As technology has become commonplace in training, more and more coaches understand how to use technology. But getting the most out of any technology requires more than that. It requires seamless integration with training. Dean Benton is a master of integrating technology in the training process. As our site theme this month is technology and sport, it is only appropriate to get the master’s take on how to combine the two. Read more
If you want to learn about skill acquisition, Rob Gray is your guy. His day job is as Associate Professor of Human Systems Engineering at Arizona State University, with a focus on researching perceptual-motor control in sports, driving, and aviation. But in addition, his passion is spreading that knowledge outside of academia. His Perception & Action Podcast is on my favorites list and helps translate the latest research in the field easy to digest nuggets of wisdom that coaches can use in training. Read more
Yesterday we posted the first part of an interview with Frans Bosch in anticipation of his new book coming out next week: Anatomy of Agility: Movement Analysis in Sport (available for preorder in the HMMR Store). In that part we looked at role of perception in agility, how to eliminate errors, developing independent athletes, and quantifying progress. Below we continue to the conversation by taking a look at a few different topics: attractors of agility, connecting training to context, and how this impacts other general training concepts. Read more
Agree with his methods or not, few coaches have forced us to rethink how we prepare athletes as Frans Bosch has over the last five years. The publication of Strength Training and Coordination: An Integrative Approach started a conversation about how motor learning concepts can be brought into the weight room. Read more
Earlier this week we posted part one of our interview with weightlifting coach John Thrush. Thrush has had a long and distinguished career coach national champions from the Pacific Northwest. In part one we looked at his own development as a coach and the two key elements of his coaching philosophy. In part two below we dive into weightlifting technique, and help athletes with the mental side of training. Read more
American weightlifting has reinvented itself over the past few years as new clubs and coaches have emerged across the country. Unfortunately, throughout this process some of the old names and pioneers have been overlooked. One of those is John Thrush. Read more
I first met Dean Benton at the 2013 International Festival of Athletics Coaching in Glasgow. Benton was presenting about his work in rugby at a track and field conference and I was entranced at the dynamics of the sport. As we shared a mentor, Vern Gambetta, we kept in touch. Two years ago he moved to Europe from his native Australia to take over sports science at England Rugby. Since then I’ve had a chance to visit his training several times and see first hand how he puts some of his concepts in practice. Read more
Earlier this week we posted the first part of our interview with Dean Benton, head of Sports Science for the England Senior Rugby Team. Our interview covers a variety of topics on rest and recovery, and to start with we looked at sleep. Below we continue with part two of the interview where we continue to discuss rehabilitation strategies, recovery methods, and coping with travel demands. Read more
After tackling adaptation as last month’s theme, our focus at HMMR Media moves on to rest and recovery in December. To kick things off we sat down with Dean Benton, one of the leading practitioners in this area. Benton is currently head of Sports Science for the England Senior Rugby Team. In this role he is responsible for the co-ordination, design and delivery of athletic performance, sport science, recovery, rehabilitation, reconditioning to the England Senior Rugby team in the lead into the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. Read more
Earlier this week we posted the first part in an interview with Frans Bosch. In it, we discussed chasing perfection, and the role of variation and attractors in motor learning. You can read the interview here. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. We continued the conversation to talk about some topics that are central to what I often write about: transfer, specificity, and transfer. In addition we ask him where his focus is heading forward. Read more
