Coaches Corner

A friend of mine sent me this link  recently and it reminded me of a conversation I had with a few friends about the difference between 'Fun' and 'Enjoyment', as well as another discussion I've had about the difference between 'Fun' and 'Funny'. I used to coach a team who said that they played well when they were having fun, so they would crack jokes during competition to ensure they were having fun and therefore playing well. This was about as effective as you would think. I tried to convince them that it was the other way around, that they had fun because they were playing well, so if they wanted to have fun they should focus on the process. (Explaining this to them was also about as effective as you would think, unfortunately.) In my opinion you have fun in sport when you are achieving things, and then you smile and celebrate and share these moments. This is different to 'funny', where someone cracks a joke and you laugh. One is e

All coaches know that improvement isn't linear. Over time, hopefully, it shows a consistent upwards trend, but there are short term peaks and troughs throughout. The problem with Selection Camps, Draft Camps and Combines is that they are a snapshot of an athlete's ability and projected ability where you really need a movie. All coaches have had feedback about athletes they coach in a Daily Training Environment, describing the huge improvement during a Camp. On one occasion with me, it was when the athlete had moved from one group to another and focussed on a different skill/position. 'Wow, the improvement was great considering he only did it for the last two days of the camp', explained the coach. What this coach apparently didn't know is that even though this player hadn't trained in this position earlier in the camp, he player had been working on almost nothing else in the DTE for the past 12 months. All of this is related to potential. It is relate

The old analogy of Rocks, Pebbles and Sand  is a simple way of prioritising your coaching. Start with the Rocks - the important things. Do the biggest things right first, then worry about the other things. If you got a group of coaches together in a room most would agree with the premise of prioritising key elements, and of working hard to master them. The main difference is what different coaches consider to be the key elements. In team sports one of the most simple distinctions coaches make is between technique and teamwork. Some would say that you only need to worry about teamwork once the technique is right, because you won't win without good enough technique. Others say that teamwork is the thing to get right first, because once you have that then the technique is easier to teach. Another classic example for me: training hard and doing recovery. Recovery is very important, but if you spend too much time worrying about recovery, and not enough worrying about working a