How can a cross country coach punish the athletes?

Question

I coach a bunch of high school athletes in cross country. Usually they are very well behaved and hard working but latley they have been slacking off in practice. they are all girls. what can i use as punishments? like running really long distances maybe? but how long? i cant kick them off or make them sif out. thx!

Answer 1

make them do 1mile runs,sit & reach,push ups and crunches.

if not make them run 2-10 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!or 300 sit&reach,1000push-upsm and 500 crunches

Answer 2

I ran 11 seasons of high school track and XC.  We mostly ran on the roads and nearby trails, and loved being able to decide where we would go.  I assume your girls are the same.

First, discuss your situation with the athletic director.  If he/she doesn't have suggestions, warn him/her what you're going to do so someone has your back.

In order of ascending levels of involvement:

If you can, run with them or bike alongside them.  Tell them you want to monitor their motion and technique, but everyone knows better.  Do it until they improve, and then do it occasionally thereafter.  This takes away their feeling of being trusted.

Let them know  you're not happy with their effort, so make them train on the track or around a small park so you can watch them.  This takes away their ability to run where they want.

Threaten the team generally that you're not going to tolerate lackadasical effort.  Tell them varsity selection is your choice, and you're picking by effort, not past results.  Simultaneously, privately single out a talented runner and respected member of the slackers (probably a junior or senior who's starting to slide) and tell her to shape up or you'll put her on JV.  This appeals to their pride.

If you're still not happy two weeks later, skip tne next meet.  This attacks to their pride, and will earn you a reputation.  If you've been accused of being too nice, think about this one.  You can get away with being very nice if people know you've done something really harsh.

Good luck.

Answer 3

when their tired and worn out make them do long sprints or bleacher runs

Answer 4

Make them do push ups or leg squats. Something that will build their muscles for running and tire them out at the same time.

Answer 5

first of all don't make them run more mileage, that can cause injuries, especially if you increase it to fast to soon. It sounds like there problem is lack of motivation. That is a tricky thing to punish. If you make them do something they really don't like you will just discourage them all the more.

So what I would suggest is to change it up. One problem a lot of XC coaches have is coming up with different workouts. The coaches tend to get in this rut of just doing distance or just doing repeats, hills, and weight room. If you come up with something new 2 or three times a week than they will look forward to those practices. I call them fun runs I will give you a few examples.

1.) Color cones- you will break the team into groups. I only have 15 people on my team so it is broken down to 7 and 8. Than I take cones and put them spread all over the cross country course. I than have colored construction paper that I cut into squares (2 colors, 1 color for each group and 10 squares for each group) and I put 1 square per team under each cone. Than they have to find the cones and bring back the color square to me, but they can only bring back 1 square at a time. So they get in a lot of distance in the end by running back and fourth between me and the cones. Oh and it has to be done as a group, so they all run back to me but they can't give me the square until every one is there.

2.) scavenger hunts- it is the same concept as above but they have to run from clue to clue and who ever get to the final clue first is rewarded (ex. no weighlifting that day, or they get to go home early)

3.) Use your connections to bring in some good runners. Research to find out where some famous runners are and if they live any where near you, explain your situation and most athletes will be more than happy to come do a motivational talk for the kids.

4.) Let the team decide on a practice 1 day a week. But put rules on it, say it has to be at least an hour long, or 1 1/2 hours long, which ever you chose. You could also say they have to have run at least so many miles before the end of practice. make it fun for them.

If you still feel that they need to be punished than make them do lunges up a hill X 10, than make them do 5X800 meter repeats, on the most hilly trail you can find, follow that up with a tough ab workout that involves a lot of flutter kicks.

If it is just one or two people that are bringing everyone else down by being a bad influence than make them watch as the others run. Or you could make them watch and do pushups. But I would try changing up your workouts first.

Answer 6

make them do hard things...

Answer 7

make them do lunges for a mile. then bear crawls. or sprints up hill. better yet...bear crawls up hill...hahaha

Answer 8

The biggest punishments that our coach gives/threatens us with is either not running in a race or missing the pizza party or banquet.

Answer 9

Spray them in the face with pepper spray.

Answer 10

I believe the thing I am talking about is called wall sits? You know, when you sit against a wall with your knees bent and a 90 degree angle. It hurts like h**l. Make 'em do it for about 2 minutes? I forget how long it takes before it hurts like a lot of h**l.

But, you don't want to injure your runners, so making them run more mileage might not be the best idea. You know, so as to not hurt the knees too much and whatnot. Wall sits build strength in your quads I believe.

After having them experience wall sits for awhile, perhaps they'll think twice about not listening to you when you tell them that if they misbehave you'll make them do wall sits.

Oh oh and while you're at it. Make them do lungs after wall sits! Now that would be a bigggg pain. Haha.

Answer 11

Punishing runner is hard.  As many have pointed out, standard "go run" punishments, as used in other sports, won't work because they will s***w up training.

Potential punishments can include making them do "freshmen work", such as filling and carrying the water bottles, setting up stuff at meets, etc.  Anything that you get out of doing by seniority usually.  On a more extreme note, you can start demoting people off of varsity (though, if they are slacking off, they will probably earn their way off).

Alternatively, it could be a question of motivation.  Talk to some of them (or teammates who are not slacking off) and see if there is a specific underlying reason.  You may be able to remedy the problem that way.

Good luck.