Thursday, 09 March 2023
British Equestrian has today added to its growing library of coaching resources with the publication of a Psychological Factors Underpinning Young Rider Development digital information booklet.
Intended for equestrian coaches working within the youth pathway, the booklet outlines the factors that contribute to the cognitive development of young riders as they progress through the early stages of their sporting career. It comes as the result of research conducted for British Equestrian by Professor Joanna Butt – who works with athletes on the Podium Potential Pathway level of the federation’s World Class Programme – Professor Ian Maynard, Dr Andrew Mills, Dr Rachel Cholerton and British Equestrian’s Head of Performance Pathways, David Hamer MSc.
The booklet starts by providing an overview of the structures within the brain and their functions, and the importance of these from a coaching perspective. It then moves on to chart the cognitive developmental timeline from birth to early adulthood, including the implications for coaching. Information is also included on the psychological attributes that are specifically linked to success in equestrian sport at different stages of competition, and how coaches can use these to help young athletes to reach their potential.
“Sport is more than just achievement and success,” explained David Hamer. “It’s a medium to help promote lifelong physical and mental wellbeing, and we have a commitment to our athletes to ensure that they’re able to able to perform at their best while still enjoying their sport – regardless of where they are in their career. Sport and the coaches working within it have a development window of opportunity, so understanding how the brain develops and the cognitive journey through childhood and adolescence to adulthood will aid coaches and parents to communicate and relate to a young person through this crucial period.
“Our intention is to run coach development workshops sessions later this year that build on the content of this new digital booklet,” added David. “We want to equip our youth pathway coaches with the knowledge they need to best tailor the learning environment of the young people they’re working with in order to help them succeed in sport.”
This latest publication follows on from the Fundamental Skills for Rider Development digital booklet released by British Equestrian in July 2022, which provides coaches with an understanding of how children and young people develop and physically mature.
Psychological Factors Underpinning Young Rider Development is available to view below.