ATHLETICS PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME
Fitness for Life.
Picture this: You’re 85 years old, hiking up a windswept hill with a mischievous grin, whilst your grandkids struggle to keep up. Sounds impossible? Not if you embrace sport, fitness, and health as a lifelong adventure, something we love doing here at LWC.
Exercise isn’t just about chiselled abs or running marathons. It’s about resilience, mental sharpness, and longevity. Just look at the Blue Zones - those rare places on Earth where people routinely live past 100, and live well. Their secret? Daily movement, strong communities and an unshakeable zest for life. They don’t grind out deadlifts in fluorescent-lit gyms. Tthey walk, swim, stretch, and lift things because life demands it.
At LWC, we champion this philosophy. Sport isn’t a phase. It’s a lifelong pursuit of challenge, camaraderie, and self-discovery. Whether you’re smashing a rugby tackle, perfecting a tennis serve, or finding peace in a morning run, you’re investing in a future where your body serves you well, not the other way around.
So, take the stairs, chase a ball, climb a mountain, bowl away swingers, try Yoga. Because when sport and fitness become your adventure, life doesn’t just last longer. It gets richer, wilder, and infinitely more fun. So tighten those laces, take a breath and step up and out into a world of infinite possibilities, a world that begins within our idyllic 1200 acre campus and culture.
ADAM WILLIAMS HEADMASTER
Welcome to the Team.
LWC Performance Athletics Programme
Congratulations on your selection as part of The LWC Performance Athletics Programme.
This programme recognises your achievements in athletics and your potential to excel at higher levels of competition. You are joining the programme at a pivotal moment as athletics continues to thrive and grow at LWC, and we are excited to support your development as an athlete.
This two-year programme is designed to:
• Enhance your technical, physical, and mental skills specific to athletics.
• Cultivate a lifelong passion for the sport.
• Prepare you for competitive athletics and explore potential career opportunities within and beyond the sport.
The programme requires you to:
• Commit to all sports scholarship expectations at LWC.
• Attend all scholarship talks and workshops.
• Represent LWC in athletics events and other sports.
• Mentor and coach younger pupils in athletics.
• Engage fully with your athletics mentor.
• Participate in athletics meets and training camps at leading venues.
• Help raise the profile of athletics within LWC and the broader community.
Programme Overview
This programme is tailored to meet the demands of athletics training while ensuring balance with school commitments. It focuses on refining technical proficiency, building physical fitness, developing mental toughness, and preparing for peak performance in local, regional, national, and international competitions.
Key Areas of Focus
1. Technical Skills
Refine event-specific techniques, including sprinting, middle/long distance running, jumps, throws, or hurdles.
Use video analysis to identify and address technical improvements. Focus on biomechanics for optimal performance and injury prevention.
2. Physical Fitness
Build strength, speed, endurance, and agility tailored to your events. Develop event-specific flexibility and mobility.
Focus on injury prevention and recovery.
3. Mental Skills
Build resilience, focus, and confidence for competition.
Use sports psychology techniques, including goal setting and visualisation.
4. Tactical Skills
Develop race strategies and pacing plans for track events. Enhance decision-making for field events, including optimal technique execution.
Analyse past performances to identify areas for improvement.
5. Competition Preparation Plan and execute structured training cycles to peak for major competitions. Simulate competitive environments during practice sessions.
Conduct post-competition reviews to reflect on performance.
6. Academic Balance
Balance athletics commitments with academic and personal responsibilities. Develop time management strategies with your athletics mentor.
7. Leadership
Mentor and coach younger pupils in athletics (Years 7-9).
Represent LWC athletics at ambassadorial events.
8. Career Opportunities
Explore pathways in athletics, including coaching, sports science, or management, leveraging LWC’s network.
Components of the Programme
1. Technical Training
• Event-Specific Drills
Focus on sprint starts, hurdle technique, jumping mechanics, or throwing form.
• Biomechanics Review
Use video analysis to refine movement patterns and maximise efficiency.
• Performance Metrics
Track key data points such as split times, distances, and angles.
2. Physical Conditioning
• Strength and Power
2-3 sessions per week tailored to your event (e.g., explosive power for sprinters or endurance for longdistance runners).
Key exercises: Power cleans, squats, plyometrics, and resistance band work.
• Speed and Agility
Include sprint intervals, ladder drills, and reaction training.
• Endurance
Integrate long runs, tempo runs, or VO2 max training, depending on your event.
• Flexibility and Recovery
Daily dynamic stretches, foam rolling, and weekly yoga or Pilates sessions.
3. Mental Skills Development
• Performance Psychology
Develop pre-race routines, set weekly and seasonal goals, and practice visualisation techniques.
• Logbook
Track training sessions, mental focus, and race strategies.
4. Tactical Awareness and Competition Prep
• Race Planning
Develop pacing strategies, focus on energy conservation, and execute finishing sprints.
• Simulated Competition
Practice race scenarios or field event conditions under time constraints.
• Post-Competition Review
Analyse performance data and receive targeted feedback.
5. Academic Integration
• Use planners to balance training, competitions, and study schedules
• Prioritise rest days during high academic workload periods.
Seasonal Plan
Pre-Season (November - February)
Focus: Build physical base, refine technique, and set goals.
Activities:
• Strength training and technical refinement.
• Endurance building for middle/longdistance athletes
Competition Season (March - October)
Focus: Peak performance and competition readiness.
Activities:
• Event-specific training and highintensity intervals.
• Mental preparation, including race simulations and visualisation.
Post-Season (October)
Focus: Recovery, reflection, and goal setting.
Activities:
• Evaluate competition performance.
• Develop off-season training goals.
Evaluation and Tracking
• Monthly Assessments: Monitor technical proficiency, fitness metrics, and mental focus.
• Competition Metrics: Track event-specific data such as times, distances, and scores.
• Feedback: Regular reviews with your athletics coach, strength and conditioning trainer, and mentors.
Example Weekly Schedule
Monday Recovery (stretching, yoga, foam rolling) 1 hour
Tuesday Technical drills (e.g., sprint starts, throws) 1 hour
training (focus: power and event-specific) 1 hour Wednesday Tactical planning (race strategies or event setups) 1 hour
drills, goal setting)
Saturday
Sunday Competitive events or active recovery
This programme ensures your athletic growth while maintaining balance with academics and other responsibilities, setting you up for long-term success in athletics.