A return to Coaching Conversations, this one with Akin Lord who joined Basingstoke Town as an Academy coach in July 2016. Akin is a UEFA B Licensed coach and BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching graduate, completing his undergraduate degree at Leeds Metropolitan University. Akin is currently studying a part-time masters in Athletic Development and Peak Performance at Southampton Solent University. At 24, Akin is an ambitious young coach and has spent the past 3 years working within the highly regarded Coerver Coaching programme. Akin also enjoyed spells working at Chesterfield FC, Farnborough FC and The FA Skills. Akin enjoyed relative success in his playing career, playing for a number of professional and semi-professional football clubs including: Kidderminster Harriers FC, AFC Wimbledon, Staines Town FC, Kingstonians FC, Fulham FC, Wimbledon FC. He also played and coached at Leeds Metropolitan University, where the football programme is ranked 2nd in the British Universities and College Sports standings.


When you transitioned from playing to coaching what was the biggest adjustment you had to make? 
Identifying that the standard of players I am coaching are not the same standard of players I played with. I.e. Certain drills/session ideas I participated in as a player were not appropriate for the players I was coaching. I recognised that I come from a playing performance background where the result meant something. The players I initially coached were playing for fun and participation alongside still learning the game
 
How would you describe your coaching?
Holistic - a multidisciplinary approach
 
What experiences have most contributed to you coaching the way that you do?
Informal - Experiences and reflection, imitation and apprenticeship
Formal - Time bound, facilitated, assessed, institutional
Non - Formal - CPD, Workshops, seminars, clinics, conversations, observation

What areas of your coaching would you prioritise to continue working on and improving in the coming years?
Communication - Had a stutter since childhood
Observation - Would like to continually observe other coaches/leaders from other sports, business etc.
Develop a greater tactical understanding of the game and how to develop situational practices rather than drills to help improve player performance on match day.
 
How did you find your BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching and are there any elements that still impact your day-to-day coaching life?

• Developed a greater understanding of self and academic theory based problem solving
• Developed a greater understanding of coaching pedagogy. Acknowledgement of academic theory and practice of education
• Developed understanding of technical and tactical skills in sport for children and young people
• Developed understanding of coaching process and practice in applied contexts
• Developed understanding of the bio-psycho-social needs of children and young people in sport

The Who, What, How Principle (Abraham et al ., 2009)
Who - ‘Who’ am I coaching? Understanding of learner (Needs and Wants)
What - ‘ What’ am I coaching? Understanding of curriculum (Skill and knowledge of the role)
How - ‘How’ am I coaching? Understanding of learning environment (Activity structure and coaching behaviour)
 
What are your thoughts on the formal coach ed available to coaches within football (FA, UEFA license etc)?
The current FA formal coach education format has been recently reviewed and I believe they have improved for the better. The removal of final assessment and instead the coach educators support coaches within their own environment.
My UEFA B experience highlights that. I saw some very good coaches fail on the day of assessment because they didn’t meet the criteria of the coach educator (Even though the participants were us coaches and we had to participate in 27 other 45 minute assessments). Some coaches choked on assessment day and failed, where I have seen them before on summative assessments and perform extremely well. I missed the assessment due to have a knee operation two weeks before the assessment day however when I recovered from my operation, I received support in my own environment and developed as a coach by getting support how to develop my players at my own club.
Also some coaches on the course coached U14’s,15’s etc and they were expected to coach men, where some may have had no experience in doing so. Whilst completing my UEFA B License, my coach educator videoed my session and watching myself back on DVD was a powerful education tool.

You work within a football Academy and the amount of players who make it to football's professional ranks is notoriously small - how does that impact on your coaching and treatment of players, if at all?
My coaching environment is slightly different as my club is semi-professional, so the players already have a slight realization they’re not going to turn professional.
The first aim for the majority of my players is getting a first team contract (The 1st team are full time). This impacts my coaching and treatment of the players with regular reminders of their behaviours and actions - I.e. Would they do the same thing if they were with the first team?

In 2015 I did a Coaching Conversation with Miguel Rios who commented that "too often football academies are run on fear - the fear of being released". Have you found this to be accurate in your experience and, if so, does it inhibit the learning and development of some players?
My previous experience within a professional academy there was more a “fear” from the parents than the players. This inhibited the learning and development of the players as their focus was elsewhere. Education to the parents is important so this “fear” doesn’t relay to the players and effect training/match day performance

Are there certain elements (coaching or club/environment) that you think are crucial in developing young players? 

