…the key to feedback is the timing! Through my developing understanding of Learning Nutrition and as I begin to grasp Cog Theory (See Create Development) I hope that my coaching, tutoring etc is becoming increasingly learner focussed and that I am beginning to give learners more control of their learning journey. To accelerate learning it is necessary to challenge learners and put them at the edge of their comfort zone – the Comfort Stretch Panic […]

I haven’t blogged on Learning Nutrition in action for a while, but this week had a great moment worthy of sharing. I you follow my posts you’ll know a bit about the junior badminton clubs I run.  At one I have a player who when involved in match play always brings about disagreements with the scores but usually only when playing with and against certain others.  This has been going on for as long as […]

I think a phrase coined by Sir Clive Woodward – Thinking Clearly Under Pressure.  It stands to reason that this is necessary for success in any competitive situation.  If we consider the “comfort-stretch-panic” curve, with optimal learning occurring in the zone at the top of stretch, just before we reach panic, then it is fair to say we will be in a situation where we feel under pressure.  The nearer panic we reach, the greater […]

I have as part of an ongoing project been working in a school which a member of staff described as “non competitive” for the past 2 or 3 years.  Until recently, I had not been a massive thinker about competition, it just happened.  I would suggest I probably fell on the cautious side with the players I worked with and over protected them from competition.  Perhaps this was a sub-conscious awareness that the opportunities were inappropriate […]

I had the pleasure of compiling and delivering a day of leadership training to BTEC students in early May.  They will be planning and running a badminton festival for year 3 and 4 pupils later in the year, so my brief was to help prepare them for this experience.  Luckily, we were able to use a year 7 PE group as guinea pigs in the afternoon, and so prepared a mock festival for them to experience. […]

Since attending the pilot of the UKcc level 3 learning programme  run by BADMINTON England a couple of years ago, I have carried around and regularly handed out a notebook in which I ask players to offer their feedback from the session I’ve just run.  I offer this opportunity to primary children, all the way up to adults on coach education courses and teachers attending CPD opportunities.  Why?  For two reasons.  It is a method of passing […]

CPD, hugely valuable, often compulsory, sometimes rubbish, occasionally inspiring.  I’ve recently completed a couple of formal qualifications. The Introduction to Assessment Practice in Sport course now certifies me to do the assessing work I’ve been carrying out for the last few years!  It is, probably rightly, a pre-requisite to hold this qualification to assess UKcc candidates for the NGB with whom I work.  However, the fact that I’ve been able to assess before completing the […]

In recent posts I’ve made some observations about the behaviours during coaching sessions for my cricket club.  With the changing of the clocks and the improvement(!) in the weather we have now moved to outdoor training.  Having talked about the challenges in terms of seeking leadership I thought that maybe sometimes a lack of a decision maker can in fact be a positive thing.  A controversial thought maybe, but watch this clip: http://www.facebook.com/v/10150621366175936 As the […]

Having run a successful session with the club juniors last week, the changeover to the adults illustrated a few things.  Usually the nets are set up and ready to use as the colts have trained in them.  This time though, the soft ball session had not needed them to be set up.  As the senior players arrived I was debriefing the juniors.  Rather than setting up the nets (the whereabouts of which were known as […]

Recent injury has forced me to think about what I can achieve when coaching without being too physically involved.  I’ve mentioned before the set up we’ve got going this season for indoor pre-season cricket training – colts followed by seniors in the same venue on the same night.  This has given rise to me being able to access a range of coaching resources which previously haven’t been utilised.  Each week one or two senior players (with […]