As with Question 1, the coach is the best judge of appropriate training strategies. When people think about strength training they usually think about big hulks of muscle like Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, strength training is not just throwing huge stacks of weights around. Strength training is unsuitable for females. Strength training should not be started until late teens.
Strength training decreases flexibility.
Strength training slows you down. Clearly these myths are not founded in any scientific truth or logic. Strength training is a great supplement to specific sports training and used in addition to a sound, well-structured training program can help athletes achieve their best. This question comes up over and over again wherever I go. There are several good books on this subject and I will not attempt to write a long article on nutrition when outstanding authors like Louise Burke, Nancy Clarke, and Karen Inge have well and truly covered this in their own writings.