Team USA Mobile Coach App
As a member of Team USA, the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) has launched the Team USA Mobile Coach App. It is available at the App Store and the Google Play Store. It is free to USABA members. The app can be downloaded to your desktop and launched to your mobile device. The app includes handouts, tips, and resources for coaching, nutrition, psychology, strength and conditioning, and technology.
It is easy to use and offers many resources to a coach on the go. Click the US Olympic Resources icon at the top of your screen and select the USABA icon. Next, click "Categories" located on the top right-hand corner of the screen. You will see USABA specific coach resources, drill resources, game resources, skills resources, and other specific USABA resources.
Go back to USABA icon on the top center of your screen and press once. Select your sport of choice from the drop-down menu. For this article, we selected USABA Rowing. Next, click "Categories" located on the top right-hand corner of the screen. The coaching resources for USABA Rowing include rowing techniques, adaptive coaching considerations, adaptive resources, adaptive equipment, and videos. We selected adaptive equipment and were shown a long list of choices including, but not limited to adaptive boats (recreational and racing), pontoons, adaptive ors, and ergo meter adaptations for visual impairment. Under the Rules and Regulations Category, we found the FISA rowing classification groups, FISA classification documents, and the adaptive rowing guidelines.
We also visited Goalball to check out some drill resources. Below is a sample of a drill as it is presented on the Team USA Mobile Coach App.
Title: Defensive Form
Skill Objective: Learning examples of good defensive form and understanding how good defensive form can improve game outcomes
Scale Description: This video shows different players diving into defensive form. A player will set up on the balls of his [feet], and dive out into a position where he is lying on his side with his arms extended outward, parallel to his body. He will also make sure that his legs and feet are kept together. At the end of the video, you see a player holding proper defensive form. Notice how the player is keeping his face/head protected by turning it away from the ball and using the shoulder of his top arm to hide his face behind.
Press the icon of a camera to see the video. Click pushpin if you wish to access this information when off-line.
Once you have established your own set of resources, drills selected for your specific athlete (or yourself), and learned about the sport specific adaptive equipment, share them via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter.
To learn more about and to download Team USA Mobile Coach go to http://mobilecoach.teamusa.org/nsm-usoc-web/USOC/.
