Tag: mindset

Participation awards – what’s the point?

“You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.” – Morpheus

Recently, I came across a Facebook post from a friend of mine, lamenting their child’s school sports day and the lack of traditional competitive events. It’s no secret that our educational systems and sporting events are leaning more and more towards the trend of handing out “participation” awards to all children involved. Our schools have moved away from traditional grade classifications and less harshly worded feedback – But is this a positive or negative thing?
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The obstacle is the way – November Book Review

I found this book hugely beneficial – so much so I read it twice!

November’s book has been one that popped up on my radar several times before I committed to reading it. I have to say I wish I read it earlier. After recommending it to a friend of mine he said, “Rob, I’m going to put it out there, Obstacle is the way is one of the best books I’ve ever read.” I have to say I probably agree…

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Dan Carter – August Book Review

This month I review the autobiography of an international rugby legend…

I’ve always loved reading autobiographies of athletes. As it’s been a while since I have read one, I decided to change that this month. Dan Carter is an All Blacks legend with 112 tests for New Zealand and the highest point scorer in the history of test match rugby  with 1,598 points.


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Ask the Expert – Tom Smale (Leaf Academy)

Would you mind giving us a bit of background about yourself?

I studied at University of Stirling getting a BA (Hons) in Sports Studies and MSc in Sports Coaching. Whilst doing my MSc got the opportunity to shadow S&C sessions run by the University and Sportscotland Institute of Sport and realised this would be a pretty cool way to make a living. Eventually I started getting paid to coach and things progressed from there. Went to the US to do a 3 month unpaid internship with the US Ski Team at the end of which was offered a role travelling with their Men’s Alpine Speed Team for a season. When this finished I returned to the UK and got my current role at LeAF Studio. I’m leaving here in July to take up a position with West Highlands College UHI in Fort William.
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The Genius in all of us – July Book Review

This month I review a book discussing the numerous factors that contribute to the development of talent.

This month I decided to read a book that is more broadly related to talent development and general coaching etc.


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Why a “No Days Off” mentality suck for parents (Part 3)

Why parents need an off season too…

In part 3 of this series on Why a “No Days Off” mentality sucks, we are looking at the effect this attitude can have on parents…
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Why a “No Days Off” mentality sucks for coaches (Part 2)

Why coaches need to maintain a good work/rest balance for their athletes and themselves!

So in Part 1 we examined the reasons why a “No days off” mentality is counterproductive for athletes in terms of how it adversevly affects them physiologically…

But what about Coaches? How does having a “No days off” mentality affect them.

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