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Reflections from a Gymnastics assistant coaching course
1st June 2023
A guest post from Kath Maguire. Kath is the parent of one of our club’s gymnasts. She asked about doing some volunteering a couple of months ago and whether there was a course she could do. Here are her reflections from the day. “I’ve been thinking about volunteering for a while now but as it’s […]
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An important lesson from the Navy Seals

“If you know how to ‘shoot, move, and communicate’ the rest will fall into place.”

no easy day book reviewMark Owen, in “No Easy Day” the story of the Osama Bin Laden mission.

Owen talks about the planning and preparation that goes into a mission like that.

An immense amount of training of the basics of close quarter combat, and then more training in pressure situations.

However, when you have no idea what is behind that closed door, or behind the next hedgerow “the plan always changed, so it was easiest to keep things simple.

Too much time spent on the plan leads to the appearance of “The Good Idea Fairy”, whose basic premise is to weigh the Seals down with too much kit by trying to account for every eventuality.

We see this in sport a lot with ovecomplicated play books or training programmes, but the athlete can only shoot with one foot and has trouble getting out of a chair hands free!

basketball skillsOwen says combat becomes more like “pick up basketball” and the team who shoot, move and communicate the best are able to adapt.

Rather than fuss about miniscule matters and burden your athletes with pointless information (I guarantee no fighter in the last round is worrying about his AMPTk protein affecting his endurance) try working harder on the basics.

Then challenge these basics in imaginative and stressful situations.

As Vern Gambetta says “We want adaptable athletes, rather than adapted ones”

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Josh Steels: wheelchair tennis
I started working with James 3 years ago via the TASS programme. When James first met me, physically I was nowhere the best I could be. Since working with James I have seen vast improvements in my fitness and strength which has been put into great use on court. Each session is worked around making sure I am able to get the best quality training as well as catering for my chronic pain and fatigue levels. On top of this James has always been happy to meet at facilities that are best for myself meaning I could fit training sessions in on route to tournaments or camps.
 
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