We often encounter distinctions being made between novices and experienced
athletes, lifters or gym users.
While it is important to make this distinction, we should also note that:
1. An experienced athlete or gym user is simply a person who has trained
or/and competed for several years
2. An experienced athlete is not necessarily an elite athlete. An elite
athlete is one whose results place him/her among the top performers in the
world.
3. An elite athlete may be a relative novice - there are some world champions
who have reached the top after only a few years of competition
4. An elite athlete in one country may not necessarily be considered elite
in other countries or by world standards
5. An elite athlete is not always a ideal example of excellence of technique
6. Experienced athletes or gym users may be severely lacking in scientific
or practical training knowledge and may not be good examples of training
technique
7. Experienced athletes and novices can all make mistakes
8. Even a novice may produce an idea which can teach an experienced athlete
something new
9. A novice may have a greater capacity for learning than an experienced
athlete, especially if the latter is very set in his/her ways
10. Elite athletes may not be the best coaches
11. Relatively novice coaches or even relatively uneducated coaches may have
considerably coaching success
12. An elite athlete or coach may be expert in certain areas or certain
movements, but seriously lacking in other areas
13. It is often more difficult to teach an experienced athlete or coach new
ideas or techniques - as the idiom says, "You cannot teach an old dog new
tricks"
14.. Methods used with elite athletes do not necessarily have any great
success with novices.
15. Methods used by one elite athlete may not necessarily be used
successfully by another elite athlete.
There are many other distinctions like this, but this is a start from me -
would anyone else like to add their own favourites?
Mel Siff
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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