• Freedom
• Opportunity
• Flexibility

 
I know some people who have worked within professional football and have heard that as a sport it can be quite resistant to change or new ideas at times - is this something you have found to be true?
Yes, the old notion of “we’ve always done it this way” and coaches/players aren't always receptive to new methods/ideas. However, they need educating as always doing a certain task one way will only produce a certain type of result. Allowing/adapting to a change will allow the scope for different successes/failures.
Football is open to new ideas regarding sports science/performance analysis etc as this field is still growing and developing. However, training methods/periodisation, coaches and players are still resistant to change.

What Steve Hansen can teach leaders about empathy, on McAlpine Coaching
- Empathy is more than to sympathize, it allows people to use their knowledge to improve their companies in subtle but important ways.
- How to cultivate empathy?
1. Listen deepy and actively
2. Be curious
3. Be vulnerable
4. Work on your self-awareness
5. Put yourself in other people's shoes

Why do you make stupid decisions.... on TheConversation
- One reason for making stupid decisions is our inbuilt cognitive biases = we make quick decisions then seek to prove ourselves right.
- Humans tend to avoid Cognitive Dissonances = if a fact doesn't fit our beliefs, we seek to change the fact rather than our belief.
- A further reason to ignore experts us to avoid social discomfort, it is easier to rely on the judgments of our peers instead.

Leadership lessons from the All Blacks, on i-l-m
1. Build a "We" culture
2. Empower your teams. Individual responsibility. Create a self-managing, self-improving environment.
3. Create an environment where individuals learn to make great decisions.
4. Make it fun.
5. Get the mindset right.

Captaincy: Why authenticity matters, on espncricinfo
- Many different approaches to leadership. "Only prerequisite is a degree of authenticity. So long as the captain is being himself, he has a fighting chance".

Why cultures beat policies every time, on growingleaders
- A new culture creates a new normal
- Culture is shaped by:
1. Action and behaviour of leaders
2. What leaders pay attention to
3. What is rewarded and punished
4. Allocation and attention of resources

Seven tools for thinking....  on learningspy.co.uk
This is a series of 7 blogs commenting on Daniel Dennett's 7 Tools for Thinking.
1. Use your mistakes
- trick to making good mistakes is to not hide them. Savour your mistakes and delight in understanding what led to them.
2. Respect your Opponents (Principle of Charity)
- The Principle of Charity is to assume, until proven otherwise, anyone who disagrees with us is as intelligent, informed and ethical as we are, and we should strive to interpret their claims and evidence in the most positive way possible.
3. The "Surely" Klaxon
- Use of the word "surely" often indicative of weak point in argument.
4. Answer Rhetorical Questions
- Rhetorical questions show willingness to take a short cut. Pursue the line of reasoning, is there an unobvious answer to be considered?
5. Employ Occam's Razor
- "All things being equal, simplest solution is usually the best one"
- "It is pointless to do with more what is done with less"
- Remember it is only a heuristic device and proves nothing
6. Don't Waste Time on Rubbish
- there is plenty of substandard if you look for it. Don't waste time with it, focus on the best stuff you can find and critique that to learn.
- Don't trust sweeping statements. In a complex system, average isn't very useful.
7. Beware of "Deepities"
- Deepity = proposition that seems important, true and profound, but achieves this by being ambiguous.
- Something may sound profound but is it bland to the point of being meaningless? Avoid ambiguity.

Perception-Action Podcast, Episode 18a with Mark Upton
- Interesting area of research is coaches and pressure - mood profiling, sleep, physiology. How coach manages self is increasingly important. The "less is more" of high performance goes against prevailing sporting culture of "more is more". An example might be Olympics, prep starts months out. "Choking" may start then, really early rather than in the event itself.
- Strategies for better managing self = sleep, exercise, hobbies
- Constraints approach and dynamical systems. Players need to self organise under constraints. Manipulate the task, emotional state, physical intensity, environment, social etc.
- Complexity Theory. Complex vs Complicated. Complicated requires blueprint to get it right, Complex involves social interaction and uncertainty (eg. Raising children). It is hard to forecast ahead so stay in the moment and focus on how to manage the complexity. Coaching = grey and uncertain.
- Obliquity = aim for something but discover something else en route. Goals best achieved indirectly.
- Skill Acquisition. Important thing is engagement. Big question is what will engage them, not just the practice design.
- Phil Jackson. Players need to disconnect from coach so they are perceptually attuned to teammates and game. Players have to figure it out alone.
- When addressing a problem, define it and tidy it up. Observe well, have good conversations with many people.
- Put self in the player's position - what are the perceptual demands and common situations they face?

