Two weeks ago Vern and I got the opportunity to present at the Scottish Athletics annual coaching conference. At the end of the seminar we got that chance to pose some questions to all the presenters at a roundtable session. We recorded that discussion and present it as this week’s episode. Read more
Welcome back to the fourth installment of Sports Science Monthly. This month’s edition will cover one of my favorite topics: sleep. But it will also spread out to discuss recovery, the extra-time period in soccer, how to measure strength, whether sex reduces performance, circadian rhythms, and the use of ketones as a performance enhancing agent. The first overview will be free for everyone, but to read the complete August edition you must be a HMMR Plus Member. HMMR Plus is a new offering we have that gives users access to exclusive content like our article archive, webinars, online meet ups, and of course Sports Science Monthly. Therefore sign up now to gain access to Sports Science Monthly and more. To see what Sports Science Monthly is about, our April and May editions are available for free. Read more
In an era when coaches are searching out more and more objective data to evaluate training, master coach Dan Pfaff has been using more and more subjective data to assist him. Subjectivity has been given a bad reputation lately, but it offers many advantages to coaches: it is cheap, it is easy to implement, it saves time, and can often times be more accurate. On this episode of the podcast Pfaff joins us to discuss the role subjective feedback plays in his training. Plus, for track fans, we discuss some of the failure of the Diamond League’s new rules for field event athletes. Read more
I started a new series last month called the Sports Science Monthly with the goal of translating the latest sports science research into information that coaches can use. In this month’s edition we take a look at five new topics ranging from sled pulls to sleep patterns. The full Sports Science Monthly is available exclusively to HMMR Plus Members, however we have included the first overview free to everyone below. Sign up now to read about all the research. To get an idea of what Sports Science Monthly is all about, our April 2016 edition is available in its entirety for free. Read more
It is no secret that I am a big fan of late 1980s NBA basketball. In my opinion, these days are the apex of the league and one team had an unmatched zenith of competency and dominance, the 1985-86 Boston Celtics. The main catalyst for this team’s summit of competitive greatness was their leader, Larry Bird. Today many applaud Steph Curry’s work ethic and skill proficiency. While he is very good right now we should remember he was influenced by Kobe Bryant, who was influenced by Michael Jordan, who was influenced by Larry Bird. Read more
There is no such thing as evidence-based training without the evidence. Evidence for coaches comes from feedback. And a key form of feedback are performance tests. On this week’s episode we discuss how to get the most out of testing in training. Read more
In the rush toward big data and gathering numbers I see the real challenge as making the numbers meaningful. Certainly technology enables us to gather numbers on almost any parameter we want to measure. We are now able to measure and quantify parameters that I dreamed about measuring 46 years when I started coaching. Certainly this affords great potential to enhance performance. The downside is when we can get so caught up the numbers that we look at them in isolation and not see the forest for the trees. Read more
An essential part of effective coaching is reflection. Yesterday I was speaking to one of my mentors and professional colleagues Frank Dick and he suggested a simple three-step process that he uses for self reflection. He suggests using it monthly but I think it would be very effective weekly or sometimes even daily. Ask yourself three questions: Read more
We have mentioned Stuart McMillan’s coaches guide to strength development. It is an ongoing series on strength development that is a must read for all coaches. Along the way he has had some great contributions from Matt Jordan, who also recently joined us on the HMMR Podcast. And for the seventh part in the series he asked me to contribute to give an example of smart data collection in practice. Read more
It is easy to be fooled by competition results both good and bad, wins or losses. Wins can disguise deficiencies and losses can hide progress. The take home point is to always focus on the process and never lose sight of the ultimate long-term goal. Read more
