The Teesra

Category: constraint-led approach

coaching by manipulation of the training environment

  • Session plan — off side batting, (mostly) back foot

    Session plan — off side batting, (mostly) back foot

    Working this term with a group of u11s, with the transition to hardball cricket in the summer firmly in mind, so I want the batters to become more confident when facing a short(er) pitched bouncing delivery. They will have done plenty of pull shot games and practice (bread and butter in soft ball cricket) but quite possibly nothing on the off side. Hence the theme for last week’s session was “back foot, off side”.

    The plan below is an idealised version of what actually transpired on the day. The practice and game both happened, but some of the additional constraints only came to mind mid-game, and I decided not to complicate the game by changing the rules half-way through. Next time, though…

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  • My new AI coaching guru. A “conversation” with ChatGPT about coaching pedagogies.

    There has recently been some discussion about a new artificial intelligence (AI) system called ChatGPT, and a lot of that talk very negative.

    How it might enable students to cheat by writing their essays for them, how it might destabilise white collar work, even how it might become a “morally corrupting influence”.

    For all that, I thought it might be interesting to quiz ChatGPT about a current topic in coaching, traditional instruction, Direct Instruction, and non-linear pedagogies applying some of the concepts of ecological dynamics.

    And I have to say that I might have found myself an “AI coaching guru”!

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  • What is the role of the coach?

    I have just completed a fascinating online course from the Open University, hosted by Future Learn — Sports Performance: Different Approaches to Sports Coaching. Highly recommended for all coaches.

    As part of the course, we were asked: What is the role of the coach?

    • Do you think coaches should never give instructions or should they be encouraged to reflect on just how much instruction they provide?

    I have seen the former proposition formulated as “Every time you give an instruction, you steal a decision.”

    But sometimes there might only be one right answer, and instruction is the most efficient and effective route to that solution.

    So I much prefer “a brave coach intervenes when he has to” — I don’t see it as a brave option to withhold knowledge in pursuit of a non-interventionist ideology.

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