Relearn 3 - Perspective, on Drowning in the Shallows
- Gain insight into athlete's perspective rather than enforcing our own.
- Seeing their perspective, we have better chance of developing buy-in and commitment in a way not reliant on compliance, manipulation and persuasion.

How Thomas Tuchel turned around Borussia Dortmund, on FourFourTwo.
- "The team is the star, not the coach"

Glasgow's Gregor Townsend the leading light.... on the Guardian.
- "good coaches always look at ways to evolve and learn".

Overcoming fear in sport: Creating a mastery environment, on BelievePerform
- Research: highly ego oriented towards sport can have negative consequences with performance anxiety and fear of failure. Task oriented takes greater enjoyment and play for personal satisfaction, learning and developmental purposes.
- Goal orientation influenced by the environment players are subjected to.
- Mastery environment = winning is a bi-product rather than the sole aim.

Game Sense Coaches, by Dan Cottrell on Coach-plus
- Good game sense coaching:
1. Have a structure
2. Clearly define rules
3. Allow time for game to develop
4. Adapt rules to include players
5. Play right length
6. Allow chance to reflect
7. Prevent consequences of sloppy play
8. Return to the game in the future.

The effect of physical and academic stress on illness and injury in Div 1 College Football players
- weeks of the season categorized into three levels:
1. High physical stress (eg. preseason)
2. High academic stress (eg. weeks scheduled with exams)
3. Low academic stress (eg. regular season, no exams)
- Results:
A) Odds of injury restriction greatest during high physical stress
B) Odds of injury restriction during high academic stress are double that of low academic stress
C) Difference in injury rates in all athletes for high physical stress and high academic stress disappeared if only consider those playing, suggesting high academic stress may have increased effect on playing athletes

Championship coaching starts with relationship building, Dr Wade Gilbert, on ASEP
- Relationships a top priority
- Jill Ellis US Women's Soccer lauded for her open and honest communication style. Emphasis on learning to connect with players in a way meaningful to them
- Steve Kerr of Golden State Warriors: Xs and Os is relatively small part of coaching, 80% is relationships and atmosphere
- Building relationships is an act of courage - the courage to be vulnerable

Hidden Brain Podcast, Episode 22. Originals with Adam Grant, on NPR
- Differece between the great and the ordinary isn't that the great have great ideas, but simply have more.
- Greatest originals are those who failed the most because they tried the most - not that originals have higher hit rates, just more volume with more variety so have a better chance of success
- Many people fall in love with their first idea, which are often the most conventional. You need to weed out the familiar to get to the original. Furthermore, it is hard to judge own findings - need to put our ideas out there for judgement and feedback.
- Fostering creativity = values over rules. High standards.
- Rules = people learn to follow and accept status quo.
- Downside to originality = too much of a good thing and everyone marching in different directions. "Pioneers need settlers".

A coaching system that will help you C the light, on connectedcoaches
- 5 main elements: Connection, Confidence, Competence, Character and caring, creativity
- Jon Woodward = on connections "You have to relate to the person and the sport. If there's no connection there, there will be very little development".
- STEPS framework = Space, Task, Equipment, People, Speed

Let the creative sparks fly, with Richard Cheetham, on connectedcoaches
- Create an environment where it is safe to fail
- Players take ownership and devise/adapt sessions
- 3 stages = Discover, Develop, Consolidate
- Environment where they make mistakes and learn from them encourages them to be robust and resilient
- "Direct instruction equals less coaching"

Formal vs Informal Coach Education, by Mallett et al, 2009
- Ongoing issue about most efficient and effective means of aggregating and accrediting the coach's varied learning experiences.
- Research has shown that coach ed/accred is less valued than experiential learning and other less formal opportunities
- Learning mediated by Knowledgeable Other so learners have less control over what is delivered and learned.
- Debate of F vs In has little value as coaches need access to varying educational opportunities
- Growing evidence that coaches "feel" more learning taking place in informal situations

Formal, Nonformal and Informal Coach Learning: A Holistic Conceptualization, by Nelson et al, 2006
- Formalised learning episodes were found to be relatively low impact endeavours when compared to informal, self-directed modes of learning

Sources, topics and use of knowledge by coaches, by Stoszkowski and Collins, 2015
- Results revealed coaches preferred coaching knowledge from informal learning activities, especially with social interaction.

