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Category Archives: Coaching Science

Hodgson v Redknapp

30 Apr

In a first for me and for The Sporting View, I’ve decided to write about football. As someone who works at the higher end of sport I’m often left bemused by football. I love to watch it and I love to play it but when the whole circus surrounding it I just find frustrating.

For months now England fans have endured endless speculation and rumours around when Harry Redknapp would take over as England manager. It seemed that he was the popular choice with fans and perhaps more importantly, with the media. In a game as fast paced as football, people seem to expect that things like changing coaches or appointing new managers should take place instantly. In life, this doesn’t happen. So we had to wait.

The FA, to the outside world at least, have held off making approaches for a new manager until now. During that time we have seen Harry Redknapp continue to prove that he has next to no tactical ability whilst Roy Hodgson has continued to deliver promising results with a West Brom team who seemed like relegation candidates 18 months ago.

What are the qualities needed of an England manager?

First and foremost, they need to be tactically astute. Why? If you can only work with what you have then you need to be dam sure you can get them to play a variety of systems and be able to change tactics depending on opposition, conditions, injuries etc…Spurs have one style of play and this did not change when they lost players to injury. I’ve seen them struggle to hold on to leads and unable to really chase games when they needed a goal.

They need to know international football – Coaches at this level need to know what is happening internationally in regard to styles of play, systems and how players are developed. Mr Hodgson has managed in Sweden, Norway, England, Italy and Switzerland as well as managing the Finnish, Swiss and UAE national teams. The fact that he has been successful in these countries speaks volumes about his ability to adapt and perhaps more importantly communicate as a coach. Redknapp may know the transfer market but this isn’t exactly much use when it comes to international football. The fact that he is termed a “wheeler dealer” to me highlights the fact that he teams are unable to develop their own players, something again which is needed at International level. Hodgson will most likely be involved at all levels within the England set up and have an input on the development of players, something the FA are rightly placing a high priority on.

I don’t buy in to comments about Hodgson not being a motivator. To win things, players and coaches need to be motivated! He has done this. Surely when Spurs went on a bad run recently then Redknapp’s supposed skills as a motivator should have helped get them over the line but it didn’t. Is he really that good a motivator? I also believe that if you really need to get players up for playing in a European Championship or to motivate players who have the honour of playing for their country then England as a country has BIG problems.

Apparently, England fans demand to see strong, attacking football. The sort which has served Spurs so well in recent weeks but surely at International level it is the result and only the result that matters? Are there really England fans out there who would rather see England go out in the group stages but “have a go” or make it to the final by being tactically smart and doing what is needed to win?

England need to look to the long term now. They need a man with international experience who can make England hard to beat. They need that man to work throughout the system to enhance the game at all levels. I believe in Hodgson they have that man.

 
2 Comments

Posted by on April 30, 2012 in Coaching, Coaching Science, Sport

 

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Ski Cross in GB. The way forward? (Part 2)

03 Jan

A few people have asked why I’m even bothering writing this. Well, it’s proving to be a useful reflective exercise and I hope it’s useful for any other sports administrators/managers. I have lots of ideas floating around my head, many of which are on paper but this has helped collate them and might actually be good in the long-term for the sport.

The first post seemed to piss a few people off as well, this one might do the same.

Instead of a long winded discussion about what will benefit the sport I will focus on two things; Programmes and Resources.

In order for the sport to progress there needs to be programmes. This seems simple enough but is clearly lost on some people. Programmes need coaches and the the coaches aren’t there because of lack of resources.

Before talking in about resources (money) lets look at a programme structure. There is an argument (based on some desktop research carried out by myself) that GB should focus only on elite, by this I mean world cup, athletes. Once an athlete of suitable standard has retired from alpine or wants a change then they could be supported in ski cross. Essentially then GB would be supporting a very small programme for elite ski cross athletes and not focus on developing younger athletes. This is an easy case to make and there is data to back it up. It would work in the short term but there is no long term focus on the sport.

I prefer a second option which is to create a pathway to develop athletes in ski cross from entry level to world cup. This is the more expensive and resource heavy option but in my opinion is better for long term of the sport and for British skiers. This approach can only work through careful management and partnerships. It requires home nations working together with GB, working in close collaboration with alpine programmes, academies and clubs. As I said in part 1 alpine teams exposing athletes to a bit of ski cross acts as talent id but the next question is where to place athletes who decide they want to go for it in ski cross. A single integrated ski cross programme run by the home nations with GB support to develop athletes at FIS and Europa Cup level would provide this platform. I have the evidence to support this approach. This approach is more expensive but I’ll come on to that.

