I have just returned from a stint in the Commonwealth Collective, volunteering to support the Commonwealth Games Lawn Bowls & Para Lawn Bowls.
My role was in “athlete services”, so, as a coach, I had the chance to observe how top-class sportsmen and women and their coaches prepared before matches.
(more…)I have had an odd experience, recently.
Coaching a very competent cricketer, finessing his bat path for an on-drive. And somehow, the work with my client seems to have transferred (positively) to my own batting technique.
Can coaching someone else improve the coach’s own playing technique? Is “subliminal skill acquisition” a thing?
(more…)This post relates to the National Programmes prior to 2022. Changes to the training programmes for Activators in 2023 and 2024 have rather changed my opinion.
In a recent post I mentioned how, in my opinion, the ECB’s National Programmes have more to say about learning to play (by playing “games” to learn; repetition without repetition) and player behaviours (the multi-ability model, developed in collaboration with Create Development) than the mainstream coaching programmes.
I ran All Stars sessions for three years, pre-lockdown, and have delivered training for National Programmes Activators for a couple of years, now, and the more I see the more I am convinced by the underlying pedagogy and philosophy of the National Programmes.
Pedagogy — the method and practice of teaching
Philosophy — a theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for behaviour
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The Teesra 