Emotional intelligence integral to becoming a great coach, on connectedcoaches
- Emotions drive thoughts, thoughts drive behaviour, behaviour drives performance
- The more you know your player, the better you can coach them.
- Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand and control emotions to be able to perform to absolute potential (Catherine Baker)
- A key term in Emotional Intelligence is Self-Awareness.
- Top tips:
1. Understand your EI make up
2. Work on behavioural agility
3. Reflect!
4. Practice adapting behaviour to the person you are coaching.

No foul mouths on this field, on NYtimes
- Jimmy Graham on Carroll's Seahawks = "here, they feel like you guys are already men and we're going to treat you like men. It's literally all positive reinforcement."
- Gervais' psych and emotional input possible as Carroll built a team that valued keeping an open mind.
- Carroll and his staff are "supportive and nurturing"

How to increase mental toughness: 4 secrets of Olympians and Navy SEALS, on Bakadesuyo.com
1. Talk positively to yourself.
- Optimists have the view that bad things are temporary, bad things have a specific cause and aren't universal, it's not their fault.
2. Set goals
3. Practice visualization. Don't seek perfection, try to see problems you may encounter and how to solve them
4. Use simulations

Billy Bean on making better decisions... , on farnamstreetblog
- When he hired he looked out of sport to someone who didn't have his biases - Paul dePodesta was a Harvard Econ major.
- Remove the emotion from decision making - your own experiences are tied to an emotion. Take blind eye and look at things fresh. Don't make assumptions.
- Always analyze your process, make sure you weren't correct through serendipity but because the process is good and you are doing things properly.
- "I think, if anything, we certainly didn't fear failure, because we felt like going a traditional path was certainly the surest of failure based on revenues and the payroll we were on"
- Always analyze your foundation as culture and tradition are ingrained quickly. If you wrongly assume you are correct, it can really go awry.

Importance of friendship groups in sport, on SCUK
- understand young people's motivations for coming
- take time to understand friendship groups
- Encourage more/bigger/new friendship groups
- Allow time for social (media) breaks

The Rocky Road of Excellence, on changingthegameproject.org
- You must risk being uncomfortable to achieve something worthwhile
- Alan Stein = "Do the habits you have today match the dreams you have for tomorrow?"
- As coach, give players and team accountability. Hold to high standards. Make it tough, then be there after to debrief and understand outcome.

Greetings from Cub Med, on si.com
- Joe Maddon's Cubs Spring Training they seek to go about work with a collegiate confidence, a rapport in which the joy of playing together is greater than the burden of having to meet expectations individually.
- "Embrace the target". They welcome expectations.
- Joe Guru stressed Individuality and Authenticity. Spring Training isn't about reps but to think properly.
- 1st week Maddon has meetings with all players and he gives players the freedom to be most relaxed self.

Jameis Winston: What I learned, on MMQB
- A lot of what we did was just developing good habits

Drills. Why not? on rightbackonthebench
- Games based training works due to amount of touches, "players practicing everything the need to improve at football - practicing assessing the football situation, making a decision based on that assessment and then executing that decision all at the same time"

Is your feedback process false and failing?, on Coach Logic
By Allistair McCaw.
- A lot of coaches not consistent enough in providing honest feedback - regardless if nice or not.
- Many talk of 5:1 ratio in favour of positive comments, AM is more like 3:1 as need to be honest and realistic
- Eastern Euro coaches brutal honesty compared to US or UK
- Not 'criticize' but 'information'.
- Feedback centres around
1. Timing of it
2. Feedback based on facts, with proof
3. Feedback that is honest
- Lying to athlete and self if not giving the info they need
- "You don't improve with criticism, rather you improve with the right information"
- Effective communication 80% how delivered and 20% what.

Old Trafford kids buying into my philosophy, on DailyMail
- Louis Van Gaal - "I think being a teacher is part of my function as manager"

Reading the Game, by Ed Smith
- Team sports could do with more mentors and fewer touchline tyrants
- Standard assumption in sport that solution to under-performance is to focus on effort. Professional athletes as often try too hard as too little
- Best way to enhance team is, nearly always, to raise performance of individual players. Skill is the ultimate currency.

