Tag Archive for: Art of Coaching

René Sack

Moving from conversation to communication

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If you are like me, you spend more time each day with your athlete than your spouse. As they say, good communication is the bedrock of any successful marriage. Why is it then that in coaching, where we spend even more time with our athletes, communication is always an afterthought? We prioritize biomechanics and physiology and even psychology before we begin to focus on communication. Most coaching courses do not even spend one minute on the topic.

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Martin Bingisser

4 ways to rethink how you give feedback

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Communication is critical to coaching. You might be the smartest coach in the world, but if you can’t convey your message to the athlete, you aren’t going to get very far.

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Martin Bingisser

GAINcast Episode 204: Prepare for the game (with Eddie Jones)

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Training is about preparing for the game. It’s a simple concept, but we often lose sight of that when we dive too deep into tactics, strength training, or other facets of training. English Rugby coach Eddie Jones tries to bring this concept to the forefront in his training. Everything they do comes back to the game. The structure of practice, the mental preparation, and fitness training all are designed with the game demands as the central focus. He joins this week’s GAINcast to walk us through is approach to preparing athletes.

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James Marshall

Coaching across the spectrum of styles

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??There are many different styles of coaching. A coach might be direct, quiet, or use guided discovery. Coaches might be stronger with some styles than others and they may revert to that style by default. Athletes might learn better with a one style or another. And some tasks also demand a certain style: explaining where the fire exits are using a free exploration style before you start coaching a new group will simply waste time. A direct style is best suited for this. Where the style of the coach, athlete, and task line up match, good things can happen. Where they don’t, conflict or disappointment may result.

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Martin Bingisser

GAINcast Episode 191: Teaching better (with Doug Lemov)

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When it comes down to it, coaching really is just teaching in a different setting. Educational consultant Doug Lemov has helped the teaching profession rethink how it can best educate students. Now he is turning his attention to coaches to see how coaches can improve their teaching abilities. He joins this week’s GAINcast to discuss key principles of good teaching that can help us improve our effectiveness as coaches. Read more

James Marshall

Bodyweight exercises: precision, variety, and progression

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In modern coaching, all kinds of modes of exercises are paraded around, often to the exclusion of others. Bodyweight exercise is one mode of training that is making a comeback, even before the onset of the recent pandemic. Read more

Chris McCormick

Social coaching while social distancing

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In times such as this, many things can come to mind that will comfort us in the unknown. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Regardless of your beliefs or opinions, this text goes on to explain the ebbs and flows of life and how little control we have over the events in our lives. Read more

Craig Pickering

Sports Science Monthly – March 2020

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Every month we take a deep dive into the latest research in sports science. Athletes often complaint about small niggles, but how seriously that needs to be taken has not been researched much. In this month’s edition we start off by taking a look at new research on the topic, plus updates on the art of coaching, performance health, youth sports scaling, sports psychology technology, and high pressure training. Read more

James Marshall

Learning movement: a framework for coaches

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If young people coming into your environment are inefficient or incompetent movers, how can you help them? Movement has become a catch-all esoteric phrase. Because it is a vast topic, it can be intimidating. It can also be the refuge of the rogue or charlatan peddling myths. Where do you start? Read more

Domhnaill Fox

A quick start guide to coaching movement

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Often coaches and physios are armed with a wealth information on training methods, trends, and data. Coaching is about how you turn that information into a successful outcomes with their athletes or patients. Unfortunately most formal training does not identify or teach those steps. This is what I realized after I finished university and started working as a physio. I was taught WHY and WHAT, but never taught to coach. Read more