The Teesra

Month: November 2013

  • “The Horror Movie” Net Coaching Method

    David Hinchliffe started a LinkedIn discussion on what he calls “horror movie” net coaching.

    …watch your players [in the nets] closely…say little but…log the information as you go…

    Then, after the quiet, you pounce on your victim and give the key feedback after he or she has batted.

    I have just recently started winter nets with our club 1st XI, and have adopted a similar method (saying little/nothing when a batter is in the nets, but saving any comments until after the session), with the addition of a camera to capture video.

    Given my rather shaky camera technique, perhaps I should call this the “Blair Witch Project” net coaching method… (more…)

  • What makes a good coach?

    I wrote recently about the importance of communication in coaching.

    I don’t think this point can be over-emphasised – communication is absolutely key.  A coach could be knowledgeable, perceptive, empathetic, and enthusiastic, but if he can’t communicate all of these qualities he might just as well stand at the back of the net with his iPhone!

    But clearly there is more to coaching than putting across the right message, at the right time.

    So – what makes a good a coach?

    (more…)

  • The quest for physical literacy – why it matters for cricket coaches

    This autumn we are very lucky to have a full team of qualified coaches working with our Colts section.  Not only does this mean that the volunteer coaches get the chance to work with more experienced coaches, it also means that we have the luxury of occasionally taking a step back from running a session to actively observe what is going in.

    And some of the things we have seen, even in the warm-ups, have confirmed a growing suspicion about the fundamental athletic abilities, such as speed, strength and agility, demonstrated by our players.

    We are working with a group of talented young cricketers who are not always equally talented athletes.

    But a series of observations that confirm a suspicion only poses the question – what can we, as cricket coaches, do to help our cricketers to become (better) athletes at the same time as developing their technical, tactical and psychological cricketing skills?  We are cricket coaches, not track and field, or gymnastics.

    So I was very lucky to attend a breakfast workshop recently with Kelvin Giles, where he addressed the topic of physical literacy.  And the more I heard, the more I became convinced that basic physical literacy could be the answer to our (cricket-related) athlete development challenge.

    (more…)