The X Factor, by James Counsilman, on foxsportspulse
- The Coaching X Factor is ability to see what needs to be done and doing it: cut through all the detail and get to the heart of the matter
- Great coach must have two basic abilities - good organizer and good psychologist

Pete Carroll Embraces Everybody, on Seahawks.com
- Let players experess themselves - "helping players be the best they can be"
- Not to do with sports, more parenting, mentoring and coaching.
- Person has much greater chance of reaching true potential if true to who they are
- Pete Carroll very demanding, but DEMANDING AND SUPPORTIVE

The Psychology of Success: Strategies for Coping on the Big Occasion, on connectedcoaches
- Everyone has psychological breaking point
- Simulating pressurised situations and discussing scenarios that may trigger fight or flight response is critical
- Learn to expect natural bodily response and devise routine to stay calm
- Champions don't raise game in defining moments, they maintain it
- High threat situations sees perceived challenge increase through negative self talk and lack of self belief

No Pressure, No Diamonds: GRIT, on medium
1. No pressure, no diamons
2. Grit composed of willpower, mindset and passion
3. Someone always chasing you
4. Be your best when it matters most
5. Creative Grit - reframe exhaustion as a positive
6. This is Water - gap between thought and emotion, replace with positive thought
7. Fear is your constant companion

TED Radio Hour Podcast: The Money Paradox, on NPR
- Dan Pink talks about Candle Problem by Sam Glucksberg - incentives. With the first group they set norms, second group had financial incentive to be faster BUT they ended up taking longer
- Financial incentive dulls thinking and inhibits creativity: not aberration, constantly the same results appear. The "If-Then" Incentives either don't work or do harm
- "If-Then" Incentives gets attention and is easy to organise, but money narrows focus
- Approach better if based on intrinsic motivation:
AUTONOMY, MASTERY, PURPOSE
- "If-Then" have been effective but less so nowadays

3 Simple Yet Effective Ways To Teach Team Resilience, on fastcompany
- Resilience "process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress" - American Psychological Association
- 1. BE AN ALLY, NOT A CRITIC. Social support essential to buffer their collective stress
2. REMIND THEM WHY YOU'RE ALL IN IT TOGETHER
3. LET TRUSTED TEAMMATES CHOOSE THEIR DUTIES

The Semmelweis Reflex
= "reflex-like tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts established norms, beliefs or paradigms

7 Ways To Embrace Pressure, by John Haime, on playerdevelopmentproject.com
1. Close gap between practice and play. Targets and goals in training.
2. Thinking ahead to what you can't control creates fear
3. Align expectations with ability right now
4. Build confidence proactively
5. Stick to the plan
6. Enjoy environment and activity around you
7. Remember why you play

Hidden Brain Podcast Episode 15, on NPR
- Itzhak Perlman was teaching Mya Shankar Violin, she remembers him often asking "What do you think you should do to make it better? What tools do you have at your disposal?"
- He explained "the more you learn to think for yourself and how to make decisions for yourself, better it is for the future"

Bruce Arians' philosophy comes from Bear Bryant, on ESPN
- Great coaches have two gifts = to be able to see, and to motivate/inspire
- "Coach 'em hard, hug 'em later" Bryant's parting words to Arians
- Bryant and Arians keen on work-life balance for their staff, "A happy family made for a better football coach"

Bruce Arians knows only one way, on ESPN
- BA "I'm having a blast every day....because I'm not coaching for my next job". Philosophy based upon "Coach it like you stole it"
- On his staff, "guys can do their job if you let them"
- Work-life balance crucial. "All that sleeping in the office stuff - guys can only learn so much"
- Encourages players to ask questions. If the coach can't tell you why you're doing the drill, don't do it.

TED Radio Hour Podcast - Courage, on NPR
- Margaret Heffernan:
"The most dangerous thing in organisations is silence - it's all those brains whizzing around full of observations, insight and ideas that are not being articulated"

Freakonomics Radio Podcast, on WNYC Studios
Episode How to be Less Terrible at Predicting the Future
- Philip Tetlock's 10 Commandments for Aspiring Superforecasters
1. Triage = focus on the questions where hard work is likely to pay off
2. Break seemingly intractible problems into tractible sub-problems
3. Strike right balance between inside views and outside views
4. Strike right balance between under and over reacting to evidence
5. Look for clashing causal forces at work in each problem
6. Strive to distinguish as many degrees of doubt as problem permits but no more
7. Strike right balance between over/under confidence, prudence and decisiveness
8. Look for errors behind mistakes but beware of rear view mirror hindsight biases
9. Bring out the best in others and let others do the same to you
10. Master the Forecaster Balancing Bicycle: can't learn to ride a bike by physics books, learning requires DOING with good feedback leaving no ambiguity about whether you are succeeding or failing.

