Posts Tagged ‘Swimming’
Making Sense of Testing Athletes
A renowned swimming coach was walking up and down the side of the pool working with a world record holder. A younger, relatively inexperienced coach who was eager to learn, asked, “How do you know how your swimmer is going?” “How do you know when she is ready to do her best?”
The senior coach replied, “I just know”.
Testing does not replace the skilled eye or instinctual feel of an experienced and talented coach. It aims to provide measurement and objectivity to some of the elements of performance that coaches “see” and “feel” and “know”.
This article discusses some of the current issues in the testing of high performance athletes and looks at the crucial aspects of the measurement and evaluation of elite sports performance. Read more
December 6, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Basketball, Coaching, Cricket, Cycling, Diving, Gymnastics, Hockey, Netball, Performance Science, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Training, Triathlon
Top Ten Talent I.D. Tips for High Performance Sport – The T.O.P. Approach
So much of the world’s high performance sports dollars (or Yens or Yuans or Euros or Pounds or Pesos or Rands depending on where you come from), time, energy, focus and attention is spent on three things:
- Talent identification;
- Talent recruitment;
- Talent development.
Or if you like, find them, sign them, refine them.
And most of the world has still got it wrong. There is a better way. Read more
December 6, 2011 | 10 Comments
Tags: AFL, American Football, Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Coach education, Coaching, Cricket, Cycling, Diving, Football, Gymnastics, High Performance, Hockey, Netball, Olympic Games, Olympics, Performance Science, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, sport, Sport and Parenting, sporting parents, Sports coaching, Sports Management, sports science, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Training, Triathlon, Weightlifting, Wrestling
Ten Tips to Make Sure Your End of Season Re-view is a Pre-view for Success for Next Year
Typically the end of season means a well earned rest, a few quiet drinks with team mates, some time with family and then… the end of season review.
Every team does some kind of season reflection or review – in most cases motivated by one or more “P” – Performance, Politics, Pressure.
- The Performance Review: is one motivated by a drive to improve the performance of the team – players, coaches and staff – for next season.
- The Political Review: is a review often driven by the Board or Executive to achieve a political agenda or philosophical shift in the club.
- The Pressure Review: is one forced on a team by media, fans, club, Board or other stakeholders as a result of a poor performance.
By far the most effective review is one that is deliberately and strategically placed in the team’s “performance cycle” each year and is embraced by coaches, players, staff, Management and Board as being an important and positive aspect of progressive performance from season to season. Read more
October 20, 2011 | 1 Comment
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Coaching, Cricket, Cycling, Diving, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Triathlon
Recruiting a Head coach – how NOT to do it.
The issue of hiring the right head coach is a hotly debated topic in all the newspapers, television sport shows and Internet sporting sites.
So how do you go about finding the right head coach for your team?
Because there are thousands of ways of doing it right - let’s start with how NOT to do it!
October 20, 2011 | 2 Comments
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Coach education, Coaching, Cricket, Cycling, Diving, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Triathlon
Ten Golden Rules about Presenting Sports Science information to Coaches
I have been to hundreds of coaching courses, coaching workshops, coaching conferences and coaching seminars. Invariably, the course convener invites a guest speaker with a specialist sports science background to talk about physiology, biomechanics, nutrition, psychology or another sports performance topic.
And, in all of the hundreds of courses, workshops, conferences and seminars I have attended, I have seen the same mistakes being made by the guest speakers. So I decided to do something about it.
The problem stems from the differences between the “two worlds” – the sports science world and the coaching world.
In the sports science world things are based on facts, research, validity and reliability measures, measurement, accuracy and evidence.
In the coaching world the key focus areas are results, performance, communication, instinct and “feel” – the art of coaching.
It is vital that the two worlds come together and share ideas and information but it just as vital that the two groups communicate appropriately and effectively. Read more
October 20, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Coach education, Coaching, Cricket, Cycling, Diving, Gymnastics, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Training, Triathlon
Hiring and Developing a Winning Coaching Team
Gone are the days of the “GURU” coaches.
Sure, the great names of coaching have all been “one man bands” – strong, decisive, authoritarian, leadership focused head coaches who controlled every aspect of the team’s performance.
However, elite sport has developed at an incredible rate over the past twenty years and the knowledge and skills required to win an elite sporting competition are greater than any one person can bring to the table.
Think of the advances in sports science, sports medicine, analysis, IT, nutrition, psychology and technology since the 1980s.
How can we expect that any one person can be THE expert in all performance areas plus coach the team, deal with the media, work with Club Board and Executive, recruit new players, talk to sponsors, meet the fans etc etc etc?
So – the Coaching Team and Performance Team concepts are born.
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
October 20, 2011 | 2 Comments
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Coaching, Cricket, Cycling, Football, Performance Science, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field
What’s the difference between Medicine and Sports Medicine?
I was recently asked to talk to a group of students about high performance sport. We discussed all the “usual” topics: talent identification, sports science, elite coach development and sports medicine.
One of the students asked me, “Is there a difference between Medicine (as in general practice medicine) and Sports Medicine as it exists in high performance sport”? Read more
October 5, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Coach education, Cricket, Cycling, Diving, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Netball, Performance Science, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Training, Triathlon
How to Develop World Class Coaches
OK. Let’s talk about how to develop world class coaches.
Grab a piece of paper. On one side of the paper, write down the characteristics of a great coach.
Does your list include any or all of the following:
- Outstanding communicator
- Visionary
- Leader
- Innovator
- Negotiator
- Conflict resolver
- Media manager
- Public relations genius
- Team developer
- People manager
- Technical / tactical / strategic skills of the highest order
- Philosopher
- Politician
- Futurist
OK - now turn the page over and write down a list of all the coach education programs which cover the above?
Is this side of the paper blank? Yes? Then we can begin. Read more
October 5, 2011 | 1 Comment
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Coach education, Coaching, Cricket, Cycling, Diving, Gymnastics, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Training, Triathlon
Sustaining success! The Coach’s Holy Grail.
Many coaches will say they want to be successful.
No they don’t. Not really.
They want to be successful again and again and again and again and again. They want to Sustain success and Always have a competitive program, winning athletes and quality players.
So how do you it?
How do you Sustain Competitiveness And Sustain Success? Read more
October 5, 2011 | 1 Comment
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Coach education, Coaching, Cricket, Cycling, Diving, Football, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Training, Triathlon
Boards and Sporting Organisations – The Ten Commandments of Being a Great Sporting Board Member
Boards can be the greatest asset to a Sporting Organisation….they can also be the biggest liability.
Lots of articles and books describe what a Board member is supposed to do from a statutory, legislative perspective but in general that’s not the problem.
The biggest problem in sporting Boards stems from Board members trying to influence the operational side of the Club.
Read this to learn why people often become Bored with Boards……….
October 5, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: AFL, American Football, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Coaching, Cricket, Football, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Triathlon











