The Teesra

Category: player development

technical, tactical, physical

  • Bring the ropes in…a conversation with @ballsrightsreas

    Interesting conversation with Dave C, aka @ballsrightareas, on setting boundaries for junior cricket.

    Should we bring the ropes in, to encourage batters to (try to) hit boundaries?

    But risk having games dominated by batters mis-hitting 6s?

    Or set the line back, and reward the strokeplayers who can exploit the wide open spaces?

    But see games dragged out as young fielders trudge after the ball as it pulls up short of a full-size boundary?

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  • CPD review – 18 months on

    Back in the autumn of 2014 I attended a series of CPD workshops, delivered by Dan Feist (Essex CB) and Richard Hall (then with Surrey CB) – ECB Coaching Children, for level 2 coaches.

    Still waiting for the “Diploma” schedule – the opportunity to convert the workshops into a recognised coaching qualification – but the workshops were certainly interesting & thought-provoking.

    As with any CPD, however, attending the course is one thing, but what really matters is post-training “D” – was there actually any Development in coaching practice?  How much of the workshop content have I actually managed to put into practice?

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  • Beware – too much input!

    There have been several interesting conversations recently on the coach’s use of silence – keeping quiet, and allowing the “game to teach the game”, and refraining from constant interruption and instruction.

    In particular, I enjoyed a post from ImSporticus – The Way of the Silent Coach.

    An ideal, perhaps, and certainly applicable to matchplay.  I think I would struggle to maintain the silence through a practice session, however.

    I might adopt two minimalist, almost value-neutral interventions, ascribed to Ric Charlesworth, on watching a “trial-and-error” session:

    • “fair enough” (“you tried, it didn’t work out this time”)
    • “good” (as in “you have demonstrated the desired outcome”)

    That’s all.  Leave the player to get on with the game.

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