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.

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Thanks for taking the time to read it.

James Marshall

1. Ockham’s Razor- A Coaching principle?

   20th May 2014 9:25 am

   William of Ockham lectured at Oxford in the 14th Century. He is most famous for his theory that when you have two competing theories which make exactly the same predictions, the one that is simpler is the better.

   I use this principle in Coaching; if there are two ways of getting the job done, the simpler is the better. There are two reasons for this:

   4 Comments | Read More | deadlift, equestrian

2. The Talent ID Bun Fight

   15th May 2014 9:15 am

   “I feel pressurised as a parent to choose between sports for my daughters”.

   Said a concerned Mum at a recent workshop.

   She is far from alone. Well meaning, but concerned, parents are being asked to ferry their children from “selection camp” to “regional centre” to “talent pathway nuclei” (O.K. I made that last one up).

   19 Comments | Read More | LTAD, talent id

3. Strength and Power in Rugby: Part 3

   13th May 2014 9:15 am

   The Rugby World Cup is in it’s knockout stages. National Fitness adviser Simon Worsnop looks at current strength and power measurements.

   Strength and Power Levels

   Since the onset of full time professionalism in both sports strength levels have increased so that today’s players possess higher strength levels than similar aged recreational players

   1 Comment | Read More | behaviour change, running, sprinting, strength, world cup

4. Strength and Power in Rugby: part 2

   9:10 am

   What about the Ruck and Maul?

   The ruck is specific to rugby union and is where the tackled player is off his feet and tackled to ground. The average ruck lasts in the region of 4 or 5 seconds and therefore the primary physical determinant for success is power.

   2 Comments | Read More | strength, tommy baker, world cup

5. Strength and Power Developments in Rugby over the last 10 years.

   9:05 am

   Now that we have reached the knock out stages of the Rugby World Cup, I thought it would be a good time to review how the game has changed over the last 10 years.

   Simon Worsnop is the National Adviser with the England Under 20s team and has kindly written the following post. 

   7 Comments | Read More | behaviour change, sprinting, strength, world cup

6. 10 Fitness Tips and Myths for Rugby: Simon Worsnop

   8:55 am

   

   Top level rugby is a complex multi faceted sport.

   Rugby union has more individual position specific requirements than rugby league.

   At top level training will need to reflect this e.g. static strength and neck strength requirements in scrimmaging forwards that are not required to such an extent in rugby league. 

   11 Comments | Read More | coaches, injury, speed training

7. The #1 Recovery Supplement

   8:33 am

   As you can see from the picture, if it was sold in a can, marketed and advertised in all the health and sport magazines, this would be much more talked about.

   2 Comments | Read More | jim rohn quote, spatial

8. Developing young athletes: Jonah Barrington

   12th May 2014 2:57 pm

   “Kids are brittle and fickle”

   Jonah Barrington, squash legend. I worked with Jonah for 5 years when I was Head of Athletic Development at Millfield school.

   He was always a great sounding board on things to do with coaching, squash and life.

   He gave a heartfelt presentation to all of the coaches at the school, and I have just uncovered the notes I took. Here are some of his insights:

   1 Comment | Read More | Coaching, LTAD, squash

9. An Accurate Observation Is Never Wrong or What a Coach Needs to Know: Thomas Kurz

   6th May 2014 9:07 am

   Human physiology (including its expression in human psychology) doesn’t change from decade to decade, not from century to century, hardly from millennium to millennium, so accurate observations of human nature hold true no matter their age.

   3 Comments | Read More | sports science

10. Young sports people in Oxford get expert support

    28th April 2014 1:45 pm

    Excelsior Athletic Development Centre comes to Oxfordshire.

    Easter saw the first Athlete Support Day of 2014 for Oxfordshire athletes, with 5 different sports represented. 

    0 Comments | Read More | archery, athletic development