Verve of the ancient mariner

THE surname is memorable enough, but no one at the National Coaching Foundation could place it. "Jim Who?" As a self-confessed adherent of the Groucho Marx school of clubability, Jim Saltonstall was not in the least perturbed by the lack of recognition. He has his kingdom and his MBE; he has the Princess Royal as his patron, "the boss" as he calls her, the Queen as an inspiration and a rollcall of success which, in most other sports, would make him a household name.

Since becoming the Senior National Racing Coach at the Royal Yachting Association 21 years ago, the east coast Yorkshireman has produced over 30 world champions, 20 European champions and two Olympic silver medallists. Ninety-five per cent of the last Olympic team had graduated from the youth programme run with deck-swabbing discipline by the former captain of the Royal Navy's dinghy team. By 2004, it will be 100 per cent. Asked recently about Saltonstall's influence, Ben Ainslie, the world champion, just shook his head and muttered one word, "Legend".

You could feel what he meant by the handshake and the gaze, both unnervingly firm. An introduction for a group of tender 15-year-olds, starting their first weekend with the national youth squad, can be equally crushing. Briefing, 9am sharp. "I walk in and the first thing I say is 'stand up'. They do so, very slowly. Then I say 'siddown'. Then I say, 'If you want to be in the National Youth Squad for 1999, I expect the speed of reaction between the port and starboard earlobe to be a damned sight faster than that.' Then I say 'stand up' again and they shoot up like missiles. That sets the tone. It's a culture shock." Like the 6.30 wake-up call for a spot of PT. Saltonstall still calls it PT, one of several legacies from 15 years in the RN. But then he calls his squad "ferrets", not a strictly nautical term. "They're fast and intelligent, which is what these kids are," he explains.

The modern coaching manuals do not have much room for ferrets or for Saltonstall's unselfconsciously tough philosophy. Early criticism has long since been submerged by results. Sailing now boasts one of the most efficient talent-development systems in British sport. Their reward has been a place high on the list of elite performance sports selected for increased funding by the Sports Council and by a handsome new sponsorship with Volvo, who are backing national, regional and club programmes.

Sailing, a cinderella sport weaned on glorious amateurism, can hardly believe its luck. "One of the best moments at the Olympics," Saltonstall said, "was when the chairman of the British Olympic Association took the whole team out to dinner and at the end put his plastic card down on the table and said, 'Well done, you guys, you're doing great.'"

Much of the responsibility for the change in fortune lies with Saltonstall, who spent his first five years battling crustacean attitudes and the next 16 laying the foundations for a rich production line of racing talent. Despite the growing intensity of competition, Britain have won gold in the last six world youth championships and the team prize in 1995 and 1996. This year's championships start in Cape Town just after Christmas and, once again, Saltonstall's eight-strong team of ferrets will be drilled to hunt for medals.

"It took a long time to persuade people that what we were doing was right. 'Race training? Why do we need that?' they said. I was accused of being a fitness freak and being too strict, but to be a champion you do need to have discipline and you do need to be bloody fit. You're either committed to it or you're not. It's important to instil that very early."

"We work hard and we play hard, but they know where the goalposts are and that if they stray on the wrong side, they are on dodgy ground. My idea of crossing the line is landing in gaol or hospital. If that happens, I've lost my job." The drop-out rate is surprisingly low. Only four have been expelled in 21 years.

A former European champion, four times national champion and a member of the 1976 Olympic squad, Saltonstall has an RYA sailing coaches certificate from the mid-Seventies, but is otherwise self-taught. Fancy courses are not for him. "Knowledge, experience, dedication, commitment, motivation, those are the qualities which make a good coach. Shutting up at the right time, walking away when it's right to walk away, diving in when it's right to dive in. My own motivation comes from seeing them stand on the rostrum and get the medals put round their necks. Doing their bit for GBR." True patriot games. "The Queen and the Princess Royal pay me to produce medals in their sport and that's what I try to do to 101 per cent of my ability. If I fail, they can sack me." Even royalty might lack the nerve.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD COACH? FIVE LEADERS IN THEIR FIELDS GIVE THEIR VIEWS

MIKE SMITH

Athletics

Smith's coaching record was recognised last month when the British Athletics Writers' Association presented him with the Ron Pickering Memorial Award for services to athletics. The former schoolteacher has unearthed and nurtured a remarkable crop of world-class 400m runners in his 40 years as a coach based in Southampton - Iwan Thomas, Donna Murray, Todd Bennett, Kriss Akabusi, Roger Black and Paul Harmsworth.

