Online coach development — more than just “telling”, surely?

A Twitter contact (X contact?) posted this the other day.

Anything that increases time spent playing at the expense of deconstructed “skill drills” is going to find favour with an advocate for the ecological dynamics and a constraints-led approach (like me!).

So I’d buy into this as an underlying coaching philosophy, although the numbers look low, too me. Only 50% “play” for young players — so the rest is still chores?. And just 40% “…highly random and game-based…”?

But there’s surely a problem with “broadcast coach development”.

Simply posting this, somewhere on the increasingly labyrinthine icoachcricket.co.uk (now “…identified by X or our partners as being potentially harmful”!), won’t convince many “traditional” coaches that there really is a better way than reliance on repetitive drills and direct instruction.

A potentially challenging approach (challenging to the “traditional” skills & drills coach) needs to be actively promoted and demonstrated by Coach Development, through multiple, face-to-face channels, and for all coaches, not just those aspiring to “develop potential international batters”.

It’s the old “I’ve taught them, but they just haven’t learnt, yet” line — the coach developer (or coach) has to do so much more than just present an idea and assume it has been understood.

Rather like the claims that ECBCA “advocates” the use of a constraints-led approach by coaches, after hosting a couple of conference presentations from Ian Renshaw and an online session with Danny Newcombe.

Inspirational speakers, both, but how many coaches were present? How many have actively taken to heart the ecological dynamics/non-linear pedagogy/constraints-led approach (CLA)? Is it taught on Foundation or Core courses? On the Advanced coach course? Is it discussed on message boards, or at County CA meetings?

You can guess the answers.

Ecological Dynamics, non-linear pedagogy, and CLA are, perhaps ironically, central to the philosophy underlying delivery in the “entry level” National Programmes Activator training.

There has to be more to coach development than posting an inspirational video, just as there really must be far more to coaching than demonstration & instruction.