The Teesra

Category: cricket

  • Good session…so what was going on?

    I had a couple of 1-to-1 sessions yesterday.  Nothing unusual in that – I do four or five regular 1-to-1s almost every week – but I came away last night feeling that these particular sessions had gone especially well.

    Good engagement, high energy, good questions (all of the above two-way); positive outcomes, clear summary of “learning points” (not too many) and players left with a challenge – “now, go out and try it!”

    The players left hopefully having learnt a little, tried something new, and with a clear idea of something they could try in their next game.  They both told me they had enjoyed the hour; as importantly (more importantly – they might have been very polite), I think I saw a few “light bulb moments”, when they understood what I was trying to tell them and realised that it could work for them.

    So what was going on?  And, more to the point, what might have been missing from other sessions that were “OK”, but not perhaps as good as last night’s? (more…)

  • 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?

    (more…)

  • Feel the Force – creating power for cricket, with Mark Sheppard and @HECCSport

    I attended a fascinating “power” workshop with Mark Sheppard of Active Intelligence Ltd, hosted by Luke Humphrey at HECCSport.

    The event was described as “a workshop for coaches who want to understand and teach how to increase power for all levels and age groups”, and I certainly came away with a lot to think about…not to mention aches and pains from muscles that only rarely get called on when I am coaching!

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    Feel the Force workshop – Mark Sheppard @HECCSport
    Mark has a background in martial arts, and a lot of the ideas behind his very practical demonstrations come from this field – next time you see a batter throwing punches at a coach with boxing mitts, check out the batter’s feet and hips.

    If he is really generating force, expect to see feet firmly planted, knees flexed to lower the batter’s centre of gravity, and transfer of weight into the punch.

    Otherwise, what you will probably notice is that the mitts are being slapped, not thumped.

    I shall certainly be using the demonstrations of the stable base position for power hitting and throwing in one-to-ones and group sessions with older players.

    Perhaps not for all – I can’t see the Little Legends (3-4 years old) performing the “squat-shift”, just yet – but we can still make sure they are learning good movements patterns from an early age, so there is less need to un-learn bad habits later in life.

    (more…)