Coaching Philosophy – Al Carius

Coaching Philosophy – Al Carius

Al Carius’s Coaching Philosophy

Al Carius is among the most successful cross-country and track events coaches. Having successfully led multiple teams to success, he has established a dynasty in the North Central. The cross-country teams led by Al Carius have collectively won 14 titles combined, including three consecutive championships. Apart from the collective success Al Carius’s teams have achieved, he has also produced athletes who have won individual accolades based on their performances. Al Carius’s success is not by accident but a result of a successful system that develops winners. The coach’s philosophy is to ‘Run for fun and personal bests.’ The coach encourages his athletes to run for fun and personal development, then pursue prestige and victory.

As mentioned above, Al Carius’s philosophy focuses on long-term personal growth rather than pursuing trophies and championships. The coach believes building long-lasting internal values among athletes will benefit the players beyond titles (North Central College Athletics, 2022). Based on this philosophy, the coach has embraced the goal of developing personal values that will foster personal growth among athletes. This aspect of Al Carius’s coaching philosophy encourages athletes to compete against their former selves and not others. Essentially, even if the team does not win titles, they are in a good position if they improve than they were in their previous events. Off the field, Al Carius’s philosophy also improves the players in other areas, including education, work, and social life (North Central College Athletics, 2022). In a world that has increasingly become competitive, materialistic, and more focused on outcomes, it is crucial to maintain calm and reflect on the small achievements.

Moreover, Al Carius’s philosophy effectively encourages athletes to focus on vital elements that will help them achieve their personal best. Athletes are discouraged from sweating over small things that may not bolster their achievements. For instance, under this philosophy, athletes are discouraged from dedicating so much energy to technical adjustments to improve performance. To that end, although crucial, dietary adjustments may not bring much positive results. Instead, Al Carius, through his philosophy, encourages athletes to focus on core elements toward overall success. In athletics, the core success metrics include strength, flexibility, and conditioning to stay competitive (North Central College Athletics, 2022). Besides, players should focus on avoiding injuries to remain effective in competition. By ignoring the minor elements, athletes will have the requisite energy and time to focus on what matters—strength building and resilience.

Another benefit of Al Carius’s ‘Run for fun and personal bests’ philosophy is that it helps his athletes balance fun and achievement. First, the coach integrates skill development while making it fun. For instance, while conducting technique drills, athletes create fun by coming up with enjoyable activities, like playing with each other (Guthrie, 2003). Besides, by encouraging athletes to focus on personal improvements instead of being preoccupied with winning races and beating others, the coach gets pressure off the players. The pressure to perform eliminates the fun of sporting activities, making athletes enjoy training exercises. By incorporating fun in training exercises, athletes enjoy their experience, helping them remain resilient as they pursue their performance objectives.

My Coaching Philosophy

My coaching philosophy is pegged on learning about my athletes. Through this philosophy, I seek to evaluate individual athletes to understand their motivations and pain points. Customized coaching is crucial in an environment with diverse individuals since people exhibit varying interests and motivations (Chatterjee & Prinz, 2022). For instance, some love repetitions, while others get bored when subjected to the same training regimes daily. Besides, under this philosophy, more effort is dedicated to learning about individual athletes to understand their personalities and corresponding communication mechanisms. To that end, while giving athletes feedback, it is appropriate to understand their preferred communication model. Some athletes prefer daily communication, while others want weekly recaps. In the same breath, some athletes prefer face-to-face communication, while others would rather have the coach’s feedback shared in their emails or through a phone conversation (Chatterjee & Prinz, 2022). Evaluating individual athletes helps develop plans and set attainable goals, aligning with the athletes’ capabilities.

Customized coaching will improve athletes’ performance in races since it prepares everyone based on their abilities. First, there will be no cookie-cutter plans that may have worked elsewhere since people respond differently to training. Also, the plan entails a constant feedback mechanism, helping athletes to make progressive changes and readjust their techniques to improve performance. Regularly monitoring and communicating with athletes improves their track performance and nurtures them emotionally.

Conclusion

In summary, Al Carius’s ‘Run for fun and personal bests’ coaching philosophy is core to his coaching success in track and cross-country events. The philosophy has been effective since it helps athletes focus on individual improvement and attaining personal bests instead of competition. Besides, the philosophy comes in handy since it helps athletes focus on core elements that will help them improve their performance. Another benefit identified is that the philosophy incorporates fun, helping athletes enjoy the experience as they pursue performance objectives. The other philosophy that works best for athletes that I would prefer to use is ‘Learning about an athlete,’ which is primarily customized coaching. Coaches who use customized coaching dedicate effort to learning about individual athletes and developing customized plans that suit them.

References

Chatterjee, A., & Prinz, A. (2022). Personalized recommendations for physical activity e-coaching (OntoRecoModel): Ontological modeling. JMIR Medical Informatics, 10(6), e33847.

Guthrie, M. (2003). Coaching track & field successfully. Human Kinetics.

North Central College Athletics. (2022, June 12). Run for Fun and Personal Bests: An Enduring Legacy at North Central College [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P8imqrb9W8

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For this assignment, you will research Al Carius. Coach Carius is the long-time head cross country and track coach at North Central College. What is his philosophy? Please write about his philosophy and why it has worked for him. Then describe your coaching philosophy and why you feel it has or will work for you.

Coaching Philosophy – Al Carius

Remember in academic writing, you want to avoid using the first person whenever possible. When writing about your philosophy, you will need to use the first person; however, please don’t go overboard with it since it’s already understood that it’s your philosophy. When analyzing Coach Carius’ philosophy, it’s understood that it’s your analysis, so it is not necessary to use the first person, and therefore it shouldn’t be used in this section.

Finally, don’t forget the conclusion. The conclusion is one of the most important paragraphs in any assignment. It should begin with a restatement of the topic having been discussed and include a brief summary and/or conclusion of the contents of the paper.