Posts by Team
Taking action is better than wallowing in despair
Thursday is ‘A’ level results day in the UK. Thousands of students will have to make decisions about their future; none of them (despite what people tell them) will know what they will be doing five years from now. And yet, they are expected to make life-changing decisions with minimal information, except that provided by…
Read MoreImprove your running technique and reduce the chance of hamstring injury.
In a recent study of 126 professional male footballers (1), the researchers found that those with good running mechanics were less likely to sustain a hamstring injury than those with bad running mechanics. This comes as no surprise to those of us who have been advocating the teaching of correct running form for team sports…
Read MoreYour chance to run faster
The father of a 9-year-old boy asked me if I could coach his son 1-1 with his running technique. I said, ‘No.’ Boys that age should be playing outside with their friends, not stuck in an awkward situation with an experienced coach and an expectant father watching on. Unfortunately, the boy attends a private school…
Read MoreLove to Lift: funding for women’s weightlifting
I’m pleased to announce our funding success. Our weightlifting club has received £1215.16 from Grassroots Grants to support women in returning to exercise. It will also pay for one of our existing female lifters to undergo their level 1 and level 2 coach education courses. She will then be able to coach, unsupervised, and help…
Read MoreA Movement Manifesto
A personal movement manifesto for all Humans have evolved through adaptation to moving in their environments. I aim to help people learn to enjoy movement and make it part of their physical and mental selves. Physical activity is often reduced to a number: “10,000 steps”, “walk a mile a day,” or ’100 reps’. By focussing…
Read MoreNew book published: ‘Coaches’ Corner’
Essays to help sports coaches and P.E. teachers. My latest book, ‘Coaches’ Corner,’ is now available to buy on Amazon. It contains over 50 essays about athletic development, coaching, and physical education based on my work over the last ten years as Head Coach of Excelsior Athletic Development Club. How and what I’ve coached has…
Read MoreReflections from a Gymnastics assistant coaching course
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…
Read MoreGetting Better at Practice: decision-making
Playing sports at any level requires making decisions. Sometimes they are tactical decisions such as when and where to pass the ball. Sometimes they are training decisions such as which technique to prioritise or how much weight to lift. Players need to be allowed to make decisions in order to develop and succeed. The sooner…
Read MoreHow to get better at practice: Intention and attention
In our Freestyle Gymnastics classes, the young gymnasts spend the first ten minutes of each class working on their favourite skills. Some of them do so with a laser-like focus, repeating the same skill as often as they can, while others drift from skill to skill, using different pieces of apparatus for a few repetitions…
Read MoreTeaching Games in Primary School
Last week, a Primary School teacher told me of their experience teaching tag rugby to year 3s (7-8-year-olds), ‘We practised passing down the line a lot but, when it came to the game, they didn’t know what to do.’ Compare that to the advice given by the Department of Education and Science: ‘At about nine…
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