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Coach like a Jedi, not like a Sith Lord.
Happy Star Wars Day
“A Jedi gains power through understanding and a Sith gains understanding through power” says Senator Palpatine in Attack of the Clones.
If you want to coach like a Jedi, study hard and for long, learn from your experiences.
I see quite a few young coaches who have graduated from their University courses calling themselves “experts” at 21 years old.
Read More13 lessons from Musculo skeletal screenings
Having conducted over 80 musculo skeletal screenings with athletes from a huge variety of sports in the last year with a physiotherapist it is time to offer some reflections.
Establishing a rapport is key for the screening to go well, and I would say that in all but 2 of them, we have managed between us to do that.
stuff and nonsense
…admonitions sound equally trustworthy. Both come from a respected source and are delivered with a solemn earnestness that commands respect and demands obedience. The same goes for propositions about the world, about morality and about human nature. And, very likely, when the child grows up and has children of her own, she will naturally pass the whole lot on to her own children- nonsense as well as sense- using the same infectious gravitas of manner. (Dawkins, The God Delusion).
Read MoreFootball Speed Training: Frans Bosch
We (the Dutch) lost the World Cup Final against Germany in 1974, our biggest 
trauma after the war.
One of the players in the famous ‘74 team, Willem van Hanegem, was interviewed some two decades later by a soccer magazine. One question was, what his reply would be to a wide spread opinion that we lost, because he was very, very slow.
Read MoreIs Popeye eating the wrong vegetable?
There is a current debate going on amongst academics (with apparently too much time on their hands!) about a misplaced decimal point in the original research that cited spinach as a great source of iron.
Read MoreBooks read in 2016 so far
A list of books I have read so far in 2016 (Updated April, includes some excellent coaching and leadership books). Hellicona Spring: Brian Aldiss. Classic British SF novel. Leading: Alex Ferguson with Michael Moritz. Patchy book from the Manchester United Manager. Some great insights, but poorly written. Epilogue is excellent. The Dispossessed: Ursula Le Guin.…
Read MoreExcelsior ADC Update for Summer Term
Club Update Here is a summary of Club activity and important information for all Club members. You can skip to your relevant heading for details of upcoming training, but you might also like to see how other members are progressing. Thanks very much to everyone who has been helping out with ideas, suggestions and ferrying…
Read MoreStrongman Training
Strongman training can be seen as a specific sporting event or as a sexy functional exercise that shows innovation and is used as a gimmic.
Core stability training
I don’t like the phrase core stability, instead just using the term core strength. A recent study looked at trunk muscle activation during 3 stability ball exercises and compared that to 50-100% of maximum deadlifts and squats.
Read MoreGood enough is big enough
Two of the athletes I train have recently had selection issues because of their height with new coaches discriminating against them, in 2 different sports. Both athletes are strong, but need to develop more power and quickness. That isn’t the reason they are having difficulty. Both are very bright, with good game sense and are tough. Those things are difficult to coach. They are also qualities that are difficult to gauge on first meeting.
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