Within the quest for worldwide medals, the British No.1 shot putter is now coaching in Australia below a brand new coach
“What am I going to do all day?” thought Scott Lincoln. The 19-time nationwide champion had completed coaching for the day. His chores had been finished, his luggage had been packed and his flight from Australia again to the UK for the British Championships wasn’t till later that night. “It was bizarre,” he says. “I felt actually stress-free and I wasn’t used to that.”
Lincoln moved to Australia in November 2024 after a formidable season – which included a 21.31m private finest and fourth place on the European Athletics Championships in Rome – was clouded by a disappointing Olympic Video games in Paris.
“Issues had been working to some extent, however I assume I needed extra,” admits the 31-year-old. “It was no person’s fault apart from my very own [in Paris]. It was a foul day on the workplace and I couldn’t actually put my finger on what it was, however I used to be simply sick of going to main championships and never qualifying for finals. I used to be just a bit bit fed up and I fancied a change.”
Now coached by London 2012 Olympian Dale Stevenson – the Australian who guided New Zealand’s Tom Walsh to a few world shot put titles, two Olympic bronze medals and Commonwealth gold – Lincoln has joined a gifted group of athletes together with Matt Denny (Olympic discus bronze medallist) and Jacko Gill (Commonwealth shot put silver medallist).
Curiously, he has lower down on coaching since transferring to Australia. “Dale is massive on minimal efficient dosages,” he says. “Being recent for each session is extra necessary than flogging your self within the health club each day, particularly at my coaching age.”
Elevated relaxation days have opened up alternatives for brand new adventures, in addition to creating better capability for all times admin. Having his luggage packed upfront of a visit was no coincidence; Lincoln is now extra organised with a much less cluttered thoughts.
Scott Lincoln (Getty)
“He’s extra about the entire course of than the specifics, so it’s fairly refreshing,” says Lincoln, who gained Commonwealth Video games bronze in 2022. He recollects being questioned by his coach on arrival: “He made me do a few standing throws and he was simply asking questions, like, ‘Do you’re feeling such as you’re placing them nicely?’ and I used to be like, ‘Yeah, I’m’, and he mentioned, ‘Fascinating, you’re not hitting them in any respect.’
“It’s been a bizarre one as a result of it doesn’t really feel like lots has modified since then, however after I look again and examine now to then, my method has improved lots. I’m nowhere close to the place I needs to be, for my part, however I’ve by no means been ready the place I’m throwing additional in coaching than I’m in competitors – it’s normally the opposite means round – so I do know for a undeniable fact that there’s much more in me.”
Scott Lincoln (Mark Shearman)
Lincoln’s evaluate of the season to date is a measure of how far he has come. He competed on the UK Indoor Championships inside 48 hours of a long-haul flight and though he didn’t really feel he related with any of his efforts, he threw a better of 20.86m, a distance he admits he’d have been pleased with 12 months in the past.
He certified with ease for the European Indoor Championships ultimate, ending simply exterior the medals with 20.73m, and though dissatisfied together with his efficiency on the World Indoors, it introduced one other main championship expertise.
September’s out of doors World Championships presents one other alternative to combine it up on the enterprise finish of a serious competitors. The qualifying normal is 21.50m, not far off Lincoln’s present finest. He’s wanting past that, although, and desires to be the primary British athlete to throw in extra of twenty-two metres.
“We talk about permitting me to be open sufficient to win medals,” he says. “When you throw 22.00m/22.50m at a serious then you definitely’re knocking on that door. That’s the place we wish to be, preventing with the highest three or 4 on this planet. That’s the purpose for the season.”
Scott Lincoln (Getty)
Typical coaching routine
Lincoln trains in a two-week cycle alternating in the future on, in the future off. Every day features a throwing session adopted by a lifting session within the health club, with the afternoon off.
The health club session will normally embody between six to eight lifts, a few of them particular, a few of them Olympic lifts, plus extra sprinting and plyometric work.
“It’s very completely different, however I’ve embraced it,” he says. “Bodily I’m in nice form within the health club – all of my health club numbers have gone by means of the roof – however I’m simply making an attempt to copy the kind of throw I do in coaching in a high-pressure scenario similar to an enormous competitors, so it’s simply figuring all of that out in the mean time and being fearless.”
Lincoln is throwing extra in Australia than he did within the UK, however a key distinction is an everyday change in implement weight versus working with a set weight for an extended interval (e.g. 6-8 weeks).
“I’ve gone from each throw being for distance and excessive in pressure to possibly one intense session in each 4 classes,” he says. “We additionally change weight usually – up as excessive as 8kg and down as little as 6.5kg – so some classes I’ll do two completely different weights alternatively. I’ll throw a 7.26kg then a 6.5kg, or a 7.5kg and right down to a 6.5kg, it varies [based on targeted speed or technical changes] and I don’t query it, I simply belief the method.
“I’ve additionally been coaching a bit extra main into competitions. Normally, I’d have a number of days of relaxation and drop the weights proper down, whereas now I’m coaching even up till the day earlier than the competitors, in order that’s new and fairly thrilling too.
“In the meanwhile Dale can also be difficult me in methods to make me really feel a bit extra snug in uncomfortable conditions. He’s making me accountable for all of my actions in order that after I do get to a championships, I do know what I’m doing, and I’ve bought the boldness behind me.”
Favorite session: “I really like intense throwing classes. I don’t have a particular favorite, however you’ll find cracks in your method by including depth. That’s what I’m discovering in competitions in excessive stress environments – you change into tense and also you’ve bought to attempt to see previous that to allow you to throw far, so it’s an enormous studying curve.”
Least favorite session: “I’ve been having fun with every thing, however possibly that’s simply because it’s all recent proper now!”