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

1. Tomato: fruit or vegetable?

   5th October 2011 9:10 am

   Is a tomato a fruit or vegetable?

    Fruit?

    

    

    

    

   Then why not put it in this fruit salad?

    

    

    

    

   Vegetable?

   Looks good in this green salad doesn’t it?

   0 Comments | Read More | equestrian

2. Coach Education in the UK

   26th September 2011 9:47 am

   Coach Education in bite size formats

   Most coaches I know are short of time, short of money and short of patience. Trying to develop their practice as well as juggling work, family and coaching is pretty tricky. I put myself in this category.

   0 Comments | Read More | equestrian

3. Judith Hamer: Wheelchair Basketball

   23rd September 2011 8:15 am

   Judith Hamer plays for the Great Britain under-25s basketball team.

   I have worked with her for the last 3 years or so as part of the TASS scheme based at Exeter University.

   (This picture shows her sporting her bronze medal from the recent European Championships and her new leg!)

   1 Comment | Read More | competition

4. Continual Professional Development in the Digital Age

   19th September 2011 8:28 pm

   How Technology Aids Learning

   Sharing of information has come a long way in the last decade. A quick search on the internet can reveal text, photos and videos on virtually any topic. The quality may vary, but whether we like it or not the information is out there.

    In fact, it now seems ridiculous that when I was an undergraduate in the 1990s, I used to get the tube around London to visit varying medical libraries to photocopy articles to read as part of my studies. It would often take a whole day to collect the information I was looking for.

   1 Comment | Read More | core training, cricket, rugby league

5. Dealing with Competition Stress

   12th September 2011 7:20 pm

   Competitive Sport is Stressful…

   But how many Coaches help the athlete learn how to deal with this stress? Getting them tactically, technically and physically prepared is only part of the job; getting them to put this into practice when it is needed most- under pressure- is tricky.

   Some of the things I have found to work both as an athlete and when working with developmental athletes are highlighted below.

   0 Comments | Read More | equestrian

6. Mini Band workouts

   9th September 2011 1:55 pm

   Do you want to improve knee control?

   Poor knee control and stability could be a balance problem originating from the hip/ gluteal area. I have been using mini bands over the last couple of months with some of the young athletes to help improve this.

   Cheap, portable and different from the usual things, they seem to have been a hit.  Have a look at some of the exercises here.

   I would recommend doing these twice a week, in conjunction with your normal sport and strength training.

   2 Comments | Read More | gymnastics, tommy baker

7. The Coaching Tool Box

   7th September 2011 1:59 pm

   Does your Coaching Tool Box need a spring clean?

   One of my projects this summer has been to sort out the Tools in my Coaching toolbox.

   After 20 odd years of training and coaching, the tools can get a bit disorganised. What you learn in the last year tends to stay at the top of the toolbox and is first reached for.

   The good stuff that worked 20 years ago is getting a bit rusty at the bottom of the bag.

   0 Comments | Read More | equestrian

8. “Talent” Books debunked: Nature and Nurture are both needed.

   5th September 2011 2:52 pm

   What happens when Journalists tackle science?

   A number of books have appeared recently in the USA and the UK purporting to explain the development of talent and excellence in the sporting and business environments. A common feature of these books is that they are written by journalists,who attempt to deal with complex scientific concepts.

   10 Comments | Read More | book review, talent id

9. Sharpening your coaching knife.

   26th August 2011 4:32 pm

   I think that coaching is like a knife and has to be kept sharp.

   You can’t put it into a drawer for a few months and pull it out expecting it to work.

   Neither can you use it all day long, week in and week out: it becomes dull

   The trick is to balance regular coaching, with regular development and reflection.

    

   Have a good Bank Holiday weekend

   2 Comments | Read More | beetroot supplements, equestrian

10. How to Plan Your Training: GAIN Review 6

    23rd August 2011 9:59 am

    “90% of coaches’ work is grunt work”  Terry Brand

    Vern Gambetta did a few presentations on planning training, as well as a couple on coaching itself. The overall theme was “have a plan, then work the plan”.  I will cover some specifics in this blog, as well as an overall summary.

    1 Comment | Read More | amazatron, gran slam tennis, overtraining, plyometrics