Wax on, wax off: Way to movement Mastery? By Shawn Myszka, on footballbeyondthestats
- Early in career he bombarded athlete with cues - PARALYSIS BY ANALYSIS
- When athlete thinks about execution too deeply before or during movement, speed of execution and control of positions is greatly hampered
- Focus on EXTERNAL CUES rather than outcome goals
- Intention is the key to perfection

The 6 'Es' coaches need for every session by Mark Watts, on elitefts
1. Be an EXAMPLE - be vulnerable, honest, have integrity
2. Bring all your EXPERIENCE
3. Create an ENVIRONMENT - permeates right culture and attitude to enable success at all levels
4. Communicate EXPECTATIONS - consistent philosophy and methodology
5. Bring ENERGY
6. Have EMPATHY

How to spark creativity in children by embracing uncertainty, on KQED
- if students can be made to feel comfortable with uncertainty, they are more apt to be curious and innovative in their thinking
- Recommendations for how:
1. Address emotional impact of uncertainty - FAILURE IS PART OF INNOVATION
2. Assign projects that provoke uncertainty = invite students to find mistakes, present info for alien viewpoints, provide assignments that they'll fail.

"I desperately want to be coached", on MMQB
- "any time you are raising your team's intelligence level, you're going to be able to be a more well-rounded football team"

How the Rams built a laboratory for Millennials, on wsj
- Use of technology
- Cater to shorter attention span = short meetings (purely informational) then out for run through
- Relaxed wake up times
- Emphasis on how to get players to focus and listen
- Focus on visual cues

How Nick Saban used psychology to build a dynasty, on UKBusinessInsider
- Saban focuses on "The Process" = simple but profound way of breaking down a difficult situation into manageable pieces
- "The Process" born in 1998 with team under-confident before a big game. It focuses on step-by-step thinking. The average play lasts 7 seconds = win those seconds then have a break, no focus on the scoreboard or end result.
- Keeping an eye on past or future creates either anxiety or dangerous comfort
- Rosen = "the most destructive phenomenon in sports is relief. It's typically followed by a decrease in performance"

Pep Guardiola an innovator and lateral thinker, on Telegraph
- Written instructions given to players to change tactics. Pep = "I needed to switch four players around, and rather than point out instructions to them 1 by 1, better they communicate with each other"

The key to coaching success: Love, on Whitehouse Address
- Vince Lombardi philosophy included a focus on Love
- "Mental toughness is Spartanism, with all its qualities of self-denial, sacrifice, dedication, fearlessness and love"
- "Love is...loyalty, teamwork, respect, charity"
- Quality of a great coach lies in ability to forge relationships with players while being able to persuade and convince the individuals to enhance their development"
- Modern society requires modern coaching
- Young people want to be talked to, not shouted at. They want to be respected. Yet above all they want to be loved.

The science behind effective coaching, on growingleaders
- 4 tools "new school" coaches can utilize:
1. Strength-based coaching = focus on developing their strengths
2. Visual-based = Visuals increase engagement and learning
3. Trust-based = give benefit of the doubt. Equations rather than rules
4. Relationship-based = connect with players individually. Cultivate personal power rather than use positional power

Successfully coaching today's player, on GaryCurneen
- Modern players are = highly confident, technologically savvy, independent thinkers, love variety, expect fast results
- Coaches should prioritise = constant feedback, individualised program, enjoyment, meaningful relationships

"To know when to intervene and when to say nothing is an art", on ESPN
- Mike Hesson ethos: emboldening players while remaining unobtrusive
- Playing at highest level need not be prerequisite to coaching = "If you haven't played you need to be able to look, learn, watch and absorb".
- "If you can't pass on the knowledge you have, it doesn't matter if you played 100 tests or none"

Arsene Wenger details philosophy, on Guardian
- "I'm a facilitator of what is beautiful in man"
- "The only moment of possible happiness, is the present. The past gives regrets. And future uncertainties."

Win Forever Chapter 12, by Pete Carroll
- Lane Kiffin and Rocky Seto young coaches tried to emulate the older coaches around them, but were "acting outside of themselves"
- PC encouraged them to stay true to their personality to be "most authentic and effective coaches possible
Chapter 13
- "Learn your learner". Create connections and relationships, observe and listen carefully to communicate in a way that best suits your learner

Role of the Coach : Learn and Develop, on lineoutcoach
Develop your coaching...
1. The right mindset
2. Appetite to learn
3. Learn from other sports
4. Practical is best

What is the role of a coach?, on lineoutcoach
- Know your role and do your job
- Player development
- Train to play the game
- Understand the players responsibility
- Provide core life skills

