#spcp13

I had my first experience yesterday of coaching on video. It was really quite daunting. It was for an assignment for uni. Although at first it felt quite strange, it actually turned out to be pretty helpful. 

I had to edit it right down to fit under the 5 minutes limit on the video, but it gave me a chance to watch how I coach, and see how I present when coaching, my body language and the way I interact with athletes. Although I think the session went pretty well, I think the film will give me a great opportunity to evolve and improve as a coach.

Last night I went to a coaches clinic run by skills coach Ganon Baker. The guys CV is impressive (Google his name is you don't know who he is). He's worked with some of the best basketball players in the world (LeBron James just to name one) and if not for a few unfortunate injuries, probably could have made it in the NBA himself.

Sitting there for a couple of hours watching him run drills and talk about his experiences and philosophies, you really understand why he is such a good coach. The guy leads by example. He is always energetic, always upbeat and positive, and the intensity of his sessions are insane.

He is BIG on maximising time. Warm up drills are quick, intense and fequently feature two ball dribbling drills to train both hands at once, and use several different skills in one drill.

A lot of his drills are also based on players reacting to stimuli and making decisions. He also likes players to learn and come to conclusions on their own. He talked about creating situations with problems in drills and allowing the players to come up with their own solution, or facilitate their own learning. I'm a big believer in these two methods. In a sport as variable and open as basketball, or most team sports really, making the right decisions in a game is imperative. Allowing players to come up with their own answers allows the players learn in a different way, and after all, encouraging player learning is what coaching is all about.

Ganon also talked about developing and identifying leaders in his sessions. Early on in his program, he will teach his players the majority of his drills and make sure they know them by name. He will then tell the players to set up and run a particular drill in the next 20 seconds, and he will just sit back and watch. From this, he can see which players take charge and identify the potential leaders in his squad.

I found it interesting that his approaches to both grass-root and elite-level coaching did not differ too much from each other. He likes to just sit back and watch in his first session with any athletes and make notes on their strengths and weaknesses. He mentioned times when he had to do repetitive technique drills with NBA players, drills that are designed for 10 year old kids, because they just skipped that stage of their development. He said no matter what level you play at, fundamentals are key.

He also mentioned his approach to male and female players. He says other than not being as hands on with girls, his approach remains pretty much identical. Fundamentals first, intensity in sessions, player decision making and self-learning. He said he didn't do as many athleticism-based drills with women and as he does with men due to females lower absolute physical capacity and athleticism. Another difference he said between males and females was that men tend to overestimate their skill, while women, especially girls, tend to shy away from the spotlight and underestimate their talent. So he tries to pull boys back a bit, and encourage girls to embrace the spotlight.

Many of his coaching methods have been discusses in class by Keith, and it was such a great experience to see such an experienced and acclaimed coach demonstrate the concepts in a practical setting.

Two blog posts in one day? Simon...... you so crazy!

Keith's lecture yesterday on Produsing left me pondering on many a great and wonderous things..... not really, but it got me thinking about the way and ability that we share resources now.

A few weeks ago Keith made a comment about what if professional sporting clubs (I'm pretty sure he was referencing NRL but it would apply to all professional sport) were to share resources to improve their sport as a whole? Now this means that each individual club would lose any competitive edge they had and would solely be relying on talent alone, but imagine the rise in skillfulness and competiveness of each particular sport. The appeal to the fan would be staggering, to see elite athletes truly perform to the peak of their powers, which in turn would grow the sport as a whole and in particular eliminate the need for crooked dealings within the shadows that in particular are not only ravaging Rugby League but also sport in general.

Another reason I see resource sharing as a possible pathway for sport is the current state of Australian sport at an international level, particularly Olympic level. Thirteen years ago, Sydney produced most definitely the greatest Olympics ever, and Australia was the pinnacle of sport. As such our scientists and coaches were poached for their forward thinking and revolutionary tatics, and 13 years later we as a country that loves sport are, for lack of a better word, rubbish. The way I see it is had we put out there a blueprint for what and how things were done, we wouldn't have lost these coaches and could possibly be in a better place. Rather than be where we are now - the schemozzle that is Australia sport, the rate we going at the moment we won't even be ready for 2020.

" You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself......" - Diana Ross

As I sit here trying to think of something great to say about mentoring, I think about something that I have been told and something that the above quote portrays quite eloquently.

