Hi guys,

Feel free to listen to my podcast reviewing the coaching of a session that I took part in at Leeds Beckett. The podcast analyses how we as the participants felt about the coaching style that Neil provided, and focuses on how he maximised safety in a situation with the potential for things to get out of hand.

My Leeds Beckett coaching review

My Leeds Beckett coaching review (part 2)

 

The concept of reflection is vital for the sporting world, especially as a coach. To become a top-level coach, you must be able to analyse how you deliver a session, identify strengths that allow you to fulfil your sessions objectives, whilst also identifying any potential problems you may encounter during your sessions. This skill of being able to adapt is a crucial one, as it means you will be able to work professionally and successfully in a variety of situations, with athletes of all demographics and ages. It’s important to note that reflecting will not always make you a better coach, as you may not accurately identify areas of weakness, however, I believe in most cases you will improve. 

If you had an athlete in your session that couldn’t understand your delivery of activities it would be essential for you to reflect on your techniques of delivery, so that you can alter them wherever necessary and make the appropriate changes. This is so you can ensure that the next time that person is being coached by you they will understand you better and therefore make more progress.  

On the other hand, if you have an attribute that helps the people, you’re coaching to develop it is vital that you revise it in order to use it in your continuing sessions. By reflecting on your actions, you can pinpoint exactly where this attribute is effective and ensure that when you’re next in a similar situation you can reproduce the same outcome for the athletes.   

Reflecting upon my experiences 

 During a practical session on my university course, I was required to coach my peers. For this, I decided that I would try to make every task inclusive, but first I had to identify anything that may jeopardise the safety of the group. Upon establishing that none of my group were carrying injuries, I settled on the drills I deemed the most effective.  

Looking back on the activity, I think that my approach required more praise and encouragement. When filling out review forms, the consensus was that I didn’t praise the group enough for their successes, and because I have reflected upon this, I can alter my behaviour for my next session to be more encouraging. This will hopefully make me a better coach as a result of reflection.

It’s a question that simply cannot be answered by just one or two points. A good coach must be able to access a wide variety of characteristics to cater for every single person studying under them and be able to adapt accordingly. A “one style fits all” policy will not work when dealing with aspects of life, such as our likes and hobbies. Sport is no different.

You have some coaches, such as Rafa Benitez (the current Newcastle United manager in the English Premier League) who are renowned for their disciplinarian approach to dealing with players and athletes. While this can be an extremely successful method for certain players, others may require more attention and nurturing to enhance their game. With these athletes rather than being an autocratic leader, you may need a coach who is happy to take onboard the opinions of those around them, and beneath them. Take for instance, another iconic figure, Sir Alex Ferguson. Many stories have come out since his retirement from players who played under him at Manchester United, stating that his man management was the best they had ever seen. He knew who he could scream at to trigger reactions from a bad performance, and who he would have to “put his arm around” so to speak. There’s nothing to say that you cannot have all of these qualities to be a great coach, and in fact, many of the world of sports’ best coaches are those who are able to jump between personalities – only when necessary – which helps guide the athlete/s to success.

 

Orienteering task

During my first orienteering session at university, the coach was particularly mindful to keep everyone engaged in the activity. To do this, he used humour numerous times, and was eager to asks questions of the group, knowing that the rapport would keep us interested in the session. This was to prevent members of the group from losing focus and have everyone successfully complete the task. Overall, I would say that the coach was successful at keeping everyone on board with the orienteering task, and was effective in his methods of coaching.