Episode 8

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Published on:

14th Feb 2021

EvelChat #8: "The Specialist & The Generalist" A Chat with Stu McMillan

This is my third EvelChat with Altis CEO and world class speed coach Stu McMillan and it does not disappoint. In it we discuss different coaching styles approaches to prescribing training for athletes in a number of different contexts. Other topics include:

  • coaching knowledge and effectiveness
  • ‘Old School’ vs. ‘Science Based’ coaching
  • the relationship between a coach’s technical knowledge and coaching practice
  • less is more vs. paralysis by analysis
  • approaches to coaching creative vs. analytical athletes
  • coaching the individual, specialist vs. generalist coaching and systems
  • which turntable Matt should buy
  • the evolution of the S&C profession
  • the coordination of support services in a training program, specific workloads and their introduction in the training process
  • non-specific approaches to training high level athletes
  • Jamaican approaches to sprint training
  • individual beliefs and various approaches to prescribing training
  • the compression of specific abilities and examples of high volume skill work
  • The introduction of our new ‘Derek rambling’ critic… 
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About the Podcast

EvelChat
The EveltrakSport.com Coaching Podcast with Derek Evely
A Podcast about Coaching, from specialist turn-ons to general piss-offs… & everything in between.

About your host

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Derek Evely

Derek Evely has taken a career path unique in Olympic sport. As an athletics coach, he has coached professionally at all levels along the developmental continuum and is widely regarded as a foremost expert in both youth development programming and elite training methodology. As a coach he has produced three World Junior Championship medalists, two of whom went on to win Olympic medals. He was the development coach for Gary Reed (IAAF World Championships 800m Silver Medalist), Dylan Armstrong (Beijing Olympic Shot Put Bronze Medalist) and Sophie Hitchon (2016 Olympic Hammer Throw Bronze Medalist). He has been a national team coach for both Britain and Canada to every major championship on the global calendar including the Olympic Games, IAAF World Championships and European Championships. He was a High Performance Training Centre Director for British Athletics leading into the 2012 Olympic Games where he coached the youngest athlete on the British athletics team (Hitchon) to her first Olympic final. From 2005 to 2009 he was the Sport Science Manager for the Canadian Athletics Coaching Center. He consults and coaches with federations and individuals worldwide on all aspects of developmental and high performance programming. He currently lives in Chicago with his wife and three teenagers.