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. Recovery – travelling is not resting

   11th December 2009 1:09 pm

   Working with several different athletes this week, from fencing, modern pentathlon and basketball, who looked very tired.
   When we talk about what is making them tired, it doesn’t appear to be a heavy training load, their nutrition could be improved (whose couldn’t?) but the key factor is the amount of travel that is required to attend their training or competition.

   When you add the stress of work or school and study on there, you can see why they become ill or get injured.
   

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2. S.A. I. D.- training principle

   30th November 2009 1:03 am

   Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand.

   This is a very basic training principle, but can be overlooked. Screening a young footballer for the first time yesterday, I asked what his fitness regime was- 90 minutes of fitness work once a week with his football coach which consisted of boxing and core stability.

   The boxing was minute intervals of hitting stationary pads, the core stability was different versions of the plank.

   If that was 10-15 minutes of the session I wouldn’t be too worried, but that was the sum of it.

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3. Garnet Mackinder- England under-20s

   18th November 2009 3:28 am

   Garnet has been selected as part of this year’s RFUW under-20s squad. I have worked more on speed training with Garnet than with any other athlete.
   

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4. Louise Helyer wins Swiss Open

   13th November 2009 7:52 am

   

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5. Fencing Champions

   11th November 2009 2:00 am

   

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6. Free Coaching HandBook for Youth Coaches

   9th November 2009 5:35 am

   Hi,
   it may be teaching some of you to suck eggs, but there are some useful points, especially on running parent orientation meetings. There are also some useful templates in the appendices for handouts to players and parents.

   You can download it here:
   http://www.americancoachingacademy.com/manifesto.pdf
   

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7. Coaching Resources

   2nd November 2009 6:02 am

   As a coach you may be asked to do things outside of your sporting expertise, such as writing contracts, dealing with the media or organising volunteers.

   A good place to start looking for advice is here: http://www.ausport.gov.au/supporting/clubs/resource_library/resource_library_-_topic_listing

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8. Rugby Weight Training

   23rd October 2009 9:20 am

   Simon Shaw was widely quoted in the press on Wednesday, talking about the number of injuries suffered by players:

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9. Forty Today

   21st October 2009 7:55 am

   
   Forty Today.

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10. Things I learnt in my thirties.

    20th October 2009 9:08 am

    With only 1 day left to go in this decade, I thought it might be useful to reflect on some things I know now, that I didn’t 10 years ago.

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