So if there is some cross working, one programme rather than competing programmes which will never exist due to costs and athlete numbers then we might be able to do something. This programme can then feed into a world cup programme. The key to this is it can pick up athletes who are identified and give them training and competition support as well as providing a vehicle for athletes who want to try out the sport on a trial basis.

So how do we resource this? Well….GB has had fantastic support though TASS (talented athlete scholarship scheme). If support continues there then there is some financial help to pay coaches as well as performance services for selected athletes. Athletes will have to contribute financially, this is the world we live in but if there is one programme then those finances go to the one place and can build a stronger programme. There isn’t the number of athletes or level of finances out there right now for Scotland, England and GB to all separately fund programmes but by working together there might be a way to get 10-12 athletes together to build something.

Perhaps this one programme might also attract a bit of sponsorship. Everyone races for GBR, not England, Scotland or Wales…maybe I’ll avoid that issue for now!

The main stumbling block right now is coaching. Coaches have to be paid. Without coaches there are no programmes. We can have managers all over the place but what exactly will they be managing?

Work together-build a central pathway through one combined home nation/gb programme-get athletes and funding in the one place-we can resource a programme.

I’ll shut up now.

 
2 Comments

Posted by on January 3, 2012 in Coaching, Coaching Science, freestyle, Random, Ski Cross, skiing, Snowsports

 

Ski Cross in GB. The way forward?

19 Dec

I was lucky enough to be involved with the GB Ski Cross Team since late 2007. Before Ski Cross (BSC) I was another cog in the alpine wheel working with entry-level FIS athletes, Uni Racers and trainee instructors. I love the sport of ski racing, I wanted to be an alpine racing coach but always felt that I wouldn’t get that chance in GB as according to lots of people in the sport, if you were a crap racer (As I most certainly was!) then you can’t coach. This attitude within ski racing in GB is one of its many problems, people won’t admit to thinking that but it’s there, trust me! Anyway, that is maybe for another blog. I, however, did my training as a coach in Canada. I was judged not on how I got down a hill as a spotty 17-year-old who had virtually no training time but on how I performed as a coach. This gave me the confidence to believe I could coach and I could make it my career.

Fast forward four years and I’ve now coached at World Cup, European Cup, set the course at the World Uni Games (the good one, not the bad one we found on that first inspection!) , commentated on my sport on live TV, built ski cross courses, gained a master’s degree in Sports Coaching, had the company of some of the finest minds in British sport and now I have a new job in performance sport.

Ok, so that was a bit of an ego massage so I’ll move on quickly. The point is, I took a gamble in a new sport, tried to do my best for it and the athletes if it wasn’t for ski cross then I wouldn’t be where I am now.

So on to the point of this blog. How does GB move forward in the sport of ski cross? How do we get British racers into the medal zone and how can we sustain that level of performance for the next generation of ski cross athletes?

I’ll break this down under some headings.

Performer base

If you look at the numbers of active ski cross racers in GB you’d be right in thinking it seems very low. GB currently has 9 registered FIS racers in Ski Cross. This is very low compared to alpine racers in GB but if you consider the notion that every one of these alpine racers could also compete in ski cross then it’s not as low as you might think. Take into account all the kids who play on the ski cross tracks dotted around the alps and you widen the base further. Finally, we shouldn’t forget the 60 or so skiers who turned up at the Scottish Snowcross champs at Glenshee last March and actually we don’t just have 9 racers. If we take all the alpine racers then we are sitting on nearer 900. The challenge is getting them into the sport!

Talent Identification

For the record, I’m a fan of alpine racing. I want GB to be up there; I want to see British racers rocking on the world cup but let’s be honest. It’s tough, really tough. I struggle to think of a tougher sport to crack for a Brit than alpine racing. Now, is ski cross easier? It’s far from easy, it’s getting harder with each season but my personal opinion is that it offers a greater chance of success for British ski racers than the traditional alpine disciplines.

One of the simplest ways to get expose more alpine racers into ski cross would be to get our home nation and gb junior teams to race some ski cross as well as alpine. Why not say to these racers “Ok, you made the team, you will have to race ski cross as well.” I can imagine this won’t go down well in some camps. Fine, give an opt out of parents are worried about it being dangerous. The benefits of this are simple. We can see who has the aptitude for ski cross early, it doesn’t cost much, it gets loads more athletes into the sport and coaches can see who would perhaps be better suited in ski cross and guide them in that direction early allowing more alpine resources to be focussed on those athletes who stand a chance of progressing in alpine.

