Modern sport sees a constant strive for innovation to achieve a competitive edge. For many coaches, that comes about through the exchange of ideas and information between different sports. Just how effective is this?
There’s a growing appreciation that a coach’s expertise is often transferable between sports, and that one sport’s training techniques, drills and philosophies can often shed new light on another’s. It’s evident not just on training pitches but in the corridors of power, with many governing bodies of sport often jostling for the same high-ranking coaches.
“Learning from other sports is really, really important,” explains Alan Olive, the former high performance manager at UK Sport.
Alan now runs his own coaching consultancy, and has mentored elite coaches and Olympic medal-winning athletes across many different sports including hockey, canoeing, sailing and skeleton. He has often facilitated the cross-over of ideas between them.
Why is this important?
“Every sport has a blind spot,” Alan explains. “People get used to working in a certain way. Every sport is guilty of it.”