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. Books of 2013

   27th December 2013 12:17 pm

   One of my goals in 2013 was to read 40 books this year.

   Whilst this may seem modest to some, it is in conjunction with working, looking after my family, trying to stay fit and also doing 6 MOOCs.

   I have managed so far to read 43. Some of them have been very weighty tomes: Cureton’s encyclopedia of physical education, fitness and sports and Doherty’s track and field omnibook for example.

   3 Comments | Read More | physiotherapist

2. New Year’s Resolutions- Healthy Eating

   19th December 2013 9:13 am

   I always like to get a step ahead of my competitors by ensuring that I start training before they do.

   December is an ideal opportunity to do this as most people are switching off and over indulging.

   0 Comments | Read More | goal setting, shoulder

3. Coach education: the micro practice

   17th December 2013 9:10 am

   “Learning does not happen automatically as a result of experience”

   Thompson

   Instead, we have to reflect upon the experience, relate it to some theory and then try it out again (Kolb).

   However, I have been on far too many coaching workshops where you just sit and listen to some expert.

   8 Comments | Read More | equestrian, rugby league

4. How to be mentally tough

   5th December 2013 2:23 pm

   “The body and mind are a team”

   Get the body tough and the mind will follow. A certain mental toughness is required to put on your running shoes and take that first step out on a dark winter’s night to get fit.

   2 Comments | Read More | sport psychology

5. Cool Downs for Fencers- A Major Rethink?

   2nd December 2013 9:59 am

   

   Last week I was talking to a couple of reasonable fencers (Louise Helyer- Commonwealth silver medallist, Drew Wilsher– Army Champion) about cool downs for fencers and why they should be different from other sports.

   5 Comments | Read More | cool downs, fencing, modern pentathlon

6. Introducing fitness to fencers.

   9:56 am

   Fencers physical development should stay one step ahead of skill development.

   That was the theme behind the fitness training sessions I did at the weekend for the South West Fencing Academy.

   My experience of current fencers is that they specialise in fencing early, with liitle or no background in other sporting activity.

   8 Comments | Read More | fencing

7. Athletic Development in Schools

   27th November 2013 10:15 am

   “You can power clean 9000lbs, but if you can’t synchronise, you won’t be able to apply it.”

   Jim Radcliffe said this at GAIN this year. “Synchronisation” was one of the main themes of the Coach/Teacher CPD session last Saturday.

   3 Comments | Read More | athletic development, rugby league, volleyball

8. Warm down for weight training – hindu squats and hindu press ups

   9:30 am

   Have a look at this video of Tom Kurz (in his 60s) doing a Warm Down after his weights session.

   0 Comments | Read More | 10k, food, mddc

9. The Elements of Style: positive language in Coaching.

   26th November 2013 2:58 pm

   “It is better to express even a negative in positive form.”

   So say Strunk and White in their excellent little book on writing: “The Elements of Style.“

   “Consciously or unconsciously the reader (athlete?) is dissatisfied with being told what is not; the reader wishes to be told what is.”

   This has an important impact on the language we use when communicating with our athletes, whether in writing or speaking.

   3 Comments | Read More | equestrian, mental

10. Empty your tank: Training with Steve Morris

    25th November 2013 8:22 pm

    I trained with Steve Morris at Arthur Meek’s Bristol Gym on Saturday. There was a mixture of guys in the gym, some who had trained with Steve before, some who hadn’t, and from a variety of Martial Arts backgrounds.
    

    1 Comment | Read More | mma