{"id":20065,"date":"2023-09-07T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=20065"},"modified":"2025-12-15T11:31:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:31:01","slug":"creativity-innovation-and-adaptability-why-all-coaches-would-benefit-from-working-with-para-athletes","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/creativity-innovation-and-adaptability-why-all-coaches-would-benefit-from-working-with-para-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"Creativity, Innovation and Adaptability \u2013 Why All Coaches Would Benefit from Working with Para Athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 7 Sep 2023 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Creativity, Innovation and Adaptability \u2013 Why All Coaches Would Benefit from Working with Para Athletes<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Coaching & Development<\/a>, Human Performance<\/a> <\/div>\n
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https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/creativity-innovation-and-adaptability-why-all-coaches-would-benefit-from-working-with-para-athletes\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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Five factors to consider when meeting the challenge of devising individualised and holistic athlete programming in para sport, as discussed in a recent Keiser Virtual Roundtable.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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A Human Performance article brought you by our Main Partners<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

By John Portch<\/h6>\n
\u201cI would probably be so bold as to suggest that any Olympic or professional coach should work with a para athlete or try to get close to a para programme,\u201d said Neasa Russell, the Sports Director at Paralympics Ireland.<\/h6>\n

\u201cIt blows your head in terms of the constraints you would have normally \u2013 probably unconsciously \u2013 worked with because you\u2019ve been doing the same pattern, training and programmes all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell, who will also serve as Team Ireland\u2019s Chef de Mission at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, speaks from both sides having also worked with non-disabled athletes in her previous roles at Rowing Ireland, British Rowing and the English Institute of Sport (now UK Sports Institute).<\/p>\n

She was speaking in late August at a Keiser Virtual Roundtable, which was attended by high performance coaches and practitioners from across the world. The aim of the session was to explore the space for innovation and adaptation in a para sport environment while providing some food for thought for those working in non-disabled sport.<\/p>\n

\u201c[When coaching para athletes] you have to really rethink and relearn a lot of what you would have presumed or assumed,\u201d she told the host, Keiser\u2019s Gabe Derman. \u201cYou need to work off the needs of the athlete and be really creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell explained what it is like to work at Paralympics Ireland before taking her place in a series of breakout discussions with the coaches in attendance. The group emerged from those conversations with the consensus view that the growing ability to innovate and effectively adapt in para sport is a consequence of improved investment, which itself is a sign of greater social acceptance and sporting credibility for para sport in the wider world.<\/p>\n

The sporting landscape, they agreed, is still not equitable, but well-intentioned organisations are beginning to meet the unique challenges presented by para athletes with creativity, innovation and adaptability.<\/p>\n

Here are five factors lifted from the conversation to consider when meeting the challenge of providing individualised, holistic athlete programming in para sport.<\/p>\n

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  1. Innovation craves the correct conditions<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Ultimately, para sport is just another branch of your sport. As one coach noted, if para sports were the sole focus at sports organisations then there would be fewer of the issues of limited funding, research and resources that crop up continuously. In that regard, it resembles the general women\u2019s sporting landscape, which has also been neglected from a coaching, medical and sports science perspective. Those of you with para teams: how accommodating is your organisation of para athletes? If you need to ramp things up it is crucial to bring your team\u2019s decision-makers onboard. When the conditions are favourable for para sports programmes, one can look to make the strategic changes that promote innovation or adaptability. Locating a seat for para sport at the top table of high performance often requires a push and will not happen without advocates who are willing to back up their words and intentions.<\/p>\n

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    1. Consider how your innovations and adaptations are captured<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Russell argued that the athlete-coach dyad in para sport requires an even greater degree of trust than in non-disabled sport. This is due to the challenge presented by an athlete\u2019s unique impairment. For example, a para athlete may not be able to see their coach or engage in video analysis. Or they may not have movement in their lower limbs and it is therefore incumbent on the coach to help tweak their movement patterns. Such situations require both curiosity and humility on the part of the coach as they seek to understand their athlete\u2019s day-to-day preferences. Does the athlete, for instance, want you to offer your help or not? A coach can best develop an understanding of how an impairment impacts the training programme of an athlete by learning in real time. There is no textbook to follow. Any wisdom or experience gleaned from the successful implementation of innovations and adaptions tends to be shared anecdotally from coach to coach. This is, as one participant pointed out, a \u2018legacy\u2019 of the lack of investment and sports science research in para sport.<\/p>\n

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      1. Where is the \u2018richness and craft\u2019 in your coaching?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        There was a consensus at the roundtable that, in comparing non-disabled and para sport, the performance principles are approximately \u201c80% the same\u201d. However, in para sport, there is an even greater need for individualised and holistic support, as no two athletes will have the exact same impairment. It may come down to modalities or prosthetics but could just as easily come down to other physiological factors. For example, an athlete of short stature will generate lactate especially quickly, which has implications for their recovery protocols. Athletes with spinal cord injuries will have problems with their thermal regulation, especially in outdoor sports where they need to be mindful of managing their cooling strategies. The pinch points may also come in the athlete\u2019s daily living. You may want your athlete to go directly home after training but if they are visually impaired \u2013 and therefore unable to drive themselves \u2013 they may require buses or even taxis to make their commute. Or if an athlete takes substantial time to prepare a meal because of their impairment then you may wish to ensure they have meals already prepared for post-training in order to help them optimise their recovery. You need to bake such factors into your training programmes. These are just some of the “nuances” a coach must navigate with what Russell termed \u201crichness and craft\u201d.<\/p>\n

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        1. Do your athletes understand what it takes to compete, let alone win?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          It is notoriously difficult to establish \u2018what it takes to win\u2019 in para sport given the wealth of classifications and range of impairments even in linear sports. However, before considering podium potential, it is important to ask: is your athlete at home on the international stage? It can be difficult for some nations to provide para athletes with the requisite level of competition ahead of a major games. How can you as a coach expose your athletes to international standards? That transition can be managed with better coach and performance support packages. A national Paralympic committee in attendance said they are hosting \u2018pathway to Paris\u2019 workshops for their athletes who have either limited international experience or a low training age. These sessions can be remedial at times, but are nevertheless invaluable to that nation\u2019s para athletes.<\/p>\n

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          1. Adopting an ecological approach to recruitment<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Talent pools can be shallow in para sport and there are likely to be further disparities between disciplines. National governing bodies have a number of factors to consider when seeking to innovate around recruitment. They include where you recruit your athletes and the best approach to take. A national Paralympic committee at the roundtable said they had adopted a place-based approach in working with its national governing bodies. This means they are working to understand the issues, interconnections and relationships within those para sporting environments in order to coordinate action and investment. There are, as they explained, numerous moving parts and \u201cwell tests\u201d (data acquisition tests) that enable athletes and coaches to see what works for them and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n

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