Always a pleasure to hear from a good thinker. I think you need to read a lot more of my blog – particularly the Engagement Factor http://www.sportscoachingbrain.com/coaching-engagement/ and some other posts and you will find that we agree on most things.

If you do take a closer look, you will find I am all about working with people, individualising the approach to performance, collaborating with athletes and not coaching “at them” – and believe sports science is one small part of the overall picture.

Please read a little more, then let’s continue the debate.

Thanks,

WG

Give an idea to what it is you are pointing at positively. You are missing the point. Just re-read Alicia’s point for a start.
Then look at all the things persoanl bio-medical because that is where you can guide and support your athletes unto a path of more effective training.

It is not about knowledge, but about information gathered from and about an individual athlete applied to the training and coaching of that individual athlete.

Though I think you are missing the point I am looking forward ’cause the problem is a real one and I am curious from ideas from any angle.

My opinion? Coaching/mentoring adapted to the individual (even when coaching a team)– including personal motivations, preferences, ways of learning and competitive context (athletic background and nearness of key events). The ability to do these things can be learned and shared freely too, but not everyone is willing or capable.

Like all industries, sport is evolving.

In the 60s and 70s we knew just about nothing.

In the 80s with the focus on coach education and sports science around the world, a few people started to discover more about the industry of sport.

In the 90s, the education models become a little more sophisticated and widely available across the world but still the information was available to relatively few people, e.g. sports scientists, university students, people doing coach education studies etc etc.

Then in this century, ideas, information, innovations are freely available to almost any one, anywhere, anytime: everyone knows what you know.

We have moved from a knowledge based industry to a creativity based industry and a coach’s success will come from being unique and creating new ideas, new directions and new innovations faster than their competition.

To me, this is the best time of all to be involved in sport and we should see some incredible breakthroughs in the next ten years….if we embrace a genuinely creative approach to learning and improvement.

Thanks again,

WG

WG

Spot on as usual. The days of doing what we’ve always done, perhaps a bit better, and expecting the same result, let alone improvement are gone .. have been for some time .. as is lamenting the status of our (any) sport .. no one is listening. My interest is involvement, not reflection on the past.

I think the “balance” point we are all looking for in private industry is the “give free – give me” line.

Where is the line in each market which separates what people expect / demand for free and what are they willing to give me to pay the bills. This line will continually shift as people demand more and more from the free marketplace. So the challenge for all of us is to continually strive to be creative, innovative and relevant for our markets as they shift their demands.

Challenging but rewarding times ahead: for those who are ready for it and have real creativity, the sky is the limit.

Thanks again mate.

WG

I did a workshop for a medical group recently and asked them, “imagine that patients could prescribe their own medications – so they didn’t need you to write those barely legible words on your script pad – what ELSE have you got to offer them?”.

Someone in the audience responded, “information” – I said “worthless – information is everywhere”.

Someone else said, “knowledge” – I said, “again – almost worthless, free and easy to get”.

One person said, “my ability to listen, to understand and to provide the inspiration to change their lifestyle” – “Absolutely” was my response.

We need to get coaches thinking like this – forget impressing people with knowledge, sports science and technology – give them more of “you”!

Thanks again,

WG

Thanks for the comment.

I grapple with this myself everyday.

My ideas are my business. If I give them away, I have no business. But if I don’t get the ideas out there, I also have no business. So I have had to come to terms with the “free” information economy in my own mind.

A colleague of mine Leigh Blackall – who is a genius on this stuff – has convinced me to share, collaborate and partner with others in growing ideas and thinking. Check out some of his ideas at http://leighblackall.blogspot.com/search/label/educational-development

The ONLY reservation I have and the only thing that really annoys me is when people in sports industry steal the ideas, pass them off as their own and don’t give me any credit.

Again, another person I listen to Hugh Macleod at http://www.gapingvoid.com talks about this and laughs it off saying that mediocre people do this in all industries and for us creative types the key is to ignore, them out perform them and they get exposed for the pretenders they are.

Appreciated and valued your post and enjoyed your web site.

WG