The Teesra

Category: philosophy

_why_ we coach; why we coach the way we do

  • Coaching neurodivergent players…and how it just might be a better way to coach, full stop.

    A learning week!

    Neurodiversity training from Headstuff ADHD Therapy, through one of my “zero hours contract” workplaces.

    An online webinar in the always interesting Myths of Sport Coaching webinar series (hosted on YouTube by Sequoia Books), on the proactive role of sports psychology.

    And more reading, away from the functional “what to coach” and towards the more productive, much more interesting “how to work with people”.

    And out of this has emerged a series of ideas on how to better support players with ADHD and autism.

    But as I re-read the list of accommodations and adjustments, it became very apparent that what I had written down could be profitably applied to most coaching activities.

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  • A question of skill in sport — learning vs. acquisition & development

    Is learning facts the same process as developing a new skill?

    If it is, then (perhaps) academic pedagogical principles transfer to sports coaching.

    But if skill development is a different type of “learning”, does the coach need other techniques?

    Now, I currently have little to base this feeling beyond my own experience of learning. And I have to admit that my own learning might well have been sub-optimal!

    But learning facts (school, university) always felt very different to developing a new (sport) skill.

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  • WITTW vs. WIN — is winning the most important outcome, even for “high performance”?

    The ECB’s 2022 High Performance Review, led by Andrew Strauss, has attracted extensive scrutiny for the suggested new playing schedule for First Class and List A, but remarkably little for those elements of the Review that relate to creating a high performance culture away from match days i.e. coaching, pathway, player development.

    In amongst the less-discussed sections of the Review is a proposal to “embed…[What It Takes To Win] WITTW into the ECB coaching curriculum.”

    It certainly makes sense for coaches to help players to develop and deploy skillsets that contribute to winning.

    But I have concerns, ideological and practical, on the choice of WITTW as an appropriate model within cricket.

    Might we be better concentrating on What’s Important Now?

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