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 National Performance Institute Coach for the Throws with British Athletics as well as the Lead Throws Coach at Loughorough University. Previously I was the National Coach Mentor for the Javelin Throw (April 2012 - December 2016) and I have been heavily involved in the development of the Coach Education material for the Javelin Throw for the Governing Bodies. I previously worked for the English Institute of Sport as a Senior Strength & Conditioning Coach (2006-2013), 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 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