Working in 'coaching Disneyland' - A conversation with Brett Holland

Brett Holland is a self confessed coaching geek!!

He is a full time coach at one of the most prestigious sporting universities in the UK and he has one of the best jobs in the world.

In this conversation we explore his methods, philosophy and approaches and get under the hood of his experiences as a coach both positive and negative.

Our discussions include:

- His 4 principles for creating an inclusive and progressive environment - How he approaches the psychological side of development - How he gets player feedback to improve his programme - How he manages 'the team behind the team' to provide 'unrivalled holistic support'

This was a great discussion and one that is full of takeaways for any coach working at any level

Enjoy

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you value this content and would like to support the continued production of the blog and the podcast then please consider becoming a Patron

Here is the video

In search of creativity - A conversation with James Vaughan

James Vaughan is a coach at the AIK Academy in Sweden. He is a colleague of Mark O'Sullivan and Dennis Hortin (both previous podcast guests) and is a regular contributor to the fantastic website 'Player Development Project'. James has a rich background as a coach and as a researcher and has been fortunate to study under the guidance of some of the leading academics in the field of skill acquisition, constraints led coaching and games based coaching.

In this episode we delve into creativity and explore the way that social and cultural constraints influence the way we think, feel and act when trying to lead the development of young people in sport. It is an illuminating and in depth conversation.

In the episode we discuss...

• Why Brazilian culture emphasises skill

• How Barcelona differs from Stockholm in the way they view human development

• Myths about talent and creativity

• How James applies constraints to influence positive, creative action rather than minimising error

Get your notebook ready!!

If you would like to support the podcast then please take time to share it with friends or colleagues, leave a review or go full hero and become a Patron by clicking on the 'become a Patron' button at the top of the home page. or click here.

"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