There have been several recent allegations of abusive coaching behaviours in British Olympic and Paralympic sports.
Not in any way to condone what has been reported recently, but I find it difficult to believe the coaches involved are (or started out as) the bullies and abusers they are now revealed (alleged) to be. Or that any coach went into sports intending to provide performance enhancing drugs to his athletes?
(more…)Challenging question — do the words we use to explain sometimes get in the way of understanding?
We use a lot of words in cricket. And a lot of them mean exactly what we mean them to mean…
What is a “front foot defensive stroke”? Or a “pull”?
Sometimes, we only confuse when we explain.
(more…)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.
(more…)
The Teesra 