In our lives we all need someone to help guide us and help give us direction, we would never survive without it. However, all we really need is to believe in ourselves otherwise we can never make the steps necessary for personal growth and I think this is a great message to take on and use. Because I believe that this is what a great mentor does for a mentee...... makes them believe in themself and that they can achieve what is that they are looking for, as long as they never stop believing - que Journey "Don't Stop Believing" playing in the my head.

A great mentor doesn't tell someone what to do but gives them the ability to make the best choice for them (as it may not be the mentor's best choice) and the belief that they can and will make the right decisions. I think that this is the greatest gift or attribute that a mentor can pass on - confidence, and in the end isn't that what we as a coach want to pass on to our athletes? The confidence to make the best, the right choices........

So as I finish I'd like to leave you with a few quotes that I belive are relevant to mentoring and I think grasp the concept:

" We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind's greatest gift, also it's greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear." - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

So I thought I might try and write my second blog about the actual unit that it's for, Sport Pedagogy. To be completely honest I still am not one hundred percent sure what is actually going on in this unit, and therefore am not sure if anything I blog is relevant to what we are talking about in class but none-the-less this is my take on it.

This week we talked a lot about planning programs, and I thought this topic resonated with me as a strength and conditioning coach. Starting with Athlete Centred/Coach Driven debate, now I am all for athletes having a say and voicing their opinion, but as for dictating their training, I think not. Athletes should be giving information to guide the coach, but in my experience many athletes (except for highly experienced, higly elite athletes) have no idea what they need to improve athletic performance and can only see the short term gains. This is where coaches need to take control and direct the athlete to where they should be, particularly younger athletes (both chronologically and in training age). However, as a strength and conditioning coach I often come across a unique perspective..... what if the coach is wrong?

In strength and conditioning, one thing that we come up against is the Head Coach. Now first and foremost let me say this is definitely not all coaches, but it is definitely more common than is liked and this bullheadiness can some times cause friction which then follows on down to the innocent athlete. The problem is that some coaches are of the belief that strength and conditioning is still back in the 1950's, whilst other coaches are still back in the 1950's. The challenge being convincing these coaches that not only will a strong and physically competent athlete perform better but will also reduce the risk of injury. This can sometimes be an issue if the athletes aren't prepared to go above and beyond their mental boundaries and push their limits.

This is where it is imperitive that a strength and conditioning coach must plan and prepare all programs, and most importantly have a reason for everything that you do. A strength and conditioning coaches most important tool in this area is being able to justify their actions, this includes being able to individualise and adapt programs according to each athletes needs while also balancing a head coaches expectations and wants.

A tricky slope..... but nessecary irrespective of time and place. 

On another note, going back to last week's topic of personal development. What makes a great coach, qualifications or experience? Or a combination of both? I think most of us agree it's the latter, but when is enough? Do we all need to do Masters/PhD's or do we need to get out there and coach athletes young/small and old big? Where is the line drawn?

I bring this up as one of my interests is possibly later in my career heading to international sport either USA (where the money is big) or Europe (where the sport is fanatical), actually let's be honest it's both rich and fanatical in both areas. And I wonder particularly in USA what do I need? I work with Baseball at the moment with my current job, and wonder even though baseball isn't the mainstream sport here as it obviously is in America, is the level I work with (a state level squad) enough or I need more?

Hence, I decided that I would make a step forward and undertake Spanish 1A during winter semester this year. But I guess in the end only time and hard work will tell.

Sorry for waffling on but hopefully this made sense, it is only my thoughts and sometimes they don't make sense to me ha ha ha, and I welcome comments and feedback.

Cheers,

So, this is my first ever post in a blog…… where do I start? I guess seeing as this blog was started as part of a unit in my sporting degree I should start with the topic that is raging throughout the Australian sporting scene at the moment, ACC, multimedia and ASADA’s war on ‘drugs and crime rife through Australian sport”. I guess I place this in inverted comma’s as I find it completely ridiculous and in actual fact (from a government organization) totally un-professional that the ACC has come out and tarnished Australian sport, and in particularly the sport I love, Rugby League. To come out with the claims that they have without any proof or arrests is for lack of a better word, stupid, why come out and suggest anything before they have completed their investigation? Now, I’m not suggesting that they have nothing, I’m sure there are drug cheats and match fixers, but I find it offensive to blacken a sport without providing evidence. It’s like a small child saying: “I know a really big secret, but I can’t tell you what it is!”. I find athletes who use performance enhancing drugs are as low as you can get, but to tar honest athletes with the same brush just for a few headlines is deplorable. Whether or not this is a true problem in Australian sport remains to be seen, but has this been seen too early?