Radiography of the athletics training modernisation in Romania

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to identify the opinions of Romanian athletics coaches about the training process and the use of modern technology during the pandemic. The study participants are 115 coaches aged 18-60, M = 42.15 (± 8.73 years), with a coaching experience between 1 and 38 years, M = 19.22 (± 7.89 years). Of these coaches, 70 are men and 45 are women, 80 train junior athletes and 35 train senior athletes. They responded to an online questionnaire that revealed that more than half of the participants (57%) did not use modern devices in their training lessons. However, the use of such equipment is positively associated with competition participation (p < 0.05), and this statement is statistically certified by the Pearson correlation (r = 0.57). The role of modern technology in winning medals at national and international athletics competitions is highlighted by significant differences between participants, in the sense that those who used modern applications in the training process won a larger number of medals (F = 2.73, p = 0.023). Even if the use of modern technology has an influence on athletic performance, there are few Romanian coaches who can afford to purchase smart devices. It follows that modernising the training process is extremely necessary for predicting long-term sports performance so that our athletes can compete and train on an equal basis with international athletes.