on the Coaching Track & Field Successfully text (delivered as an ebook), plus content gleaned from the Human Kinetics Coach Education course Coaching Principles. The course concludes with a 50-question test.

Learning Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to do the following:

• Differentiate between technical and tactical skills.
• Differentiate between the traditional and games approaches to coaching.
• Explain the games approach strategies of shaping, focusing, and enhancing skills.
• Identify technical, tactical, physical, mental, communication, and character development skills to teach.
• Explain the elements of the tactical triangle.
• Explain the purpose of formal and informal evaluation of your players’ performance.
• Use evaluation tools to evaluate track and field skills.
• Employ consistent, positive, and effective feedback when critiquing your athletes.
• Recognize effective sprinting techniques.
• Explain the factors that enable sprinters to start races effectively.
• Design conditioning and training programs for sprinters.
• Explain the techniques and tactics for sprint and sprint relay races.
• Recognize effective high hurdle techniques for men and women.
• Design conditioning and training programs for high hurdlers.
• Recognize effective intermediate hurdle techniques for men and women.
• Design conditioning and training programs for intermediate hurdlers.
• Understand these training terms: intensity, duration, frequency, type of training, and approach.
• Design conditioning and training programs for 800-meter runners.
• Explain the techniques and tactics for 800-meter races.
• Design conditioning and training programs for 1500- to 1600-meter runners.
• Explain the techniques and tactics for 1500- to 1600-meter races.
• Design conditioning and training programs for 3000- to 5000-meter runners.
• Explain the techniques and tactics for 3000- to 5000-meter races.
• Recognize effective high jump techniques.
• Design conditioning and training programs for high jumpers.
• Describe the characteristics of good pole vaulters.
• Recognize effective pole vault techniques.
• Describe factors to consider in selecting a pole.
• Design conditioning and training programs for pole vaulters.
• Explain safety considerations for pole vaulting.
• Recognize effective long jump techniques.
• Troubleshoot the long jump approach.
• Recognize effective triple jump techniques.
• Design conditioning and training programs for long jumpers and triple jumpers.
• Recognize effective discus throwing techniques.
• Recognize effective hammer throwing techniques.
• Recognize effective shot-putting techniques.
• Recognize effective javelin throwing techniques.
• Explain the instructional techniques of guidance, partial-task strategies, attentional cueing, and whole practice.
• Design conditioning and training programs for throwing athletes.
• Describe factors to consider when planning for a new season.
• Develop instructional plans for the season.
• Prepare instructional plans for each practice.
• Describe factors to consider when preparing for practices.
• Design conditioning and training programs for practices.
• Develop instructional plans for the season.
• Prepare instructional plans for each practice.
• Describe effective approaches for communicating with your athletes.
• Describe effective approaches for communicating with school administration, other coaches, and parents.
• Explain effective strategies for motivating your athletes.
• Describe activities to complete to effectively prepare for meets.
• Explain why the team manual and team expectations are effective tools for communicating with your team.
• Describe approaches for motivating your athletes to do their best at practices and meets.
• Describe some goals for pre-meet meetings and warm-ups.
• Identify strategies for working more effectively with coaches, administrators, medical personnel, officials, parents, and the media.
• Explain what’s involved in reading the situation during play.
• Identify the knowledge your athletes need in order to make good tactical decisions.
• Explain factors that influence tactical decision making.
• Explain how to teach tactical skills.
• List key activities to complete after the competition.

Audience

The course is designed to help coaches teach the technical and tactical skills of track and field and is suitable for high school coaches, serious club coaches, college and university undergraduate students, and advanced coaches at the youth level.

Teaching Sport Skills
Evaluating Technical and Tactical Skills
Sprints and Sprint Relays
Hurdle Events
Middle-Distance and Distance Events
High Jump
Pole Vault
Long Jump and Triple Jump
Throwing Events (Discus Throw, Hammer Throw, Shot Put, and Javelin)
Season Plans
Practice Plans
Before and During the Competition
After the Competition
Practicum Exercises

Established in 1981 and rooted in an athlete-centered philosophy that places the developmental needs of athletes ahead of winning at all costs, Human Kinetics Coach Education courses and resources are customized and widely used by youth sport organizations, state high school associations, school districts, state departments of education, colleges and universities, and national governing bodies of Olympic sports to teach, train, and certify coaches.