Athletic Development – Defining the Field
Game Day
Everyday is not game day! Game, match or meet day is special. That is what you point for and prepare for on the other days. What you do in the days leading to game day will determine your performance ...
GAIN FAQ’s
What is GAIN? This is a community of professionals eager to learn and willing to share ideas and information. GAIN is not about more exercises, sets, reps and training methods it is about passionate p...
Possibilities
I find it counterproductive to focus on what an athlete can’t do, what their deficiencies and dysfunctions are. Do I need to know that to be an effective coach? Sure I do. But it is most productive to...
Role of Free Play in Developing Athletes
In children free play is all about testing boundaries and pushing limits – there is no fear rather there is pure joy of discovery and enjoyment. There are no rules, at least prescribed by adults; they...
Practice – Make it better
Don’t try to replicate the game in practice instead distort the game. Use varied constraints and restraints to get the players out of their comfort zone, force faster decision making. Never allow the ...
Meditations on Teaching and Practice
I have been thinking a lot lately about what constitutes good teaching (Coaching) and practice. Yesterday after sitting through another long pointless sermon at mass and then going for a long walk aft...
True North
Keep your compass oriented to true north – true north is a strong guiding force, no hype, no false prophets, no guruism, and no quick fixes – Just straight facts. What is true north? It is quite simpl...
Injury Prevention – A Transparent Process
Injury prevention is implicit in a sound comprehensive training program. The program must address all components and dimensions of training in a balanced manner. (The key here is multilateral unbiased...
Youth Sport Today – How We Got There
Where we are today in youth sport today with the “pay to play” model did not happen overnight. This post is meant give some historical context for why we are where we are today. This is excerpted from...