The Teesra

Category: cricket

  • Socio cultural constraints…not something I ever expected to blog about…

    Socio-cultural constraints – how a player’s social and cultural background influences learning behaviour…not something I ever expected to blog about.

    However, translating frantically, if we were to say that the coach really should try to understand where the players come from, then this becomes a little easier to put into practice.

    Two recent examples:

    • with a 10 year old girl, county age group, lots of advice from different directions, all well intentioned but sometimes contradictory – “smile sweetly, say ‘thank you’, take on board everything you have been told…and find out what works for you“
    • with an 11 year old boy…challenge their logic, challenge their pride – “what happened then? did it work? can you do it again? and what can you do next time to get an even better outcome?”

  • “To see ourselves as others see us” or “what do you look like?” Some thoughts on coaching demonstrations.

    I took some video footage last week – any thoughts on what this “young” bowler might want to work on?

    This wasn’t meant to be an exercise in self-analysis, however – rather, I wanted to try out a camera and techniques for filming a bowler in action, and then to generate some footage to practice video analysis.

    But perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of the exercise was the insight into what a player would see when I demonstrate a skill. I can’t say that I would want anyone to try to copy (all of) my bowling action, after seeing it in this clip!

    (more…)

  • Coaching the old-fashioned way…not so old-fashioned, after all!

    Coaching, Nursery Pavilion, Lord's

    I recently picked up a copy of The Oxford Pocket Book of Cricket Coaching, by D.C.H. Townsend (Oxford University & England), first published in 1953, with a second impression in 1955.

    Not surprisingly, the book, written after the first M.C.C. Coaching Conference, in December 1951, describes a fairly formal and traditional description of the key techniques of the game.

    Interesting as an historical document, but with a few ideas that would not look so out-of-place in the curriculum of the most maverick coaching programmes today.

    (more…)