Learning v Competition ?

One of the best coach development activities I've ever attended was a seminar/talk with Bill Sweetenham . The session was very straight forward. He wasn't selling anything and he wasn't trying to convince anyone he was right. I'm pretty sure he was so confident he was right he simply didn't care if anyone believed him! But at the same time, he is a coach who was largely self educated, and coached multiple Olympic Champions and World Record holders. So he had every right to think that. One of the many many notes I took was his philosophy on competitions: Experience is nothing if it is not Winning Experience. BUT the winning HAS to come from 'equal' opponents. Therefore there should be a range of competitions: 3 'Equal' competitions, where you make corrections 2 'Below' competitions, where you make mistakes and take risks (and still win) 1 'Above' competitions', where you praise them regardless of the outcome Wh