The IAAF’s aim in publishing the latest version of the textbook 'Run! Jump! Throw!' is to provide what coaches need and what new and experienced coaches around the world want – enough guidance to allow them to get on with their work and learn by doing. Run! Jump! Throw! does just that in an up-to-date, clear, user-friendly and practical format.
This book was originally written because time and time again the coach-lecturers who were educating new coaches needed it. But, when they searched for such a book they came up empty-handed. In addition, many sports students desperately want a simple guide to the techniques of athletics that they can take out and use in schools and on the training track. As coaches gain experience they know that an easy-to-use reference is invaluable as a quick review of the basics before coaching an event which they had perhaps been away from for a while.
The IAAF Development Programme and the Coaches Education and Certification System (CECS) in 1991 produced the booklet entitled Techniques of Athletics and Teaching Progressions to fill this need. Coaches felt that this booklet was a big step in the right direction and it was used by all IAAF Level I Lecturers. The authors of this text, with the support of many experts from around the world, updated the original publications to first produce Run! Jump! Throw! in 1995. In this most recent 2009 version the material has been completely revised. Charles Gozzoli has ‘brought the book to life’ by adding photograph sequences to accompany the old line drawings and for the text, Peter Thompson has edited and updated the material, also adding the text boxes for ‘Coaches should…’, ‘Help athletes to…’ and the teaching progressions’ ‘Tips’ .
Run! Jump! Throw! helps coaches and athletes to teach and refine athletic technique by:
• An understanding of the key points for teaching and learning the event
• A technical model for their athletes to emulate
• The ability to analyse technique themselves
• A teaching progression of activities through which their athletes can learn and develop the desired technique.