7 skills for becoming an emotionally intelligent leader, on General Leadership
- Daniel Goleman says five areas of emotional intelligence:
1. Self-Awareness
2. Self-Regulation
3. Motivation
4. Empathy
5. People Skills
The 'Big Seven' of the Emotionally Aware...
1. Patience
2. Compassion
3. Flexibility
4. Able to communicate more than just words
5. Trusting and trustworthy
6. Authentic
7. Respectful

The Sports Gene Chapter 2, by David Epstein
- Ackerman = skill acquisition, practice and improvement depends on the task. Simple task = people closer together, difficult = further apart.
- Variance = statistical measure of how much people deviate from the average

The Sports Gene Chapter 3, by David Epstein
- importance of vision and eyesight. MLB players may not have better reaction time than average population, "they do have the superior vision that can help them pick up the anticipatory cues they need earlier, making raw reaction speed less important"
- 2008 Olympic Games study by Laby and Kirschen: softball outstanding depth perception and better contrast sensitivity than any others. Archers had exceptional visual acuity but not great depth perception (target is far away but flat). Fencers very good score on depth perception (make rapid use of tiny, close range variations in distance).
This implies visual hardware is increasingly critical the faster the ball is moving. Good hardware increases download speed of software (practice)
- Future professionals traits also behavioural - practice more but also take responsibility for practicing better
- large and growing body of evidence suggests early specialisation not only is NOT required to make highest level but should be actively avoided

Tom WIlliams Interview, on fifteenrugby
- Good practice to open it up to players and ask them questions
- Primarily on the lookout for attitude in young players as a lot can be taught/learned in time

Steve Hansen on the art of coaching, on NZ Herald
- Coaching is an important balance of tactics/coaching and man-management/emotional intelligence to understand people
- Get to know people's culture to help understand them as individuals
- If you can acknowledge pressure if present then you can start to work out how to deal with it
- So many things can be learned when you lose, so long as you're open to it
- Job as coach is to create environment that inspires players to use motivation to get better = right balance of stimulation and fun

The Brave New Coach, on AFL Community Club
- There is a lack of bravery in coach and player development
- Elite coaches and X Factor players, bravery summed up in areas of Drive, Boldness, Colourfulness and Imagination. Also have accompanying factors of Care, Outstanding Preparation and Resilience
- Just because something has always been done that way, doesn't make it right
- Becoming a Brave Coach:
1. High Risk/High Reward. Accept mistakes. For every mistake, identify one excuse and two plans
2. Devil's Advocate role in all planning
3. Brave in appointments
4. Bold and imaginative coaches
5. Bold and driven coaches. Quality over quantity
6. Imagination. Atmosphere of optimism, smarts and inspiration
7. Feedback
8. Fun
9. Sports Science. Link of emotion to thinking/performance
10. Music
11. Care. Anxiety clouds learning
12. Time. Value those who do extra or different
13. Less training, more improving
14. Food
15. Medicos
16. Expertise. Don't be conservative
- Always try to learn and improve, surround self with best people and best ideas

After a particularly busy few months I knew I had to make time for a new Coaching Conversations opportunity and was delighted to be able to head to St Mary's University in Twickenham to meet Liam McCarthy. Liam lectures on the Physical and Sport Education undergraduate degree programme, and has an MSc in Sports Coaching from Leeds Beckett University. He has also worked as head of coaching for an NGB, four years with England Handball, which gives him a great insight into coach education and CPD. Our conversation allowed me to leave with just as many questions as answers and has prompted me to give serious thought to what I would like coach education to actually include and how it would most benefit working coaches...I'll try to organise these thoughts toward a future blog.
 
The below is loosely paraphrased from our conversation, and doesn't necessarily represent direct quotes:
 
What are your thoughts on coach education in an academic setting and also as run by NGBs? 
I don't really believe that NGBs should or can run coach education in its entirety, should that really be their remit? I’m not totally convinced. With England Handball we worked with 7 Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to recognise prior learning and provide a sport-specific top-up. We saw a better quality of coach come through our programmes; a model which i’d encourage other NGBs to embrace. Where the HEIs delivered what they were best at (coaching pedagogy, game design etc…) the NGB delivered what they were good at (technical, tactical models), providing context.  This works well in other countries too, where many European countries place greater value on what HEIs do for sports coaching; we have a long way to go in the UK i believe.
 