Ski Cross camps would also work. Why not have an open trial? Get some fast guys to come and set some times and lets open it up and see who is out there. This isn’t a cheap option and would be best suited to the younger age groups but would allow the NGB to sell the sport to more athletes at a younger age. The most important part here is that it provides the start of a pathway in ski cross. Without this, there will continue to be a hit and miss approach! We could look to run ski cross races at alpine events. Simple fun courses for the mini’s, k1/k2 and why not run a FIS ski cross next around the alpine events? No doubt the calendar would need tweaked but it can be done. I hear of people complaining about skiers having too many races in a short space of time so we need to be careful with the scheduling but surely everyone can give a little to make this happen.

In short, if we can increase the competitive opportunities, we can increase the number of athletes and we can show that ski cross does offer a credible alternative to alpine racing.

Coaching

This is where it gets tough. Part of the reason there is currently no pathway in place is down to a number of factors. One of which is a very small pool of ski cross coaches.  In order to coach there needs to be athletes, in order for athletes there needs to be coaches. Catch 22. This is where it requires investment. The NGB needs to take a lead on this and employ a coach, they don’t have to be British! Sure, this isn’t cheap and the ££ need to be found for it but with this person in place there is a resource who can be used to help develop new coaches and build on the coach education in the sport. This step is vital. Without it, coaches will continue to operate on a self-employed basis and this doesn’t encourage sharing as why would you give up your knowledge to someone who might then take work away?

There is some research and models in place now for coach education in ski cross (that blog might come later) so it’s not the shot in the dark it was 4 years ago.

So…

1. Employ a national team coach

2. Develop a coach education system

3. Work with alpine race coaches to help build ski cross elements into alpine programmes.

I’m aware this is getting quite long so thanks for staying with me! I’ll build on this later in the week where I will add some depth the talent ID, propose a ski cross pathway and discuss the resources needed to build the sport in GB.

I’m not saying all my suggestions are correct but I hope the open some discussion. Many of you might ask why some of these things aren’t already in place. The truth is much of this is work in progress, nothing new is being suggested but perhaps by raising some of these things to the surface the pace of progress can be increased.

I’d like to finish “part 1″ by offering my thanks to every single athlete I’ve worked with, without athletes we have nothing. It was athletes who blazed the trail in this sport and I was lucky enough to be part of that. I hope its athletes who continue to lead the development (with a bit of help) of this awesome sport!

 
3 Comments

Posted by on December 19, 2011 in Coaching, Coaching Science, Ski Cross, skiing, Snowsports, sochi, Sport

 

Developing expertise in coaches

20 Apr

I’ve recently been considering expertise in coaching in relation to sports like my own (ski cross) which as yet don’t have any formal coach education systems.

Schempp and McCullick in Lyle and Cushion 2010 state that there is no substitute for experience when it comes to developing expertise in coaching.  The challenge for myself as a ski cross coach is “where does the expertise come from?”  Many coaches, including myself, have experience in the sport although the sport has changed significantly over the past few years.  Ski cross coaching in my experience comes from doing the job.   This does result in inexperienced ski cross coaches finding themselves coaching at a high level due to experience they have in alpine racing.

Schempp and McCullick 2010 go on to state that many coaches ignore the lessons offered by their experience but in ski cross this might be a good thing as many coaches just don’t have the experience in the sport.  I questioned my own experience in the sport and how this relates to my coaching.  Having competed in the sport, albeit in a different era, I had some experience to fall back on however in a one month block of training the athletes would complete more runs on a ski cross course than I had completed in my life.  Whilst this meant I had limited experience as a competitor, I did mean that I had been through the process of ski cross competition which was invaluable in my early days as a ski cross coach.

I drew heavily upon my alpine racing experience as an athlete and as a coach in terms of planning and structuring the training and competition phase.  I used the experience of ski cross athletes to help with the planning and training activities and I would say that much of my experience now as a coach draws heavily upon the past experience of my athletes.  The first season of competition was a learning experience as I learned that the schedule of ski cross races placed many unexpected challenges on the athletes which led to changes in the program for my second season as a coach.  In a new and ever developing sport it is important to be very open minded, use your own experience, learn from the experience of others (athletes and coaches) and to be prepared for the sport to change direction suddenly.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on April 20, 2011 in Coaching, Coaching Science, Ski Cross, skiing, Snowsports, Sport

 
 
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