Athletic Development – Defining the Field
Dear Coach
The following are two letters to coaches. They are not actual letters rather they are composites of letters. The first letter is from 1970 to me in my first year coaching, the second letter is from 20...
Training Essentials – The P’s
Progression – It is a building process where each step is dependent on the step before. Practical – Get training and preparation done within the context of the time, personnel and facilities available...
Rewards of Coaching
There is no doubt in my mind that the rewards of coaching are the intangibles. I know it is not championships and records, those quickly fade away, the real rewards of coaching are seeing young boys a...
Numbers
In today’s world of high performance sport we have the potential to bury ourselves in numbers. There is not much we can’t analyze, measure or monitor. In many ways this is a positive step forwa...
Traveling Companions
I have two traveling companions that go with me everywhere I go. They are the realist and the idealist. The realist focuses on the task at hand, the way things are. He helps keep me focused and in tou...
On Coaching
When you see great coaching regardless of the level, you will see a strong foundation in pedagogy, what is done is usually supported by science, it is definitely forged in experience and proven and te...
Athlete Development or Abuse?
In the United States this is Labor Day weekend. Traditionally this is the kickoff for youth soccer season. I was reminded of this yesterday when I overheard two parents talking at Starbucks. They were...
Strength Training – A Definition
Strength is often trained is an independent motor quality, I certainly have made that mistake. Strength is a highly interdependent motor quality. Unfortunately it took me too many years to really unde...
Intellectual Incest
If you look at the history of Europe you will see that effects of incest when the various members of royal families intermarried among first cousins and relatives. The result was idiocy. This is what ...