Appreciating and learning from other sports

This coming weekend we are hosting the Atlantic Sun Indoor Track and Field (Athletics) Championship at ETSU. Personally I love track and field meets for a number of reasons:

• Fond memories of my history in the sport as a young athlete
• The aesthetics of the various different (and contrasting) events
• The near-perfection of physical attributes 

As well as enjoyment of the meet, we can also learn from these athletes (and so can our players) and appreciate what is going on before us.

• The fluidity of athletes warming up
• The efficient energy transfer of the triple jumper
• The mental focus of the sprinter
• The vaulter with complete confidence in his/her manipulation of the pole
• The kinesthetic awareness and graceful power of the thrower rotating in the circle

Appreciation

The team sport that I work in places a wide range of demands on the athlete. This makes perfection of any physical capacity unrealistic (and frankly, not necessary). However this does not mean that we cannot learn from sports with greater specialization. If greater focus, attention to detail, and precision is placed on small aspects of our discipline, then effectiveness and performance cannot help but improve. For this reason, I will be encouraging my players to at least catch an event or two this weekend.

Rugby is another sport to take note of. One could argue that this sport has an even wider range of physical demands on the body than it's round-balled relative. It follows that this forces coaches, sport scientists, and athletes to be on top of their game, develop, and view the sporting world with a critical eye. From them we can also learn.