Finnish coaching system
Patrick Blom – Coach for Youth Radial Team, Finland - talks about the system he uses to get results
Patrick Blom who started coaching the Finnish Laser Youth Radial team this spring talks about the system of coaching in Finland. With Sari Multala having won last week’s the Women’s Laser Radial World Championship here in Largs, and with five members of the youth team present here at the Laser Radial Youth Worlds, two of which (Heidi Tenkanen and Matias Mikkola) are ranked among the favourites to win this event, there’s a clear indication that Finland has good coaching formula.
Blom: “We do indeed have some very talented sailors and the Radial is an ideal class to develop their talent. Interestingly however, we don’t have many sailors in Finland so my job is to find the promising young sailors and bring them together into one group. Because we have so few sailors, club racing doesn’t really happen. Even at the national ranking events we only gather about 20 boats.
“But those who we do ‘find’ are given the best possible training. For example, I run coaching sessions two or three times a week after school plus training camps which last three or four days, and I invite the likes of Sari Multala who trains with them.
“The main base is in Helsinki so that is where all the training takes place. It really only works if the sailors live near Helsinki because we carry out the training in the evenings after school. Those who live far away come to the training camps we run about six times a year. In all honesty though, anyone who really wants to get on, and achieve results, has to base themselves in Helsinki like Heidi Tenkanen, Sari Multala and Matias Mikkola.
“During a typical evening’s training, I get the team together – usually between 5-10 sailors – and go in the RIB and run a 2-4 hour session out on the water. This is really beneficial because it gives the sailors a chance to sail against each other, tune up, and improve their performance overall. I get them to focus on speed and tactics as well as continually practicing tacking and gybing.”
Having chatted to Sari Multala about her winning performance at Largs last week, Blom said it was interesting to hear what she had to say about the venue. She stressed that at challenging venue such as Largs, it is very important that the young sailors keep their eyes open, to observe everything that’s happening. You can’t sail a conservative race here; you have to be brave and use your observation skills.
22/7/2010 09:51
