Month: November 2024

  • Session plans — front-foot defensive, how and why (no, really!)

    This week’s theme was “batting (coach’s choice)”. We do lots of hitting and running activities, so, half in jest, I suggested I could run a session on the front-foot defensive.

    But from that jest arose an actual session, presented here as delivered to a group of yr2s (under 7s) (minus references to sharks & islands).

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  • The Book of Pace — mini review

    The Book of Pace — mini review

    In spite of its title, and the striking cricket ball seam graphic on the cover, The Book of Pace by Shahbaz Choudhry from The Pace Journal isn’t really a book about fast bowling.

    It is a story of personal discovery, of failures and successes, of a striving to achieve. A cautionary tale, in many ways.

    And all the better for not being another technically prescriptive “this is how to do it” guide to bowling faster.

    It is so much more than that!

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  • Watching live football!

    Watching live football!

    At the weekend, I watched London Seaward FC play Hackney Women’s FC in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.

    A proper cup tie — skill, energy, drama. Hackney came back strongly in the second half, after their keeper was sent off, but the extra player counted in the end as Seaward ran out 3-1 winners.

    Although my football coaching badge lapsed 7 years ago, I couldn’t help watching the patterns of play. And wondering what Seaward’s coaches (and data analyst) might have made of the game.

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