Category: Training/Coaching Articles

NEW TERMS Top Down Process – where you’re aiming to go Knowledge in the Game – knowledge based on past experiences and expectations combined with information in that game moment There are 3 distinct views that offer different interpretations of the role of cognitive mechanisms within a player’s decision making process and they center on...

As mentioned in the introduction to this book-long post series, today is part 1 of about 18 looking at decision making within games, today looking at time. NEW TERMS Declarative Knowledge of the Game – facts or information of the game in general stored in long term memory Perception and Action – refers reacting the...

With 2022 pre-season just around the corner, we’re continuing on with the “Next Level Coaching” theme in a mammoth series of posts based off this study, titled “What Cognitive Mechanism, When, Where and Why? Exploring the Decision Making of Amateur and Elite Rugby Union Players During Competitive Matches.” It’s a huge piece on it’s own...

Earlier in the week I posted about the forgetting curve and how you should review the previous day’s content as soon as possible, to scaffold learning for long term retention. Retrieval practice is one of the best ways to do this and here are some noted I gathered from education expert Doug Lemov on the...

I would read as much content teaching/learning as I do anything because as a coach you’re essentially a teacher, just not in an actual classroom. Instead of questions that need to be answered in words or numbers, football problems need to be solved with a mix of technical, physical and tactical solutions but in an...

The 2021/22 NBA season stared last week and Stephen Curry was up to his usual tricks following a down game by his own admission in which he mucked around and still got a triple double in a win against the Lakers, with a perfect 10 for 10 and 25 points in the first quarter alone...

These points come from a soccer based article I read yesterday on positional play which is huge in soccer but also transfers to pretty much any team sport, football included, so I’ve added a fair bit of footy specific content to this to get your thinking juices flowing. Avid readers of my content would be...

After reading part 2 below, try your hand at developing a training activity that incorporates some of the things talked in this 2 part article series. Either make up a completely new training actvitiy or make alterations to an existing training activity you already use. Once completed then you can post in comments on my...

We train. We train to learn. We learn to become better players/teams. We become better players/teams from learning. Learning = Performance! Last week I did a 2 part series on coaching aspects to nail in season 2022 and here’s another that you can add to your list – create a learning-rich training environment. Below you’ll...

EXPECTATIONS The most important aspect of creating an setting expectations is that it gives you something to refer back to when you need it. As a coach of 40 – 60 players, all with varying degrees of committment, ability and reasons for playing footy, there is not a shadow of a doubt that you’ll run...