Abstract

The coach serves an integral role in shaping the youth sport experience. For athletes with disabilities, participation in sports may be a negative experience because their coach may misperceive or misunderstand their behaviors. More educational material about coaching adaptive athletes would help bridge the information gap between weightlifting coaches and the adaptive community. Because the number of adaptive athletes in the sport of weightlifting is steadily rising, it is becoming increasingly important that coaches of these athletes understand how they can facilitate the athlete’s lifelong enjoyment of the sport. Coaches should not be intimidated by adaptive athletes. Due to the unique nature of individual circumstances, it can be difficult to generalize about the most effective ways to train adaptive athletes. In recent years, USA Weightlifting (USAW) has introduced measures designed to increase accessibility of the sport for disabled athletes. These measures are summarized, analyzed, and presented in this article in a way that the authors are able to make training recommendations for athletes with lower-lib amputations. In addition, the psychological aspects of adapted weightlifting are briefed and analyzed culminating in recommendations for athletes engaging in weight training and coaches who work with athletes with amputation.

Keywords

Amputation, Weight training, Strength coaching, Adaptive sport,

References

  1. D.M. Culver, E. Kraft, P. Trudel, T. Duarte, & P. Werthner, (2020). Coaching Athletes with Disabilities, Coaching for Human Development and Performance in Sports, 267-286.
  2. B. Dyer, An insight into the use and assessment of lower limb running prostheses in sport with a disability: A mixed method approach, Cogent Engineering, 3(1) (2016) 1158488.
  3. S. Hermassi, K.S. Delank, G. Fieseler, T. Bartels, M.S. Chelly, R. Khalifa, K. Laudner, S. Schulze, R. Schwesig, Relationships between olympic weightlifting exercises, peak power of the upper and lower limb, muscle volume and throwing ball velocity in elite male handball players, Sportverletzung· Sportschaden, 33(02) (2019) 104-112.
  4. Y. Wareham, B. Burkett, P. Innes, & G.P. Lovell, Coaching athletes with disability: Preconceptions and reality, Sport in Society, 20(9) (2017) 1185-1202.
  5. T.M. Vargas, R. Beyer, & M.M. Flores, Coaching athletes with hidden disabilities: Using Universal Design for learning to effectively coach all athletes, International Sport Coaching Journal, 5(2) (2018) 176-182.
  6. J.A. Carrera, (2021). Coaches' and Athletic Directors' Inclusion Practices for High School Student-Athletes with Disabilities (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
  7. USA Weightlifting. About Us. Retrieved March 15, 2021. https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Weightlifting/About-Us
  8. USA Weightlifting. Adaptive Athlete Competition Requirements. Retrieved March 15, 2021. https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Weightlifting/Resources/Qualifying-Totals/Adaptive-Athlete-Competition-Requirements
  9. G. Everett, (2016). Olympic weightlifting: A complete guide for athletes & coaches. Catalyst Athletics.
  10. V.M. Zatsiorsky, & W.J. Kraemer, (2006). Science and practice of strength training (Second edition). Human Kinetics.
  11. G. Kenttä, & R. Corban, Psychology within the Paralympic Context - Same, Same or Any Different?, Olympic Coach, 25(3) (2014) 15–25.
  12. D. Popoli, (2014). Adaptive Sport. In: L. Micheli C. Stein, M. O'Brien, P. d’Hemecourt (eds) Spinal Injuries and Conditions in Young Athletes. Contemporary Pediatric and Adolescent Sports Medicine. Springer, New York, NY.
  13. A.J. Toth, E. Mcneill, K. Hayes, A.P. Moran, & M. Campbell, Does mental practice still enhance performance? A 24 Year follow-up and meta-analytic replication and extension, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 48 (2020) 101672.
  14. R. Roberts, N. Callow, L. Hardy, D. Markland, & J. Bringer, (2008). Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire–2, PsycTESTS Dataset, 30(2).
  15. F. Malouin, C.L. Richards, A. Durand, M. Descent, D. Poiré, P. Frémont, J. Doyon, Effects of Practice, Visual Loss, Limb Amputation, and Disuse on Motor Imagery Vividness, Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 23(5) (2009) 449-463.