The Teesra

Category: session planning

  • After-school club — programme planning

    After-school club — programme planning

    I was booked to run an after-school club this half term — an hour per week, yrs 7&8.

    What follows is an outline of the programme and session plans, with an indication of the Objectives I was working towards.

    N.B. Most of the “planning” was actually done on-the-fly.

    I knew something of the School’s objectives in advance, and the session constraints we would be working to; I also knew what I wanted the players to experience, in terms of “skills” included, physical and psychological. But the actual “plan” came together on the way to the School each afternoon, and had to be flexible enough to be changed to accommodate e.g. fire alarms going off 5 minutes before the scheduled start time…

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  • Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction — 8.5 out of 10 ain’t bad

    I posted last year on my understanding of Barak Rosenshine’s concept of “learner rehearsal” and how it might be applied in coaching.

    Rehearsal is a key concept in Rosenshine’s 10 Principles of Instruction, developed in the context of teaching in the classroom. Leaving aside, for now, the question of whether coaching for (sports or movement) skill acquisition really does follow the same process as teaching an academic curriculum, Rosenshine’s 10 principles do (mostly) look to be applicable to sports coaching.

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  • From a “holistic approach to talent development” to suggestions for grassroots coaching

    I was very taken by this infographic from Alex Lascu, and the thinking behind it.

    It captures so much of what I believe is good about current coaching practice, but also sets a high standard for “talent pathway” coaches to aspire to.

    There was some discussion on Twitter of the applicability of the advice to grassroots coaching.

    One senior coach commented that he believed that most clubs ran a “talent” development programme, even if that wasn’t the label it was given. We are all looking to find and develop talented players…although, for some of us, “talent” might be the ability to mix with team mates, to muck in and get things done around the club, rather than bowl at 85 mph and hit 90m bombs, 360°.

    I believe strongly in a joined-up development pathway, with best practice and ideology shared across the game, from Test to primary school. It makes sense (to me) if we all (Performance/Talent, Development, Grassroots) followed a similar philosophy.

    So what follows is my attempt to re-position Alex’s guidelines very specifically for the grassroots coach.

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