Pickering moved to Cardiff to become national athletics coach for Wales from 1961 to 1966. Pickering was a coach with the British team at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and with the Welsh team at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Jamaica. He coached several Olympic athletes, including Lynn Davies, who won gold medals in the long jump at the 1964 Olympics, the 1966 European Athletics Championships and the 1966 Commonwealth Games, and also represented Britain in the 4 × 100 metres relay in Tokyo.