I was delighted to read recent a post from sports psychologist Dan Abrahams outlining exactly how all sportsmen (and their coaches) need to set out to “profile the next level” of performance.
I have written previously about my coaching “philosophy” – slightly glib, perhaps, but I do believe that the aim of all coaching has to be to help the players to “get better”.
But what is “better”? And how do we get there? (more…)
Last week I was asked to run a one-to-one coaching session with an experienced seam bowler who wanted to learn how to bowl finger spin.
The player was already a competent bowler, so I had no issues with his basic action. But he had no real idea of how to bowl spin.
So I had 55 minutes to introduce the basic techniques of finger spin, to help the bowler to understand what was involved in delivering the ball with high revs (no point aspiring to be a “roller”, I thought), and to leave him with enough insight into the finer arts to be able to coach himself over the next few weeks.
I had to concentrate on no more than two or three key points of technique, then allow the player the chance to experience the act of spin bowling.
But how to resolve the mechanics of finger spin bowling into a coaching session that lasts just 55 minutes? (more…)
In a fascinating article in Sport Magazine last week (“Life After Sport: A study“), Steven Sylvester, former Middlesex cricketer and now chartered psychologist working with world champion athletes, explained the problems faced by full-time athletes as they make the transition into retirement.
As a recreational/community coach and sports fan, I am not sure that I have ever even thought about the challenges facing a professional athlete at the end of their full-time playing career.
But perhaps we can help by trying to instil the “growth mindset” into our charges at an early age – the idea that any challenge can be overcome if it is approached in the right way.
The Teesra 