Coach Education Resources
Should You Plan Aerobic Training Before or After Strength Training?
A long-standing gym debate finally gets clarity. New research reveals that lifting weights before cardio significantly boosts fat loss and muscle performance. Whether your goal is body composition, strength, or aerobic capacity, understanding the science behind exercise sequencing can help unlock better results.
Lessons from Grant Ward’s Coaching Journey
Tune in to hear Grant Ward share valuable "lessons learned from a coaching journey" that spans decades and includes guiding athletes like Kylie Wheeler and Kim Mickel to international success. Drawing on his diverse background, Grant emphasises that coaching ultimately "comes down to relationships" founded on trust, confidence, and respect with athletes.
Grant openly discusses learning from significant "stuff ups" or failures, stressing that "if you're not failing, you're not learning either". He advocates for practical wisdom, advising coaches to "Keep it simple, stupid" (KISS) and avoid overcomplicating their methods. Essential elements of his journey include being open-minded , building strong networks, seeking mentors, and being flexible, adaptable, and vulnerable.
How This Coaches Eye Checklist Might Be the Kickstart Your Next Season Needs
Ever feel like you know where your athlete’s at but struggle to put it into words, or turn that instinct into a clear coaching plan? The Coaches Eye Tool is here to help. This simple but powerful observation tool helps track key areas like physical readiness, mindset, effort, and technical consistency all in one place.
What Coaches Can Learn from the World’s Best Distance Runners
What truly separates the best from the rest in distance running? It's not just high mileage or VO₂max—it’s how that training is structured, progressed, and personalised. Drawing from Haugen et al.'s landmark study and the training diaries of world champions, this article breaks down the key principles behind world-class performance: high volumes of low-intensity running, adaptive periodisation, and smart load management.
Reflecting after the Australian Athletics Championships
In this short post, we introduce the Good–Better–How framework—an easy, effective way for coaches to reflect on their performance at the Australian Athletics Championships and beyond. Whether your athletes medalled or gained experience, this tool will help you grow from every competition.
The Key Principles You Must Understand About Planning for Youth Athletes
Whether you're coaching rising sprinters or first-time throwers, effective season planning for junior athletes is more than just filling a calendar.
In this post, we break down the essential principles every coach should understand—covering periodisation, youth development, and how to monitor and manage training load without frying your athletes. If you've ever wondered whether you're doing it right (or just hoping for the best), this guide will help you identify where your knowledge gaps are.
Best Practices for Resisted Sprint Training for Acceleration and Maximum Velocity
What You Need to Know About Resisted Sprint Training.
Discover how resisted sprint training can transform your athletes’ acceleration, sprint mechanics, and explosive power. This evidence-based guide covers optimal resistance loads, distances, sets, reps, periodisation strategies, and the best tools for sprinters.
What ALL Coaches Need to Understand About Hamstrings
Why do hamstrings always seem to blow up just when things are going well? This quick, coach-friendly deep dive unpacks the real role of the hamstrings in sprinting, why they get overloaded, and—most importantly—how to train them smarter for both injury prevention and peak performance.
🎥 Includes a must-watch video breakdown, practical takeaways, and real-world coaching strategies to keep your athletes firing on all cylinders.
Why Attentional Focus is Your Essential Coaching Tool
Want to help your athletes move more efficiently, and actually retain what you coach? This articles explores the science of attentional focus and why how you cue matters just as much as what you coach.
Optimising Tendon Properties for Track and Field Performance
Tendons are the unsung heroes of athletic performance—acting as biological springs that store and release energy to enhance movement efficiency, power, and resilience. While muscle strength often takes centre stage in training, optimising tendon properties can be the key to unlocking new levels of performance and reducing injury risks across all track and field disciplines.
This article delves into the science of tendon adaptation, exploring how plyometric and resistance training influence tendon stiffness and compliance. Backed by cutting-edge research, it provides practical coaching insights, including targeted training interventions, recovery considerations, and the ideal balance between stiffness and elasticity for different event demands.
Group B Supplements in Sport
Learn from Professor Louise Burke, one of the world’s leading sports nutrition experts, for an insightful presentation on Group B supplements within the AIS Sports Supplement Framework. Originally presented at the 2023 Endurance Coaching Conference.
