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"It's only when I got to level 5 that I discovered skill acquisition" - A conversation

Calvin Betton has the life that would be the envy of many. He travels Europe coaching and helping young tennis players to strive to break into the professional ranks. It's a tough life but somebody's got to do it...right? Not necessarily...

In this episode we get an inside picture of the life of a tennis coach working at the cliff edge of the talent space...the key transition zone from promising junior to top level adult. In the episode we cover...

  • The big gap in coach education that meant that skill acquisition was only covered at level 5!

  • The questions he asked a tennis legend about the advice he was giving to aspiring players to use drills to become better tennis players

  • Why people don't understand what good coaching looks like

  • How he creates intensity using 'pressure training'

  • His innovative method of giving feedback called 'bandwidth feedback'

  • His approach to 'challenge point theory' called 'training on the edge'

There is a wealth of insight in here that we were able to benefit from because of a rainstorm in Greece...a brainstorm in the rainstorm (ahem)!!

Enjoy

Listen in the player below or in itunes

You can subscribe to the podcast here

Or on Stitcher here

 

Coaching, Competition, Caterpillars & Cats - A random conversation on youth sport with Nick Leve

A slight change of pace in this episode. I am joined by regular contributor, Nick Levett who unloads his brain with me on all manner of topics related to the youth port experience.

In this episode we cover:

  • What is the point of coaching for kids? Is it actually doing them any good?

  • Is adult risk aversion ruining play for children.

  • Why formal competition for youngsters should be banned.

  • Why adult conceptions of what should feature in a child's sport experience may be destroying their enjoyment and harming their chances of progression.

  • Practical methods to enable children to develop skills through games using an approach called 'Playperation'

And so much more....

Hope you enjoy

 

Moving away from being a 'playstation coach' - A conversation with England U18 Basketball Co

Alan Keane coaches the England boys U18 basketball team. Alan Keane has been on a journey! I know it's a cliche but if ever the phrase was applicable it with Alan.

In this remarkably honest and refreshingly candid conversation Alan shares his transformation from being a coach that only cared about results, tactics, techniques and compliance to becoming a coach that cares about the person, their learning, their development and their ownership of the process of development.

Highlights from the discussion include:

  • Alan's developmental journey and how he has a 'triangle of influences' that guide his learning.

  • How he had to get more vulnerable than he thought possible to expand his horizons

  • How he called a time out and only said 3 words "talk to me"

  • How letting the players guide their timeouts led to transformational insights (from the quietest player on the team)

  • His experiences of taking what he had learned into his work environment as a teacher and the unbelievable results for the teachers and the pupils

There is so much in this podcast...I challenge you to take it all in in one sitting!!

As always, subscribe in itunes here or listen in the player below

Enjoy

 
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