Jump coaches told to reach higher

Jump coaches told to reach higher

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Asian trainers are being urged to improve their coaching
knowledge in the bid to improve the region's athletic performance
in international events, including in the four major jumping
disciplines.

"The main problem in athletic development in some Asian
countries, including Indonesia, is that the coaches have little
knowledge about the coaching techniques," Ralph Mouch Bahani, an
athletic expert with the International Association of Athletics
Federation (IAAF), told The Jakarta Post here on Tuesday.

Bahani, currently based in Singapore, is in Jakarta as a
lecturer at a two-week course on jumping disciplines in the
Coaches Education and Certification System (CECS), hosted by the
Regional Development Center (RDC) at Madya stadium in South
Jakarta.

RDC is an IAAF affiliate with the task of supervising athletic
development in several designated countries, mostly in South and
Southeast Asia. RDC Jakarta has 19 Asian members.

Twelve jump coaches from Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei,
Philippines, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Laos are
taking part.

Indonesia's lone representative, national junior team high
jump coach I Katut Gde Widiana, withdrew due to a family
emergency.

Jumping disciplines consist of the high jump, long jump,
triple jump and pole vault.

"Jump is an athletic discipline with complexities. And that
requires the coaches to be able to tackle those complexities,"
Bahani said.

Although acknowledging that an athlete's build was a factor in
achievement, he said more important was the guidance of their
coaches.

"Physical talent constitutes only a small percentage," Bahani
said.

"Athletes with less physical talent can be trained into good
ones if guided properly. It depends on the coaches."

RDC director Ria Lumintuarso, another lecturer in the course,
said being a good coach entailed the ability to formulate a
comprehensive training program for their athletes.

"After the course, we will monitor them to ensure that they
apply their knowledge in their respective federations," Ria said.

Meanwhile, coach Sri Purwidiati said that her athletes still
encountered difficulties in reaching optimum acceleration before
their jump.

"They slow down instead of increasing the acceleration when
heading for the jump board," said Sri, who coaches long jump,
high jump and triple jump.

One of her triple jump athletes is Junaedi, whose national
best mark of 15.69 meters is still far behind the 17.35 of Thai
record holder Natapon Namkunha. In contrast, the world record is
18.29 by Britain's Jonathan Edwards.