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Glenn
Joined: 05 Feb 2005
Posts: 1109
Location: ST Pauls
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 Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 12:04 pm Subject: |
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Interesting. I guess the starting point, is to get good guys training on the track together regularly - but that doesn't seem like it's going to happen in London, with everyone having their work committments and Tatem being located where it is.
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Rick
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 5914
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| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:44 pm Subject: |
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No. Unfortunately, its a lot more fundamental than that. The starting point comes much earlier. By the time you are racing at this level it's really too late to do a great deal about it.
We need more full time coaches trained to the right levels. They need to be training more people at an early enough age so they can compete for places. We need more competitions.
We need more facilities. Not just tracks but that is something we need. At least one in the North West. We could do with them being available all year round (it all weather) We also need the paraphernalia that goes with good training to analyse performance and technique and hone those skills.
I don't think we are lagging hugely in the fitness skates though that may be a factor but technically we are way behind and that has always been a bigger factor than fitness.
Tactically too we could be being naive except we don't have enough skaters to prove that we aren't. Watching what goes on first hand was a real eye opener. Skaters were getting away with all sort of stuff at these championships because all they give out are meaningless warnings and the more clued up people use that to their advantage. They are also radioed up to their coaches who can tell them to push or block. Most times nothing will be called. When it is it's a warning and you need 3 to be penalised. When you can get three skaters in a race all working for one another you can make a significant impact on what is going on around you.
Even if we were to produce an amazing superstar in the fitness/technique stakes I don't think they would survive all the way through the competition without others to assit them. To give some examples, I don't feel Bart Swings would have won the 10k point/elimination working on his own. He had two other Belgians in the race and they worked as a unit to box the main Italian threat and allow Bart to shoot past on the final straight to take the points. They couldn't do it every time but enough to give him an uassailable advantage and when he was struggling at the back of the pack after all the sprint on of them actually braked to make sure he was eliminated and not Bart on that lap so bart could finish the race and claim the gold. The fastest skater in the 500m did not reach the final and the second fastest skater in the 500s finished last in the final because the winner had a team mate who deliberately took out the competition at the start line. Might have happened in the semi too but I wasn't aware of the situation and didn't know who Alexis Contin was to see what happened to him. The point is, skating at this level is not an individual sport. It is a team event and we not only need quality, but also quantity, to give ourselves a shot at the podium. |
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Rick
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 5914
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