Page 2 - link magazine

2 swindonlink.com • May 2011
Swindon can be put on the sports map with help from top coach

One of Britain’s top sports per- In the early known since their
formance coaches lives in Swin- 1990s Mark started days as Army physi-
don, an MBE no less, yet hardly to research and cal instructors.
anybody here knows about him develop new ways Mark’s skills are
- until now. of increasing the now focussed on
The reason is that Mark Bennett, motivation, confi- Swindon by team-
who invented Performance De- dence and physi- ing up with Man-
velopment Systems (PDS), is very cal robustness of jit Singh Dol from
much a behind the scenes person, soldiers. He turned Oakhurst, who
working with coaches and trainers down promotion opened the Abso-
in different sports to bring out the and the opportu- lutely Fit Appear-
best in their players. This means nity of a commis- ance & Performance
he travels all over the country to sion to leave the Studio in Kembrey
centres of excellence such as the Army and pursue Park in March.
National Golf Centre in Woodhall his desire to maxi- He said, “we got
Spa where England PGA golf mise performance talking about physi-
coaches take the PDS course. In the across different cal fitness, body
Autumn, he worked with England sports and in other appearance and
rugby coaches to turn a loss against fields. In 2006 Mark performance about
New Zealand into a record win had the honour of two years ago and
against Australia. being awarded the it seemed the next
Mark working with Manjit, using a unique 3D trainer designed by Mark where
“I’ve always been passionate MBE for the results step was to work
about bringing the best out of in- of his systems. the user is attached by cables to three stacks of weights to train specific areas with a select group
and to rehabilitate injured muscles.
dividuals and teams,” said Mark, “PDS empow- of high quality per-
who was one of the senior physical ers individuals and teams to take their own health, appearance and sonal trainers to become PDS quali-
training instructors in the Army and responsibility for their training performance for life. fied coaches offering a higher level
ran the ultra-tough Commando and performance, it instils confi- “At the elite level, it’s the finest of training to all abilities.
Training Wing in Plymouth. “We dence in their ability to gain the of judgements on the playing field “As well as continuing to visit
were extremely good at training knowledge and skills to do better which determine success or failure, sites all over the country, top
the really motivated people, but it by making the right choices under so a coach has to have the soft coaches are now coming to work
became clear to me that the train- varied pressures,” said Mark. skills to ensure his or her players with me in Swindon. I’m also in-
ing methods were not suited to the “The key difference is, instead of can make the right choices in both terested in passing on many of the
soldiers who started to struggle and teaching people what to do, the training and competition.” skills and techniques I have learnt
didn’t have the mental toughness focus is on them learning what to At a personal level Mark works to local sports teams and schools.”
or skills to withstand the pressures do in given circumstances, so that closely with Olympic champion Read the full interview with Mark
they were under.” the performer takes ownership of Dame Kelly Holmes who he has at www.swindonlink.com

1-20 May 11.indd 2 14/04/2011 15:13