We live in the age of polarization. We get into long debates about whether things are black or white, but when it comes to topics like training and motor learning, the reality is often a shade of grey. Professor Kevin Becker is looking to create a conversation beyond dichotomies. On this week’s GAINcast he shares some ideas around motor learning and attentional focus that attempt to color in the areas in between.
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On this week’s episode we cover a hodgepodge of topics including: holding peak condition, what we miss out on when we focus on video review, rethinking benchwarmers, and the hardest level to coach at.
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Sports around the world have been thrown into disarray due to the pandemic. The chaos brought some teams together and tore others apart. The Melbourne Storm seemed to get stronger as the year went on and just ended their 2020 campaign last month as National Rugby League champions. Performance director Lachlan Penfold and strength coach Dan di Pasqua join us on this week’s episode to look back at the difference makers for the team this year, as well as the evolving role of strength and sports science in the high performance model.
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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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A succesful coach doesn’t just know the sport, they can communicate it. That often means helping athletes focus their attention in the right way on the right things. This is thought of as the art of coaching, but there is a science behind the art. Kevin Becker is a leading researcher in the area and our latest HMMR Classroom lesson explains the science of cueing, feedback, focus, and more. He joins this week’s podcast to give an introduction to the topic. Read more
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
For many kids, their introduction to sport and physical activity comes through the school. This can be either a good or a bad thing. A good experience can set them up for a lifetime of athletic achievement and physical activity. A bad experience can turn them away from sport. On this episode of the podcast award winning PE teach Greg Thompson joins us to talk about what makes for good PE, the art of progressing young athletes, using a games-based approach, and thoughts on constraints-led training.
Any coach with an ounce of experience knows that coaching isn’t just about the methods; it’s also about how you put them into practice. That’s the art of coaching, our June site theme. Throughout the month 10 contributors helped put together 2 new videos, 4 new podcasts, and 8 great articles. Below you’ll find links to all our new resources and some highlights from our archive on the topic. As always, become a Plus Member to make sure you get access to all of the vast resources on the site. But before we look at the resources, I wanted to share two key takeaways from this month. Read more
Most of our episodes cover topics like training methods, periodization, and sports science. This is just one side of coaching. Good coaches know their sport, but they do more than that. Making the right decision and then communicating it effectively can become an art. On this episode of the podcast we focus on the art of coaching and share some anecdotes from some of our mentors about how they mastered the art of coaching. Read more
When it comes to high school sprinting, few can match the credentials of Brian FitzGerald. The 2016 USA Today national track coach of the year has led athletes to California state titles in each of the past four decades, including athletes named Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News. When coaching beginners it is important to know the basics. It is also important to know the myths that people wrongly pass off as the basics. On this episode FitzGerald dispels some of those myths and explains his five-step approach to teaching sprint mechanics. Read more
