HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
FOR THE BEGINNING COACH:
Introduction:
The role of the coach has changed significantly over the past twenty to thirty years. At one time, an individual who excelled at one or more sports would get a degree in some area of teaching, find a job in a school district and become a coach in the sport in which she/he excelled. The teaching position was usually in physical education and health, so in acquiring that degree, the new coach was required to take at least one class in HUMAN ANATOMY / PHYSIOLOGY and, perhaps, courses in EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY, BASIC ATHLETIC TRAINING or RED CROSS FIRST AID, and/or HUMAN BIOMECHANICS.
That is no longer the case. Not only are more and more coaches receiving their teaching degrees in professional areas other than PHYSICAL EDUCATION / HEALTH, a significant number of coaches are not even teachers. For reasons that will be addressed in other sections of the course, more and more coaches are ‘WALK-ONS’. They work in other areas of the community and at the start of practice, ‘WALK ON’ to the field, court, or track to train their athletes. The best an athletic director or club director can require is a current FIRST AID CARD. Too often, that is not even required of the whole staff.
The objective of this part of the INTRODUCTION TO COACHING class is to provide future coaches a very basic understanding of HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY as it applies to coaching. THIS SECTION IS NOT to be considered a comprehensive approach to anatomy/physiology, strength development, and/or injury prevention/rehabilitation. The textbooks cited throughout this workbook are excellent sources for those coaches who want or need more in-depth information.
TABLE OF CONTENTS