57 Can you think of examples of health conditions which must be taken into account by a coach when planning a session? Coaches should also consider possible disabilities of their athletes and use equipment to help the athlete compensate their impairment. For example, a short-sighted athlete may benefit from brightcoloured or oversized equipment. PLANNING A COACHING SESSION Planning a session on the participants features When coaches plan a session, the first thing they do is consider the participants characteristics and needs in order to target it in the most appropriate way. The following are some of the participants features to be taken into account by coaches when planning a sports session. The participants objectives: coaching sessions should be based on the participants goals, for example, developing a specific skill. Age and gender: in order to motivate participants, coaches should plan different activities according to their age and gender. For example, short, fun activities, and games will help children develop physical skills in an enjoyable way; group activities are usually preferred by women over individual ones, usually preferred by men. Fitness, skill levels, and health conditions: even though they have to prove challenging for the participants to help them reach a higher fitness level, coaching sessions should not be too difficult in order to avoid demotivation. For the same reason, sessions should consider the skill levels and health conditions of participants in order to avoid being too difficult for beginners and too easy for experienced athletes. How to structure a coaching session The planning of a coaching session must be done considering a number of factors. 114 PHYSICAL EDUCATION First of all, it must include a good balance among moments of: instruction, when the coach tells participants which activities they are going to do and why; activity, when participants carry out active performances; discussion about, for example, the benefits of the session. Secondly, a coach should be able to programme the correct length and intensity of the session. Each activity within the session should be correctly timed, allowing the athletes to improve their performances but avoiding them getting bored or too tired. The intensity of the session should be regulated so that the athletes may feel they are working hard without the risk of injuries due to an excess of work. Finally, a coach should be ready to try different methods to improve the athletes performances combining them with praise or positive feedback to increase self-confidence and motivation. impairment: deficit, disabilit praise: lode to prove: dimostrarsi to time: cronometrare