Dan Cottrell speaks to awarding winning coaches Dan Lycett and Ross Williams about their approach to coaching. Dan is head of PE and Sport and Ross is head of Athletic Development at St David’s College, in North Wales.
They’ve won the Independent Schools Association award for outstanding sport (small school) and been nominated for the Independent Schools Association award for innovation, recognising their provision during lockdown.
We chat about how they have introduced a more ecological approach to their coaching, allowing their players to find meaning and have a more self-determined approach.
In a wide-ranging discussion, here are some of the key topics we covered:
How do you make fantastic athletes, even with a very diverse group of players
What is meant by finding meaning and why it is so important
How do you frontload training
What is a rich environment and how does this lead to self-determination
What are the challenges of setting up this type of curriculum
How long does it take to develop this sort of approach
Using “bingo” to challenge players helping players to reflect
Fitting gamification and scaffolding into a session
Dan chats to Jacob Ford about his remarkable journey to becoming Bury St Edmonds RFC and Ipswich School's director of rugby at the age of just 23.
The topics covered included:
The best way to speak to players to allow them to grow
What makes the players respect a coach
What efficiency in training and a game looks like
Being mentored by your dad (Mike Ford, former England and Bath coach)
The differences and similarities between coaching professional players and school players
Should bench players get paid the same as the starters
Working with players who are older than you
Developing a style of play that suits your team
Can a coach make excuses for a poor performance MORE
Dan Cottrell chats to top sports psychologist Dan Abrahams about how even non-expert coaches can make a difference in their players' mindset.
Dan Abrahams is the author of four best-selling sports psychology books and is the founder of both the Dan Abrahams Soccer Academy and The Sport Psych Show podcast. MORE
Dan hosts a discussion between Professor Rob Gray and Dr Mike Ashford about how players make decisions.
The discussion is based on a paper that Mike wrote reviewing different academic approaches to decision-making:
Understanding a Player’s Decision-Making Process in Team Sports: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence
https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9050065
Rob Gray suggests that the role of ecological dynamics needs to be viewed differently from the paper's conclusions. MORE
Dan speaks to Paul Gustard, now defence coach at Benetton, formerly England defence coach, Harlequins head coach and coach with Saracens.
Paul, who won two England caps and represented the Barbarians, also played for Leicester Tigers, London Irish and Saracens,
They reflect on Paul's journey to Italy and how he feels reinvigorated. MORE
Dan Cottrell chats to Mike Ford. Mike has been coaching at the top of the professional game for over twenty years, with stints at England and Ireland rugby, Saracens, as head coach at Bath, plus coaching with the British and Irish Lions and RC Toulon.
He also runs his own performance consultancy, which you can find out more about on his LinkedIn profile here.
I really enjoyed Mike's clarity, especially around how he had to convince players and stakeholders about their approach at Bath. MORE
