I was delighted to read recent a post from sports psychologist Dan Abrahams outlining exactly how all sportsmen (and their coaches) need to set out to “profile the next level” of performance.
I have written previously about my coaching “philosophy” – slightly glib, perhaps, but I do believe that the aim of all coaching has to be to help the players to “get better”.
But what is “better”? And how do we get there? (more…)
A thought-provoking post this week from David Hinchliffe at PitchVision Academy (@PitchVisionAcad), on the loss of young players from the game, and ways to keep them engaged and coming back for more.
Over-reliance on net practice, especially for younger players, has been highlighted by some of David’s readers as a contributing factor. As I explain to the players I coach – in a typical net evening, you might spend 10 minutes batting (if you are lucky), 10 minutes actually bowling, and the rest of the time watching the others bat and bowl. Not much fun, really! And no wonder concentration levels flag towards the end of the evening.
There has to be a better way. And there is.
Last week I was asked to run a one-to-one coaching session with an experienced seam bowler who wanted to learn how to bowl finger spin.
The player was already a competent bowler, so I had no issues with his basic action. But he had no real idea of how to bowl spin.
So I had 55 minutes to introduce the basic techniques of finger spin, to help the bowler to understand what was involved in delivering the ball with high revs (no point aspiring to be a “roller”, I thought), and to leave him with enough insight into the finer arts to be able to coach himself over the next few weeks.
I had to concentrate on no more than two or three key points of technique, then allow the player the chance to experience the act of spin bowling.
But how to resolve the mechanics of finger spin bowling into a coaching session that lasts just 55 minutes? (more…)
The Teesra 