Session (8/11/13)

Session 1

Coaching Session - Template

Blank Template

Strengths and Weaknesses

Part of being a coach is being able to work with individual performers and work on strengths and weaknesses specific to them.

To do this the coach must be experienced and have good knowledge.

The coach must also be able to analyse performers and pick out faults with their technique.

The coach must then be able to give good clear feedback including coaching points to improve technique.

The coach then needs to offer a variety of activities to correct faults and improve overall technique.

Technical Instruction

One of the main ways that the performer develops is through receiving technical instruction from a knowledgeable coach. There are a number of things that the coach must do to ensure that the technical instruction is effective:

Good Clear Instructions - The coach must communicate his ideas clearly to the performer.

Explain - The coach must then elaborate on these points and explain the technique in detail.

Relate to game situation - The coach must then set up an activity where the performer can continue to develop the skill in a more realistic and pressurised situation.

Break technique down - Use precise coaching points including different body parts to help the performer process the skill.

Demonstration with knowledge - This will aid visual learners being able to see the skill in front of them then model it.

Simulation

Stage 1 - The coach first begins by giving a demonstration of the skill and highlighting the key coaching points. 

Stage 2 - The performer then attempts the full skill by themselves without assistance from the coach.

Stage 3 - The coach then makes the learning environment easier for the performer, this depends on the particular skill and which part the performer is struggling with.

Stage 4 - The coach offers technically correct points as well as offering guidance.

Stage 5 - Transfer is made back to the real situation.

Simulation is usually used with skills that have danger involved. Maybe removing the dangerous element until the performer is full ready.

Designing effective sessions

The skill level of a coach is judged on the sessions that he/she delivers to performers. For the session to effective takes a lot of planning and preparing before the session. The coach must take in consideration a number of factors:

Group size
Skill level of performers
Time avaiable
Space available
Equipment

The coach then prepares different parts of the session including the warm up, main drills and cool down. The coach must also questions himself what he wishes to gain from the session and what are his goals. This is a way of measuring how effective a session is

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0tW-QWI7Wk

Goal Setting

A coach can use goal setting to motivate the performer to give maximum attention and effort in coaching sessions. However these goals must be a number of different things to be effective.

Measurable - Meaning the performer must know if they are getting closer to achieving their goal. If they do start to improve as a performer and become closer to their goals this will motivate them to achieve their goals.

Achievable - If the goal which the coach sets isn't realistically achievable for the performer the will quickly become demotivated and begin to doubt their own ability. This may even see a reversal in the development of the performer.

Realistic - When the coach is setting the goal they must be realistic. To do this the coach must evaluate the performers current skill level. From there the coach can set goals that the performer has a chance of achieving.

Time phased - The goal that is set must be able to be achieved in a reasonable amount of time. If the goal takes to long to be achieved then the performer will lose interest and motivation.

Exciting - The goal must be exciting to achieve to motivate the performer. As well as this the coaching sessions the performer is participating in must be varying and interesting.

Recorded - Through coaching sessions the coach must be able to record the performer, this is so the performers development can be shown. Once the performer can see that they are improving this motivates them to keep progressing.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i8hCB88yug

LO2 - Demonstration

Demonstration

The coach begins by getting the group of peformers in a postion where they can all see and hear the demonstration. The coach breaks down the skill into sub parts so the performer can really focus on the technical points in different parts of the skill. Attention of the perfomer is key so they can begin to understand the skill, the coach can also highlight important cues. The coach completes the demonstrations a number of times to ensure that the performer can retain the information which has previously been given. The performer then goes away and works on the skill using the demonstration as a guidline but completing the skill in a cognitive form. The coach will then analyse individuals and their technique and give individual specific demonstrations.

Legendary golf coach giving a pitching lesson to a performer.     

