Providing best practice in the athletic development and coaching of youth athletes
Is changing your mind a negative thing?
When was the last time you changed your mind?
I’m not talking about what you wanted for breakfast, or what TV show you wanted to watch. I mean when was the last time you changed your perspective on a topic?
Continue reading “When was the last time you changed your mind?”
What are the most important characteristics for successful, long term coaching?
I’ve been reflecting recently over a number of weeks, intermittently, about what abilities are important both in coaching athletes, as well as in day to day life itself. The list below is what I’ve settled on at this point in time. I wouldn’t say this is set in stone or exhaustive, but at this point in my coaching journey these are the ones that stand out for me.
Continue reading “The 4 abilities for successful coaching”
In this installment of the “Ask the Expert” series, I interview Trainee Sport Psychologist Andy Blyth…
1) Give us a bit of background on yourself… (sporting career, qualifications, coaching experience)
Since about 2nd year in High School I was always passionate about how the mind works, especially since I was competing at national level in badminton. With this passion I managed to gain an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Edinburgh University, afterwhich I was at a bit of a loose end as to where to take it next. We got taught a lot of interesting “stuff” at Edinburgh but, to be honest, I couldn’t think about how to apply it to “normal” day to day life. A lot of it was based on clinical models and very much coming from a position that meant that psychology was only for those that had something “wrong with them”.
Continue reading “Ask the Expert – Andy Blyth (Simply Perform)”
Andy is the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Barnard Castle School and PEP Sports weeks performance sports camps, as well as the Throws and Speed Coach at Darlington Harriers Athletics Club.
Give us a bit of background on yourself… (sporting career, qualifications, coaching experience).
Main sports were Track and Field, Rugby Union and Volleyball. Represented Royal Air Force on the track in both the 100m and 200m in the 1990’s. I hold a BA(Hons) in Sports Studies and PE from York St John Uni and an MSc in S&C from Teesside Uni. I am a UK Atheltics Level 3 Performance Coach in Throws and Level 2 Speed and Jumps.
Continue reading “Ask the Expert – Andy Woodward (Barnard Castle School)”
Here’s the latest in our “Youth Athlete” video series aimed at informing coaches and parents of youth athletes.
As always, please like, share and comment as you see fit! You can like us on Facebook too.
Here is a great example of a RAMP style warm up, applied at Barcelona FC:
Digby is the Athletic Development Coach at Kingswood School, as well as being a qualified science and maths teacher…
Give us a bit of background on yourself… (sporting career, qualifications, coaching experience)
I am currently a Science & Maths teacher at Kingswood Senior School in Bath. I moved to Bath from Cape Town, South Africa, last August. I studied at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and played rugby for the UCT 1st XV “Ikey Tigers” for 4 years, as well as representing Western Province Rugby against the Kenyan & Namibian national teams. I hold a BSc, BEd (Hons) and PGCE from UCT, and have recently gained a strength & conditioning certification through the International Sports Science Association.
Continue reading “Ask the Expert – Digby Webb (Kingswood School)”
After the success and positive feedback of the last animated video on Relative Age Effect in Youth Sport, I decided to continue with a series on “The Youth Athlete”.
This series will focus on a number of issues that coaches often encounter when working with young athletes. These videos will focus primarily on educating coaches, parents and athletes on the topic, potential issues that may arise and how to best overcome these barriers.
The first in the series is “Sleep and the Youth Athlete”… For more great content, like us on Facebook.
