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. 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

2. Power, acceleration and force: GAIN review 5

   22nd August 2011 9:57 am

   “Some research can’t interpret it’s own data, sometimes that data is wrong.”

   Jack Blatherwick opened my eyes with 2 great lectures. The first was on Acceleration, the second on research. He had some great visual slides, that just explained things very clearly. There was a constant sound of “oh, I see….” From around the room as people began to grasp hitherto poorly understood subjects.

   Not sure I can do it justice…

   7 Comments | Read More | acceleration, plyometrics, weightlifting

3. Strength and Power Concepts, Jim Radcliffe

   15th August 2011 3:03 pm

   “The best way to get in shape is not to get out of shape.”

   Jim Radcliffe has been coaching at Oregon University for 26 years (That is longer than most “S&C coaches” in the UK have been alive). Unlike a lot of people who have been in situ for a long time, he isn’t resting on his laurels in a comfort zone of repeating the same thing year after year.

   10 Comments | Read More | plyometrics, power, strength

4. Principles of Athletic Development : GAIN review 1

   12th August 2011 9:53 am

   “Are you making athletes better or tired or more predisposed to injury?”

   This was one of the key questions we were asked on the GAIN 2011 conference in Houston, Texas in June.

   It is easy to make Athletes tired, it is easy to do STUFF, but making them better and knowing why you are doing things is difficult.

    This is the 1^st of 5 blogs that will review some of the things covered over the 5 day conference. It is a summation of my reflections and thoughts since then: hence the delay.

   1 Comment | Read More | athletic development, LTAD, physical literacy, plyometrics

5. Summer reading list for Coaches

   8th August 2011 2:48 pm

   What books are you reading this summer?

   It seems to be the time to read more books, not sure whether that is due to rubbish tv, more people on holiday, or less email traffic. Here are some of mine.

   “How to help Children find the Champion within themselves”. David Hemery

    This is a great little book, easy to read, but with valuable insights into coaching young people. A must read for the enthusiastic parent, or coach of yongsters.

   0 Comments | Read More | equestrian, injury, physiotherapist

6. What supplement should I take?

   26th July 2011 9:05 am

   This is probably the most asked question I get from non -regular athletes.

   A great visual tool on what supplements work, where the research has come from, and what conflictions there may be can be found here.

   A great resource for Coaches\ Teachers too, who may be as fed as I am about dealing with the “Coconut Oil is the answer to everything, pass me a doughnut” brigade.

   0 Comments | Read More |

7. Bridging the Gap: Coaching Theory to Practice

   21st July 2011 5:14 pm

   Bridging The Gap

   Will Roberts: Senior Lecturer in Sport, Coaching and Physical Education

   There is an increasing amount of research in the fields of strength and conditioning and sports coaching, and with an increasing interest in the profession of coaching there are more and more practitioners in both of these fields.

    The problem

   It is quite common that researchers rarely ‘do’, and practioners rarely have the time to ‘research and reflect’.

   1 Comment | Read More | beetroot supplements, equestrian, garage

8. Coaching audit: time to be self critical

   19th July 2011 11:23 am

   Having been in business full time for approaching 10 years, I thought it was time to assess where we stood. Having had a couple of heavy deadlines earlier in the year, I decided to take the time to get some input on where the company stood.

   I am in the last stages of a 4 part audit of Excelsior.

   0 Comments | Read More | beetroot supplements, cns, equestrian

9. 10 things Sports Science has taught us in the last decade

   13th July 2011 9:06 am

   “Accurate observations of human nature hold true no matter their age.

   Tom Kurz (in his guest blog about coach observation).

   I am of the view that pseudoscience is only repeating what we already know or suspect. However, conscious that I may be a luddite, I asked Matt Brookland to come up with 10 things it has taught us in the last decade:

   0 Comments | Read More | nutrition, sport science, statistics

10. Space Shuttle: The Final Voyage

    11th July 2011 10:59 am

    Space Shuttle Atlantis prepares for its final voyage this week. 

    This marks the end of the programme after 30 years.  

    2 Comments | Read More |