"I'm more of a pragmatist than a theorist. In a sense I'm a hard taskmaster, but a coach has to recognise when someone has reached their limit, when they really can't do any more. You have to know when to stop pushing. You therefore have to know the athlete. I first got to know Iwan in 1993. One of the lads in the group who was at college in London told me someone called Iwan Thomas wanted to see me. I said he was quite welcome if he was prepared to travel down from London. He was a bit of a boyo, very much the student. Sometimes he would get down to train. Sometimes he would not. You could have written a book on the excuses he had. Iwan doesn't need people telling him: 'You're wonderful'. He needs people saying to him:'You have done the work. You have the talent'."

NEIL ADAMS

Judo

Twice a world middleweight champion, Adams also won two Olympic silver medals in the early 1980s. He began coaching at national junior level and is now a member of the support team for the British Judo Association's technical director Udo Qualmalz. He runs his own health and fitness centre in Coventry and 12 of his pupils are competing today at the British championships in Cardiff.

"I'm a great believer in systems. All the strong judo nations - the eastern European countries, Germany, France and Japan - have excellent systems and it's that which makes the difference between success or failure. We didn't have a solid system in place before the last Olympics because our players weren't properly focused - they had to take part in a qualifying tournament and weren't together as a team - and we ended up without any medals. It's difficult for an outstanding competitor to become a good coach straight after retiring because experience is so important. But judo requires technique and strength and it does help to have competed at a high level. It's also imperative to have well-developed man management skills - the relationship between coach and competitor is about as close as you can get because you're in control of their destiny."

PETER COWEN

Golf

A former European tour golfer, Cowen became club professional at Dore & Totley near Sheffield in 1981 and eight years later moved to Lindrick which he left only a few months ago. In recent years he has specialised in teaching tour pros, and his current proteges include the Ryder Cup duo Lee Westwood, and Europe's No 2 Darren Clarke.

"Even when I was on tour, I was always interested in technique but I realised early on that different people learn in different ways - some do it by reading, some by watching and some by feel. I've been teaching good players for 10 years but I only got together with Lee and Darren in 1996. The key is to make them understand very clearly what they're trying to do. That means when they do their homework after the lesson, they know what they're working on. My approach is based on the laws of physics and aims to create a swing which won't break down under pressure. It's important to get the simple things right before you can even think of taking things further. There are no short-cuts because I've been down all the blind alleys. I'm a great believer in having the right management team behind a player - financial, caddie and coach. It certainly works for Lee and Darren."

IAN McGEECHAN

Rugby union

After winning 32 caps for Scotland and eight for the Lions, McGeechan became player-coach at Headingley in 1980. He soon joined the Scottish coaching team and took over the reins in 1988. Apart from his five years as national coach, he was also in charge of the Lions squads in 1989, 1993 and 1997. Since 1994, he has coached at Northampton in Allied Dunbar Premiership One.

"One of the attractions of coaching is that players and teams are constantly evolving. You're trying to find techniques and methods which take the game forward and can give you an advantage over your opponents. No two coaches do things exactly the same way even though some principles apply to everybody. I benefited from not going through the standard 10-year induction process as a coach - I was plucked straight from the playing side of the game and it meant that current tactics and techniques were fresh in my mind. The most important thing is that the players believe in you and feel you're taking them to where they need to go - you've got to give them direction and they must have confidence in you. However, if you're at the very top of the game you also need to be innovative and that doesn't come from coaching manuals or courses."

PETER KEEN

Cycling

Keen has coached Chris Boardman to Olympic gold and two world hour records. He was a lecturer at the Chichester Institute and Brighton University before taking up his new post as elite performance director at the British Cycling Federation.

"You have to be prepared to innovate and experiment and to realise there is no text-book. A coach must communicate flexibly with different individuals, understand the way people work, adapting his own style to a team or an individual. Like the athlete, you have to be prepared to live comfortably on the cutting edge and to develop trust. I've never had a problem with motivation because I've tended to work with people who want to be champions, but it's important to keep programmes varied and interesting. A coach deals with a lot of uncertainty, not only about his own methods, but in his own contribution to an athlete's success. How much was I responsible for that performance? It's hard to say. Most great coaches were detailed thinkers and good listeners. You have to hear what the athlete tells you and then be honest about your own assessment. It is very taxing, but we are getting recognition. Slowly."