Pep Guardiola Coaching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgBYK45Ej_c

Coaching Session (20/7/2013)

James Marshall – Coaching Session (20/7/2013)

·         6 Participants – 2 teams of 3

·         Set course (Moving through the line of cones)

·         Race between the two teams

Equipment

·         Cones (Red, yellow and green)

·         2 Basketballs

Feedback

·         Clear and concise communication

·         Very confident

·         Organised before hand

·         Adapted the game well

Unit 2 - Task 1

P1/P2

Roles of a sports coach

 

Leader- One role of a sports coach is being able to lead groups. The key characteristics of being a leader include being organised and knowledgeable. If the sports coach possesses these two characteristics then should be able to set up high quality coaching sessions. As a leader the sports coach must have good communication skills. This allows them to successfully transfer their ideas over to the performers and deliver their high quality sessions. Another part of being a leader would be a role model to the performers. This ensures that the performers show the sports coach respect and engage fully in their sessions.

Motivator- A large part of being a sports coach is being able to motivate the group of performers you are coaching. To be a motivator the coach must first be passionate himself about coaching individuals. Two characteristics of being a motivator are being supportive and encouraging. These two characteristics will motivate the performers to develop and participate in the coaching sessions. As a motivator the coach should be able to inspire his performers. This will increase their intrinsic motivation and they will try harder to develop their skills.

Teacher- Being a coach also means you need to teach new skills and techniques. This means the coach must be knowledgeable to know and understand complex skills and techniques. The coach while teaching must be authoritative. Meaning they can control their group and ensure everyone is paying attention and benefiting from the session. The coach must be organised and ensure they have a detailed coaching sessions ready to teach the performers. Also they must be qualified; this allows them to teach their sessions in a variety of situations to different levels of groups.

Manager- The coach must also be able to manage his group and individual performers. Being a manager means you must be able to communicate with the group/team you are managing. The manager must be a role model to the group so they show respect to the coach. Important part of being a manager is being able to control a full group and also be able to communicate with individuals. Another characteristic of being a manager is being organised. The team/group is dependant on you so the coach has to deliver.

 

Responsibilities of a coach

 

Updating knowledge- As a coach it is a responsibility to provide the performers with the best possible coaching. A coach should never stop learning and keeping up to date with the latest and most effective coaching techniques will only benefit his performers and make him/her more successful as a coach. Knowledge can be gathered from all different areas. Learning from the best and most successful coaches is one place valuable knowledge can be gathered from.

Management and Planning- It is a responsibility of a coach to deliver high quality, beneficial sessions to their performers. Sessions of such quality can’t be made up instantly on the spot. The coach must give up their own time to plan in detail their coaching sessions. The more detailed the planning is the likelihood that the coaching session will be better.

Skill Development- As the coach gains experience they must also develop within themselves. Improving all of the skills associated with being a coach and being able to improve different types of performer. This can come from learning from the top coaches and developing from there.

Safety and Security- The highest priority for a coach is to ensure the coaching session is safe for the performer. Especially when working with large groups of young children. The coach must have sufficient knowledge and how to make a session safe for all participants. If a session is unsafe then the coach must be able to adapt the rules of the games or do what is necessary to ensure that the session is safe for the performers.

 

Skills of a coach

 

Communication- This is a vital skill for a coach. The coach must be able to firstly control the behaviour of the group using communication. This can be difficult with larger groups or younger children. Secondly communication is important so the coach can transfer his knowledge to the performers through verbal communication, aiding the development of the performer.

Organisation- The more organised and prepared a coach is the higher quality their coaching sessions will be. A lot of planning goes into coaching and when delivering a session the coach must have the correct equipment to carry out what he intends to. An organised coach will also keep records of his coaching sessions; this can be used to develop coaching drills that didn’t work as effectively as planned. Also this allows the coach to see which drills are effective and continue to use them.

Adaptability- Being adaptable is very important as a coach. Not every session that the coach plans will run accordingly. This can be for a variety of reasons including lack of performers or lack of equipment. The best coaches can remain calm in these difficult situations and adapt their coaching drills so they performer benefits from the session.