There are no real team sports anymore….every significant moment in a team sport competition is decided through a one on one contest. This post discusses how rugby has evolved from a team sport to a game where success is dependent on the optimal preparation and performance of every individual in the team.
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[powerpress] I’m seeing some really exciting changes in sport happening around the world and a shift towards what I call “new sport.” What we are seeing in a lot of the Olympic sports and what we call the high commitment sports – swimming, athletics, rowing, cycling, gymnastics, diving – sports which are asking and demanding a
You read right – improve your coaching by NOT coaching.
Coaching improves performance.
But too much coaching – over coaching – can have a negative influence on performance.
Who OVER coaches?
They don’t call it the Hot Seat for nothing – the coaches’ box!
The coaches’ box is the place where the coaches sit during the game and make important decisions about tactical, strategic and technical issues that have the potential to impact on the momentum of the game and even change the end result.
Some coaches’ boxes work well.
Some coaches’ boxes don’t.
So what’s the difference?
Time to be honest about this whole Leadership concept in high performance sport – it is not working.
And why?
It’s not working because of the Accountability Myth: The Accountability Myth is the reason why the current Leadership models in High Performance Sport are failing (badly).
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.
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.
Here’s a typical football Club scenario. Pick a club – any club – any code – it doesn’t matter.
The team loses a few games, has a couple of bad seasons and the decision is made to sack the head coach.
In fact, Legend AFL Coach David Parkin once said, “There are two types of head coaches. Ones who have been sacked and ones who will be sacked”.
So the club sacks the coach, goes through a search process, finds someone else to be head coach and prepares for the next season.
Next season the team loses a few games, has a bad season and surprise surprise – the Club starts looking for another head coach.
Some Clubs have recruited and sacked several coaches over the past ten years and have not had a change in their on field performance.
Many of these same Clubs have had the same Board, CEO and management team in place throughout that same ten years.
So what they are saying is, “we are doing everything right, we have all we need to win a title, we have a great culture and leadership – all we need is a great head coach and we will be back on track”.
Is it just me or is this a really silly way to run a business?
The 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.
The support young athletes get from their parents is often just as influential as that which they receive from their coaches. Wayne explores how athletes can best work with coaches and parents to create an environment that helps them to realise their potential.
The sporting parent has some incredibly important responsibilities within the “performance partnership” – i.e. coach, athlete, parent. A sporting parent, for example, is responsible for developing values like honesty, integrity, humility, courage, discipline, a sporting parent can help a child develop time management and a sporting parent can teach an athlete to be more responsible for their own behaviour. This feature article discuss sporting parents and talks about how sporting parents can help their child realise their sporting potential.
Coach education has shifted from being Content Driven to Context Relevant. Gone are the days of delivering boring, non-specific, content heavy coaching courses. Coaches are looking for smarter, more efficient and more effective ways of learning and most importantly, they are looking for information to help them coach more effectively in the coaching environment (context) they coach in. This article discusses the need for coach educators to seriously and radically change the way they deliver coach education, training and development programs.
