Question

Decathletes and heptathletes have to be proficient in many different skills in order to be successful. Some people call them "all-around athletes", suggesting that they possess a general ability for sport. Would you agree? What does the research suggest? Discuss.

Answer 1

Decathlon and heptathlon are track and field disciplines during which participants run, jump, and throw. The training and the competitions are highly demanding from both the physical and psychological standpoints because of the frequency and intensity of the events that could lead to important risk of injury.

The decathlon and heptathlon are not for the weak of heart. These events take years to master, and are usually undertaken by the athletes who are the most dedicated. You cannot be great at the combined events if you don’t have the hunger to be the best, or the time to dedicate to learning and working at all of the events.

The mental skills that will be discussed are arousal control, confidence, visualization training, and relaxation. After discussing the demands of the decathlon, and each of these mental skills, an evaluation will be made of how, where and to what degree these skills fit into the decathlon program.

1. Athlete Selection: Attitude, Commitment, and Heart

The ideal combined events athlete always strives to get better in each event, but at the same time understands the big picture. It is a long process and, as mentioned, it can be very frustrating at times. The adage, “jack of all trades, master of none,” has been said about decathletes for years, and it couldn’t be truer. Every aspiring decathlete and heptathlete should always strive to improve, yet understand they might never be the star on their team in just one event. The ideal decathlete or heptathlete should love the challenge of getting better, be there each day to work on their craft, and be quick to bounce back from a bad event or training session.

2. Designate Who Is in Charge

There are many moving parts and things to consider when putting together the training for high school decathletes and heptathletes. At the high school level, your program might have one coach, or 10 coaches. I always advocate for one coach to put together the training for the combined event athlete. Different coaches can help the athletes out in different events, but there needs to be one coach or “director” who organizes the training. This ensures clear communication and expectations for the athlete.

3. Balance Your Training Plan

Cliff Rovelto, the extremely successful combined events coach at Kansas State, talks about the “3 C’s” in combined event training (commonality, complementary, and compatible). When you train for the combined events, your training needs to look at common parts across the events (e.g., takeoff drills that work across events, acceleration drills, medicine ball throwing drills, etc.). The training on one day needs to complement that of the next, and the types of modalities that you use in one training session need to be compatible with one another.