Sports Equity Lab holds workshop for Ghanaian coaches on how to improve athletes' speed

Sports Equity Lab on Thursday, April 27, 2023, held a special and technical clinic for some selected athletics coaches in the country.

The initiative dubbed "The Neurobiomechanics of Maximum Velocity Sprinting” sought to enlighten the coaches on how they can improve the speed of their athletes with the right technique and skill.

Highly-rated and experienced athletics coach Loren Seagrave, in his lecture, detailed how coaches can improve the speed of their athletes through body positioning, leg movements, and neuro-muscular control, among others.

He encouraged the coaches to adopt a hands-on approach and know when to apply the techniques necessary to improve the talent of their athletes.

Coach Loren Seagrave commended the participants for their active participation and predicted Ghana Athletics will experience the impact of the training in six months.

“The biggest lesson coaches must learn is that teaching the athlete is better than coaching the athlete. What I tried impacting is how to teach athletes to be faster and how you can leverage that to win competitions. It is not only about working hard, it is doing the right things at the right time.

“We will see the result coming out in six months as the coaches really try to implement this and competitions start to come to the fore. You’ll be amazed at the result and how quickly they change”, he said.

The experienced trainer noted that athletics in Ghana has huge potential and that with the right investment and coaches Ghana could earn a place at the top level of global athletics.

“There is a tremendous amount of talents in the country and the coaches I’ve interacted with have all been eager to learn and help their athletes get to the finishing line better and quicker”, he said.

Dr Emmanuel Assasie of the Physical Education and Sports Studies Department of the University of Ghana described the forum as timely and important.

“It was a very useful seminar for our coaches and athletes. This was very important for our coaches because we are in a society where most of our coaches are limited to whistles and not the science of exercising,” he said.

Professor Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu, Founder of Sports Equity Lab emphasized the importance of inclusivity in sports. She maintained that developing para-athletics is crucial to the overall success of Ghana athletics.

The Neurobiomechanics of Maximum Velocity Sprinting is a feature of a 4-day program organized by Sports Equity Lab to improve the speed of able-bodied and paralympic athletes in the country.