It is interesting to reflect on the impact of famous author Dorothy L. Sayers on modern coaching. Way back in 1947, she challenged teachers to make their students think deeper and think more, so they learn for themselves.
“Has it ever struck you as odd, or unfortunate, that today, when the proportion of literacy is higher than it has ever been, people should have become susceptible to the influence of advertisement and mass propaganda to an extent hitherto unheard of and unimagined?” Dorothy L Sayers (1947)
Her challenge was that we didn’t equip students with the tools needed to tackle difficult situations. Yes, the students had plenty of education and lots more awareness of the world. However, they couldn’t prove points by focusing on facts and not opinions.
It’s easy enough to be superficially informed with all the access to social media and search engines. Yet do we then think through the information and create informed conclusions? Probably not as much as we should like.
It’s her subsequent development that makes me reflect on my coaching. She says we forget much of what we learned at school, which is understandable. But, more crucially, we forget how to tackle a new subject. If a problem presents itself, how do we research it properly, ensuring we don’t skip over the relevant topics or find ourselves confirming our biases?
This mantle has been taken up by Doug Lemov and his research group in the Teach Like a Champion series. He calls it Ratio. There are two elements to a ratio. In this case, it is engaging in learning on one side and deep thinking on the other side. So, while the learner might be “doing” some learning, they might not be thinking hard enough.
For example, you might be running through some skills, and the player is touching the ball a lot and making quite a few passes. That’s a lot of participation. But is the player thinking deeply about the type of pass they are using and how that fits into achieving the goals for making a pass?
At the other end, you might be playing a small-sided game. You gather the players together and get them to reflect on what’s happened. Only two or three players give you feedback. That’s deep learning for the few, while the others just want to get back into the game.
You can probably see how you can improve the ratio immediately. In the case of the passing activity, you could co-create the goals with the players. In the game, you could break the feedback groups into pairs or threes and get them to feedback as a group.
Lemov is keen to point out that deep thinking also needs knowledge: “Facts and rigour are not opposites as some educators continue to suggest, but synergistic partners”. For Sayers, that meant memorising, reciting, chanting and observing. For us, this could mean that to get a good ratio, we first have to “drill” some of the facts into the players. This could be passing exercises where the players build up a good base of skills around their handling. You can’t think deeply about the right decision to make if you think about passing the ball.
Sarah Cottingham, teacher educator and Educational Neuroscience MA, challenges us on how we think we learn and how we might apply it to our coaching.
Dan Cottrell provides the rugby examples. MORE
In my previous article, I outlined how I set up my Veo for games and training.
I've now had a greater opportunity to use it for recording games.
Again, I come at this without much recent experience of using video analysis software. I don't have much time to sit down and code games. Instead, I will mainly use the footage to pick out some key points to help inform my coaching and to share moments with the players. MORE
This article comes from Alan Zondagh LinkedIn account. It is discussed by Alan with Phil Llewellyn in a Roundup Rodeo special, with guests Ian Costello and Nick Wood. Former Bulls Director of Rugby and seasoned South African coach Alan Zondagh believes the sport is in need of a drastic overall change. My rugby journey started... MORE
Bill Walsh won three Superbowls with the San Francisco 49ers. When he took over as head coach in 1979 they were arguably the worst team in American football history. Within two years they were the best. This sympathetic and honest book, published after Walsh’s death in 2007, but largely in his own words, explains in detail the methods he used to achieve extraordinary success. MORE
From our Rugby Coach Weekly archive of Touchline Tales, commenting on a game in an U15 Cup tournament. Last weekend we lost 20-22 in a cup game. The opposition scored at the end from a disputed lineout on our line and we felt our jumper was impeded. MORE
Whether you won or lost this weekend, I expect you are thinking “there’s still so much to do”. No matter if you are just starting the season or mid-season, it always seems to be the case. Here is the good news: all the other teams are in the same predicament. The way forward? Balance your... MORE