The Teesra

Month: October 2022

  • NLP, ED, CLA — coach’s glossary

    I have written previously about my conversion to non-linear pedagogy (NLP) and a constraints-led approach (CLA) to skill development. I believe it works, and, for me, CLA simply feels more honest (and interesting) than the “coach as instructor/guru” approach — “do it this way because I say so” or “…because that’s they way we have always done it”.

    But there is a lot of jargon used to describe the NLP, CLA, and related concepts, which can obscure the simplicity of the approach.

    What follows is my attempt to translate some of the jargon into non-academic language. There will be oversimplification and error, I don’t doubt. But hopefully it will be of interest to a coach coming fresh to, CLA, NLP, ED etc.

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  • Using the bowling machine — what are we looking at?

    Using the bowling machine — what are we looking at?

    I spent a couple of hours on Saturday feeding a bowling machine for U13 trialists.† Some had clearly batted a lot against a bowling machine (some were simply more accomplished batters), but it was notable how some simply weren’t lining up the ball properly.

    It has been reported how the delivery method (bowling machine vs. throw down vs. live bowler) can influence how the batter plays, so performance against a bowling machine might not be indicative of how a batter will perform under match conditions.

    Which set me thinking about how a bowling machine could be made more “representative” of a live bowler.

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  • Making warm-ups more engaging, more fun, more relevant; introducing Zoom, Schwartz, Profigliano

    Fascinating thread from Philip O’Callaghan aka @Mr_Tennis_Coach on the importance of the warmup.

    If you use it right, the warm up is one of the most important parts of the session.

    But coaching courses do a terrible job showing you how to make the most of it.

    Philip O’Callaghan

    Philip’s thread provides some activities that go some way to achieving this aim, including a cricket example — the “batminton” game.

    I love the thinking behind this warm-up, but it might, perhaps, be a little too technical for a general warm-up, or to use with younger players.

    But the challenge, to achieve more in the warm-up than simply preparing the body to move, is valid.

    So what could we do?

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