Sports Coaching

Articles on sports coaching and developments in performance science for athletes and coaches.

Engagement and Coaching: The Key to Success

 

Engagement is the current coaching buzzword.

Engagement is like Stephen Hawking’s book, A Brief History of Time: many people are aware of it, some have studied it but very, very few understand it.

Yet, understanding engagement, what it is, how it works and how to increase your athlete’s level of engagement in your coaching program is critical to achieving the level of success you are striving for.

Engagement and Coaching is, the Key to Sporting Success. (more…)

By Wayne Goldsmith, ago

Coaching = Engagement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have all done it.

We have all been involved in debates, discussions and deliberations about what coaching is.

Some people say it is about teaching and learning skills. Others say it’s about sports science and applying a scientific method approach to planning and periodisation. Others say it’s about communication and caring. Still others believe coaching is about emotions like passion or it’s about values like commitment, honesty, integrity, humility, courage and discipline.

To add to the confusion, you get the coaching “zealots” who are promoting one type of coaching philosophy over another (in an effort to create a commercial success from their theories about coaching) who are convinced coaching is about the ABC Technique of Coaching or Homer Simpson’s Guide to Effective Coaching or some whiz bang made up word like Coaching Readiness for Accelerated Performance (I hope you spotted the acronym)!

Coaching is about one thing above all others…engagement. (more…)

By Wayne Goldsmith, ago

Building Boards: How to Build a Brilliant Board for a Sporting Organisation.

One of the most critical initiatives any sporting organisation can undergo is the Building of the Board.

As the Board provides strategic direction, leadership and vision to the organisation, it is essential to consider the P-P-P of the Board, i.e.:

  • The quality of the People who sit on the Board – who they are;
  • The Professionalism of the people who sit on the Board – what skills, knowledge and experience they bring to the Board;
  • The Practices of the people who sit on the Board – what they do and how they do it.

Seems simple enough, but why do so many get it so wrong? (more…)

By Wayne Goldsmith, ago

Tough Training – Ten Reasons Why Training has to be Tougher than Competition

Have you ever sat around and wondered why you didn’t win that race? Or even pondered how come you didn’t win the big game? Guess what……in a lot of cases the reason why you didn’t win was that you didn’t prepare to win. The fundamental reason you train is to prepare to meet the challenges and demands of every competitive situation you find yourself in. To do less, is to prepare to fail. This article discusses the concept of winning and explains why it is essential that your training must be tougher than the competition you are preparing for.

By Wayne Goldsmith, ago

101 Coaching Tips

 

 

It takes 20 years to become an overnight success. Successful coaches have by a combination of experience, skill, education and practice, developed ways and means of getting the best out themselves and their athletes.

Here are 101 Coaching Tips to help you achieve your coaching goals.

  1. Plan.
  2. Develop communication skills and never stop trying to improve them.
  3. Learn to effectively utilise the Internet, social media and email.
  4. Never stop learning. Learning is for life.
  5. Be open-minded. Never say, never.
  6. What you may lack in knowledge, make up for with enthusiasm, desire and passion.
  7. Be a role model for your athletes. (more…)
By Wayne Goldsmith, ago