Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg (Norway) is 3 times World champion and the winner of overall World Cup in 2008. That year Anne Margrethe was unbeatable in Sprint! She won 9 World Cup events in total. In August 2013 Norwegian athlete added to list of her titles World Games silver medal. She tells about her personal coach Frode Øverøyen Balchen.
1) Who are
your personal coaches? What is the period of your cooperation?
I have used
the current national team coach as a personal coach, during those years when I
felt comfortable with cooperating that close with the person being team coach
at that moment.
Frode
Øverøyen Balchen: After season 2010 to present. Which means that on our first
common training (November 2010) I had to tell him I was pregnant and there
would be no WOC in 2011. He handled it more than ok, and thought he was lucky
to gain experience from coaching a pregnant athlete. Frode was national team
coach 2011-2012.
Previously,
a coach that I worked close with was Jarle Ausland: 2005-2007, the years when
he was the national team coach.
My husband
Anders Nordberg has never been my personal coach, but he has indeed inspired
and helped me a lot. Anders should be mentioned among these to my sports career
very valuable persons.
2) Personal coaching is a continuum from rare meetings and discussion different topics with runner (Scandinavian pattern) to design of detailed plans and total control of physical, technical, mental trainings and recovery program (Soviet/Russian pattern). What is your pattern of cooperation? Which aspects of trainings are under control from your coach?
2) Personal coaching is a continuum from rare meetings and discussion different topics with runner (Scandinavian pattern) to design of detailed plans and total control of physical, technical, mental trainings and recovery program (Soviet/Russian pattern). What is your pattern of cooperation? Which aspects of trainings are under control from your coach?
Frode is a
big part of my sports career and one of the reasons I still go for elite
orienteering. I wouldn’t say he controls any particular aspect of training
regime; rather that he supports me in any situation and is a discussion
partner. He helps me to take difficult decisions and to get rid of all kinds of
frustration in sports or everyday life.
3) What is the feedback system?
3) What is the feedback system?
I write my
training diary by hand, and every Sunday I scan this week’s page and e-mail it
to Frode. Not very 2013-ish, but I have written in the same kind of book by
hand since I was 12 years old and it’s “impossible” to change only for some few
last years. During the week we usually have contact several times (phone, sms,
e-mail) and so there should be no big surprises to Frode on Sunday evening. In
that e-mail I also write my suggested plan for next week, and he quickly
responds. Long term plans we discuss in a meeting or on the phone.
Frode goes to
quite a lot of the races in Norway, but in 2013 not abroad since he is no
longer the national team coach. I send him GPS tracks from some training
sessions, and during most races he can follow my GPS online. Frode has followed
me on some technical training sessions and knows my “style”, and perhaps that
is one of the reasons I can suspect from his GPS feedback that he actually was
in the forest this time too. I usually have some technical/mental tasks for any
technical training session or competition, and we can discuss these shortly or
more in depth.
4) Qualification and communication are the basement of successful coaching. Can you tell about THREE most valuable skills of your personal coach?
My personal
coach: (1) Knows how to communicate and support in any situation, (2) Knows the
game of both elite sport and family life, (3) Can give meaning to any training:
It is nice to feel that you work together with someone who really wants you to
succeed.
5) Do you use some other services related with coaching?
5) Do you use some other services related with coaching?
Right now I
don’t use any other services related with coaching. In parts of my career I
have used different services from Olympiatoppen – e.g. I had a mental coach
there for several years. However especially after becoming a mother I don’t
like spending time on too many different things. When you are an experienced
athlete, perhaps the most demanding thing is to take care of your body to avoid
injuries, and this is the reason I spend quite a lot of time at Olympiatoppen
anyway for physiotherapy and massage.
6) What is financing source of personal coaching?
Previous years
personal coaching was a part of National team coach duty. During 2013 I
decided for the first time not to use the National team coach as my
personal coach, since I already had such a good cooperation with Frode. I
am afraid he has not received anything for that. However he should be a
very proud personal coach of all the three girls representing Norway on
the WOC 2013 golden relay team!
Many thanks for interesting story!
Photos are from opn.no and www.orientering.no
P.S. Additional info about title photo from Anne Margrethe: "I was 33 weeks pregnant then. But had a nice evening running Norgescup night orienteering"
Русский перевод интервью звезд отечественного и зарубежного спорта будет публиковаться в течение октября.
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