Alasdair Donaldson is an endurance coach with UK Athletics based in Loughborough. Having been involved in a variety of sports in his formative years it was athletics and rugby which really grabbed his attention through secondary school.
On leaving school he had a tough choice to make and chose to follow his passion for athletics, where he developed through British Age Group teams to full international recognition over 800m and now has over 25 years of experience in the sport.
His professional working life has seen him teach at Loughborough University, Loughborough College and Glen Parva Young Offenders Institute.
From teaching he moved into the sports development world, working specifically as Athletics Development Manager for the Tayside & Fife region in Scotland. After four very successful years in the role, participation in schools programmes saw large increases while the number of athletes and coaches working within the clubs also rose.
Alasdair was then fortunate enough to be able to follow his passion for athletics, and coaching in particular, in a full time position, having previously coached as a volunteer. He moved back to Loughborough in early 2010 where he has worked alongside many of the country’s leading coaches and athletes as the country geared up for the 2012 Olympics.
At the SMART Way Forward CPD Business and Coaching Conference 2013 (Midlands/North), Alasdair Donaldson will be delivering the following Sports Coaching Workshop:
11.15am – 12.15pm
How to develop mental toughness during training and competition
As well as being very talented, successful sportsmen and women tend to be fitter, faster and stronger than the average person. Not only that, they also have total commitment to their sport, positive attitude, complete focus and an uncompromised determination to succeed. So how to they develop this?
Elite level athletes and international sports men and women understand that they need to push themselves to the absolute limit, whilst keeping full control of their senses and emotions, if they are to perform at then highest level.
Having the mindset that ‘pain is temporary – success is forever’ is an attitude only few people can comprehend. ‘Want’ is everything – so how to you train the body and mind to work in unison to achieve this?
It is not all down to the individual athlete or player. There is usually a team of sports psychologists, mentors, medical teams, physios, coaches, managers and performance directors who help deliver the end result.
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