I have been involved in the Javelin Throw for over 25 years and have a broad range of knowledge and experiences relating to the event. My father Phil discovered I had a natural affinity with throwing and after a year of throwing introduced me to Wilf Paish and later John Trower which led to a very successful throwing career as a young athlete. I won the English Schools Championships and the AAAs U20 title 4 years in succession as well as breaking the UK U17 record in 1996 which stood at 73.56m before finally being broken in 2014. I also went on to win the World Junior Championship in 1998 and gained further success in 1999 winning silver in the European Junior Champs finishing my junior career with a throw of 77.48m; a throw bettered only by our greatest ever male Javelin Thrower Steve Backley. The high point of my senior career came in 2006 when I represented England at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

I have since gone on to focus on my coaching career and currently coach out of Loughborough University.

I graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Mathematics with Management in 2003 and in 2005 with an MSc in Sports Biomechanics. As part of my dissertation, I looked into the how changes in momentum (impulse) during the "run-off" phase of the throw influence the ground reaction forces exerted on the plant leg during the throw. The findings from this still influence my coaching to this day.

I am currently the joint National Coach Mentor for the Javelin Throw with England Athletics and I also work for British Athletics as the National Performance Institute Coach for Throws. I am also the Lead Throws Coach at Loughorough University. I support England Athletics as well as the other Home Nations with various coach education workshops and have been heavily involved in the development of the Coach Education material for the Javelin Throw for UKA. I previously worked for the English Institute of Sport as a Senior Strength & Conditioning Coach, leading the Physical Preparation of GB Diving into the London Olympic Games and I am an active Tutor and Assessor for the United Kingdom Strength & Conditioning Association (UKSCA).

If you are a coach and wish to contact me regarding coach development/ mentoring opportunities, or indeed if you are without a coach and are looking for support then please email me via D.P.L.Parker@lboro.ac.uk. In collaboration with England Athletics and British Athletics, we run Master Class sessions with World Leading experts in the throwing field, as well as Training Camps and Workshops. Details can be found on Facebook