Group B supplements are those with emerging scientific support, warranting further research but showing potential benefits in certain sporting contexts. In this session, Prof. Burke will explore key subcategories, including:
Fruit-Derived Polyphenols – Food compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Menthol – A tastant that interacts with sensory receptors, influencing temperature perception and breathability.
Ketone Supplements – Investigated for their role in metabolism and endurance performance.
Mental Fatigue and Strategies for Mental Recovery
Mental fatigue is an often-overlooked performance killer, impacting reaction time, decision-making, and training consistency—even in physically fresh athletes.
This article explores how mental fatigue manifests in track and field, its physiological roots, and, most importantly, practical coaching strategies to assess, train, and support mental recovery and resilience. From chaotic drills that sharpen adaptability to targeted recovery techniques like mindfulness, strategic rest, and cognitive training, this guide provides actionable tools to help coaches keep their athletes mentally sharp and competition-ready.
Coaching with Heart: How Rachel Limburg Balances Performance, Empathy, and Athlete Development
Rachel Limburg is redefining what it means to be a coach and competitor. A talented heptathlete turned triple jump and pole vault specialist, she balances her own athletic career with mentoring the next generation. But beyond her technical expertise, it’s Rachel’s deep empathy, energy, and ability to truly understand her athletes that make her stand out. She doesn’t just coach—she connects, supports, and inspires, ensuring her athletes thrive both on and off the track. In this feature, we dive into Rachel’s coaching philosophy, personal journey, and the lasting impact she’s making on the sport.
The Coach's Craft Where Data Meets Intuition in Training Olympic Jumpers
Watch a replay of this fantastic session, hosted by world class coach Nelio Moura, a veteran of seven Olympic Games. He shares key insights into high-performance jumps coaching, blending biomechanics, sprint development, accuracy training, and strength programming with real-world coaching applications.
High Jump: Overview of the Technical Model
Need a quick-reference guide for teaching high jump?
This pocket guide breaks down the technical model step by step—from approach to landing—so you can help your athletes maximise height over the bar.
🔖 Save this for your next session!
The High Jump Approach - Finding Where to Start the Curve
A well-executed approach run is the foundation of every successful high jump. In this article, we break down one of the most widely used tools in high jump coaching—the Intercept Point—and show you how to calculate, mark, and refine it for your athlete.
If you want your high jumper to run a more consistent curve, generate better takeoff force, and clear higher bars, this is the resource for you.
Helping Athletes Adapt to Travel, Time Zone Changes, and Competing Away from Home
With the 2025 National Championships in Perth approaching, our coaching community shared their best strategies for helping athletes adapt to long travel, time zone changes, and competing away from home. From adjusting sleep schedules and managing travel fatigue to maintaining familiar routines and supporting mental readiness, experienced coaches provided practical, battle-tested insights to help athletes perform at their best. Whether it’s hydration, movement, light exposure, or simply embracing travel as a learning experience, this summary captures the key takeaways to help coaches and athletes navigate competition travel successfully.
Race Tactics in the 800m: Breaking Down the Men’s 800m at the Adelaide Invitational
At the 2025 Adelaide Invitational, young talent Daniel Williams made a fearless move at 200m to go, forcing the pace and giving himself every chance to win. But Peter Bol, with his world-class experience, stayed composed, trusting his race plan to withstand the challenge and surge home in the final straight.
This article breaks down the key tactical decisions in the race, highlighting the strengths and risks of both approaches. Coaches, how do you help your athletes develop the instincts to make the right call under pressure? Dive in to explore strategies for building race-craft and decision-making skills in middle-distance racing.
Cracking the Code of Adolescent Athlete Development: What Every Track and Field Coach Should Know
Navigating the wild ride of adolescent athlete development can be a challenge for track and field coaches. One moment, your athletes are improving by leaps and bounds, and the next, they’re struggling with coordination and stagnating in performance. This article dives into the science behind these changes—why boys experience explosive gains post-puberty, why girls may hit a plateau, and how to tailor training to capitalise on critical windows of development.
Why You Should Rethink Saying "I'm Proud of You" to Your Athletes
Athletes receive plenty of external validation—parents, teachers, and friends all tell them they’re proud. But if an athlete begins to associate success with pleasing others, their motivation can shift from self-driven to externally dependent.
Hear from Peter Hannan on why he doesn’t say “I’m Proud of You” to his athletes, and suitable alternatives that he uses with his squad.