Main Menu
Latest Blog Entry
User login
Blog
Welcome to the Excelsior blog. It is a mix of current research and thoughts on Athlete and Coach Development, Strength and Conditioning and personal reflections.
Comments are welcome (please leave your name) and you can subscribe by clicking on the RSS feed.
Thanks for taking the time to read it.
James Marshall
-
Improve your coaching through storytelling.
Ever wondered why you aren’t getting through to your athletes or peers? You have listed the references, provided the data, and shown a few charts, just like your undergraduate lecturers told you to. They would be proud. Professor Bill McGuire, of UCL, said this, ‘Scientific papers, however well-written, rarely carry the emotional weight of a […]
2 Comments | Read More | communication, Transformational Coaching -
Why movement is important for your child’s brain development
In his book, Livewired, neuroscientist David Eagleman illustrates how the neurons in our brains look similar to plants with roots. Like plants (or kittens), those that are enriched grow more than those that are deprived. Children who are exposed to a limited form of movement, such as treadmills, exercise bikes and machine weights, will develop […]
0 Comments | Read More | athletic development -
How I read: a personal guide
I was asked last week, ‘What’s your process for choosing books?‘ I was flattered that someone thought I had an organised decision-making process rather than the random choices that catch my eye. But, on reflection, I do have a process and when I shared it, my colleague said it was worth sharing. So here you […]
0 Comments | Read More | book review, cpd, reading -
Best books of 2021
It’s the time of year where I reflect on what I have read so far and share my best books of 2021. These have included some stone-cold classics, some long-forgotten gems, some new thinking and only a few duds. I am selective in what I read: time, like The One Ring, is precious. I have […]
2 Comments | Read More | book review -
Walking for fitness
Walking for fitness is an underrated (except for those who know) way of staying healthy. Not the pottering around the mall, staring at a screen, type of walking. Nor the frantic accumulation of ‘steps’ in a desperate effort to meet a nonsensical ’10,000’ number. I am talking about brisk walking that takes you out of […]
0 Comments | Read More | walking -
Coaching the coaching continuum
I had the pleasure of coaching sports coaches at the Heinrich-Heine Gymnasium in Kaiserslautern, Germany this weekend. The focus was on the coaching continuum. Many of us rely on just a few methods of coaching, according to our personal bias or habit but there are many ways that range from Direct, controlling to free play. […]
0 Comments | Read More | Coaching, cpd -
Two good books for the sports scientist/ sports coach/ interested reader.
Good books about sports science and statistics are as rare as rocking horse dung. I have read two, back to back, that were both readable and informative: ‘Everest’ by Harriet Tuckey and ‘How to Read Numbers’ by Tom Chivers and David Chivers. One of the problems with sports science is that it has disappeared down […]
0 Comments | Read More | book review, sports science, statistics -
Don’t be cruel to kittens…or children
An experiment involving two kittens took place in a lab in the early 1960s (1). The kittens were put on a small carousel that rotated with a view of the lab. Kitten A could move its feet and the carousel spun as it walked. Kitten B was suspended in a box that rotated to give […]
2 Comments | Read More | -
The importance of a network: exchanging information and ideas
I don’t know the answer to every question an athlete has but I know a man (or woman) who does. I have had reason to call on my network of coaches, medical professionals, p.e. teachers and athletic trainers over the last fortnight (that’s two weeks you American readers). Athletes, or their parents, have asked me […]
0 Comments | Read More | -
The Marshall Plan: Staying fit in my 50s
If I had £1 for every time someone said to me, ‘I need to get fit,’ I would have enough money to pay for a month’s food shopping. If I had a £1 for every time someone told me about their ‘steps’ or ‘Strava’, I would have enough money to pay the Council Tax too. […]
0 Comments | Read More |
Client Testimonials
I feel that training with South West Talent and James Marshall has been the best thing I've done for my basketball career so far. It has greatly improved my overall athleticism which has been a real benefit to me when on court. More importantly, however, the training has enabled me to continue playing whilst suffering from a back injury which has caused me real problems over a number of years. It has made huge improvements more recently and I am confident that I will be in good shape to play this coming season.
More