Sledging – the missing component from the coaches’ tool kit?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I sometimes used “sledging” as a coaching tool.

This is something I picked up working with an experienced Aussie coach – that the coach can sometimes use a little psychological pressure to focus the player on the challenge at hand.

“Can you hit this one?  I don’t think you can.”

Not because the player will “just have to get used to sledging” when she starts playing.  Not abuse, not questioning the player’s parentage (I work with young players – Mum or Dad will be standing next to the net!), certainly not banal “banter“…but I will tell a batter that I think I have spotted a weakness, and that I am going to put his technique to the test.

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5 responses to “Sledging – the missing component from the coaches’ tool kit?”

  1. Q: What is “better coaching? A: It has to be more than new drills & games, more than techniques & affordances. – The Teesra Avatar

    […] Approach has a lot going for it, IMO…but I have also been known to deploy the occasional sledge from the platform of a bowling […]

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  2. Good session…so what was going on? – The Teesra Avatar

    […] facing 4 overs from a pair of (challenging) opening bowlers (from the BOLA, but  with “sledging” from the coach): first play yourself in but always be looking to take singles (make the […]

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  3. A Constraint-Led Approach – a new addition to the coaching toolkit? – The Teesra Avatar

    […] This sounds like a simple enough coaching methodology (simple to describe, not so simple to put into practice!) that can be readily adopted into my coaching kitbag, alongside the (now old-school) ECB bugs and (post-2012) coaching tools..and sledging! […]

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  4. Grooving that stroke…does music help? – The Teesra Avatar

    […] My own choice of tracks probably would not be all that conducive to any type of constructive practice…although more than one of my favourites might come close to my proposed new component for the coaching kit bag, sledging! […]

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