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Our sports coaching research study on technique correction with Olympic athletes won second prize in the 4th European Athletics Association Coaching Science Awards, out of a record entry of 28 projects from 13 European countries.

Coaching science award

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• The project
• European Athletics Association

Old Way New Way^®

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Coaching science award for research study with Olympic athletes

Our published Old Way New Way^® sports coaching research study on technique correction with Olympic athletes won second prize in the 4th EAA Science Awards, out of a record entry of 28 projects from 13 European countries.

The winning project Rapid Technique Correction using Old Way New Way^®: Two Case Studies with Olympic athletes by Y. L. Hanin, T. Korjus, P. Jouste and P. Baxter was selected by a Jury chaired by EAA Vice President Agoston Schulek. The other members of the Jury were Dr Peter Tschiene (GER), Dr Jitka Vindušková (CZE) and Mr Peter Thompson (GBR).

According to the Jury, "This project has a high applicability and clear implications to the coaching of techniques and to coach education."

The Jury's selection criteria were:

• scientific rigour and quality, and
• practical application to coaching and/or teaching athletics.

The EAA Science Awards were initiated in 1998 and are given every second year.

 

Project summary (from The Sport Psychologist, 2002, 16, 79-99)

>This study examined the effectiveness of Old Way New Way^®, an innovative meta-cognitive learning strategy initially developed in education settings, in the rapid and permanent correction of established technique difficulties experienced by two Olympic athletes in javelin and sprinting.

Individualized interventions included video-assisted error analysis, step-wise enhancement of kinesthetic awareness, re-activation of the error memory, discrimination and generalization of the correct movement pattern.

Self-reports, coach's ratings and video recordings were used as measures of technique improvement.

A single learning trial produced immediate and permanent technique improvement (80% or higher correct action) and full transfer of learning, without the need for the customary adaptation period.

Findings are consistent with the performance enhancement effects of Old Way New Way^® demonstrated experimentally in non-sport settings.

 

The European Athletics Association

The European Athletic Association (EAA), is one of the six Continental groups of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), a European non-governmental non-profit organisation of unlimited duration in the form of a constituent area association of the IAAF registered in Switzerland (since 1 January 2004, before Germany).

The domicile of the EAA is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The objectives of the EAA are:

• To maintain and develop friendly and loyal co-operation between all the Members for the benefit of athletics, peace and understanding in Europe
• To direct all technical, administrative and financial matters of the European region in conformity with the rules of the IAAF and with any special agreement to this aim which may be concluded between the IAAF and the EAA.
• To promote ethical values in sport and fight against all forms of doping as well as racial, religious, political or other kind of discrimination in athletics.

 

The Old Way New Way^® sports coaching program

• transformed uncompetitive athletes into proficient, confident, competitive performers when other methods failed
• quickly and permanently corrected established technique faults and performance slumps
• was effective even when applied immediately before an important competition
• accelerated transition training for rapid change over to new codes, new rules, new sports equipment
• immediately enabled athletes to achieve their personal best
• is being used by sports coaches, skills coaches, elite athletes, Olympians, institutes of sport, colleges and universities
• is the only coaching program that uses Old Way New Way,^® an effective research-based and coach-friendly learning method
• is readily integrated into a sports coach's professional toolkit
• improves a sports coach's effectiveness and job satisfaction.

Improving too slowly?

Sports coaches and players try to get it right the first time but invariably end up spending a lot of time trying to correct technique faults and bad habits that somehow develop.

Once established, habit pattern errors like technique faults are notoriously hard to correct because they actually disable learning of correct technique and slow down or completely block improvement. This makes an athlete uncompetitive and can lead to a career-threatening performance slump.

The typical advice to practice skill drills and train hard is usually not very effective. The athlete may appear to improve during training but repeatedly falls back to old ways under pressure of competition.

Transfer of training from skills coaching sessions and practice drills to competition is consequently poor.

Transition training, required when the athlete has to change over to a new code, new equipment, new techniques or new rules, presents similar adjustment difficulties. Old habits die hard.

Fortunately, a coaching science discovery called Old Way New Way^® Sports Coaching offers:

1. A new perspective on the transfer of training problem.

2. A cost-effective and user-friendly method for rapid skill and technique correction, and habit correction.

3. A fast and practical method of sports transition training.

This page explains how established and habitual technique faults can interfere with skill development and learning of correct technique.

This page announces that our published Old Way New Way^® sports coaching research study on technique correction with Olympic athletes won second prize in the 4th European Athletics Association Coaching Science Awards, out of a record entry of 28 projects from 13 European countries.