Is that something you think could grow? I'm not sure how many NGBs would want to lose the income from coach ed...
Generally speaking most NGBs weren't that interested to share that link between CPD and a university, which is a shame. We presented the model of coach development at conferences, with little subsequent uptake. I think there is an element of standardisation and control that they wouldn't want to lose either.  The irony for me is, there is a willingness to push complexity, chaos and ‘mess’ in player learning; yet when it comes to coach learning there seemed an obsession with linearity.
 
It may or may not be a contributing factor to their lack of interest, but there seems to be a bit of a disconnect between research and in-the-field coaches. Why is this?
I think the problem is that good research is very specific - it is studying this strategy, in this situation, with these people and looking at if/why it works. Coaches try to apply elements that they come across in research but it doesn't work because the context is different, they therefore disengage. There are plenty of coaches who want research to tell them what to do but that isn't really the aim of research, it is about trying to provide a rich and contextualised narrative of what is going on.
 
Is there any way this relationship could be improved?
Well I think there must be a common awareness that there are no golden rules for coaching, no silver bullet. The aim should be to take bits from research that appeal to the coach, try them out and marry it with past experience - we shouldn't want to have robots producing the same sessions. Learning is inherently messy and I feel we should be happier to embrace the complexity and take some responsibility for that. We need to produce more critical coaches and I often come back to the analogy of Cooks vs Chefs, which i was introduced to by Bob Muir and Andrew Abraham at Leeds Beckett. Cooks can be given the ingredients and a recipe and get on with it. There is a place for this, of course. However, we should want more Chefs who can make the best out of the situation they are presented with. 
 
Is there any way research could better help coaches in terms of accessibility and language?
Well, the language is the language, and I would encourage coaches to take responsibility for grappling with that. I always have google open when I’m reading, and always a pen to scribble on articles; rewriting sentences to make them meaningful for me. Coaches could be better helped with increased opportunity for mentoring and 1-2-1 analysis of their coaching and planning for the future. Leeds Beckett do some inspiring work in this field. I also know of FA initiatives where mentors are out there observing, supporting and reflecting with coaches. This is ace, and something which will go a long way to aid sense-making.
 
I've looked at a Masters in coaching a few times, would you recommend it? My main obstacle now is work and finding the time so I have considered studying an online Masters too...
The Masters I did was excellent as it kept everything in context and provided the chance to have a lot of 1-2-1 feedback. Deadlines for assessment were negotiable, as were assessment titles; the MSc at Leeds Beckett treats you like a professional. I appreciate the time constraints, however I don't think you can go totally online with learning, as tempting as it may be!
 
Are there any common themes you see among the young coaches on your courses here?
We have some brilliant coaches here at St Mary’s University; the programme is over 300 students strong, the majority practicing coaching weekly. We offer a 50:50 spilt on the programme between classroom and practical sessions; further we pride ourselves on having academic staff who are active too.  The students here are at a really interesting place in their education; for me, they enter as dualist thinkers and it’s about getting as many as we can over the line. This looks like producing relativist coaches who are constantly scaffolding knowledge, while understanding all knowledge is provisional! 
 
So what is it that you are looking for to determine if a student has managed to get there?
We use mixed modes of assessment, over a long period of time, to the point where we can really track the students progress.  The moments which make me most proud are when students are able to verbalise and write down their reasoning, rationale and self-critique. All of this being beyond a student delivering a good practical session in the field.
 
Looking back at my time at Bath, I'm not sure if I learned as such or just realised that I had to write in a certain way that the lecturers were looking for...
Our course allows students to learn in context with plenty of practical elements, mentoring, filming of sessions etc. They can really analyse their coaching behaviour in detail that way; using GoPro cameras and even a drone! We also utilise relationships with local schools to have them coach children they've not met before so that it is slightly more realistic than coaching their peers. On one module we are wanting the students to write an ongoing blog throughout so as to get them to express exactly what the content means to them as individuals. 
 
Are there any noticeable trends among the coaches that hint at what sport their background might be? If you didn't know them previously would you be able to watch their coaching and pinpoint that they are a rugby player, or netball, hockey....
That's an interesting question. I'm not sure really, certainly we see plenty of invasion games used in sessions which probably reflects their sporting backgrounds. During their time with us we hope to lessen the emphasis on the 'what' of coaching (from over-emphasis to a level which better reflects sports coaching) and focus more on 'who' and ‘how'.  We work with each coach to enhance their practice, i think that’s really important.  We’re not looking to diminish what coaches are doing, we want to improve it and provoke change where the student recognises it’s needed. This is a really long-term process, and again, why I really believe short NGB courses get nowhere near producing this level of learning. For learning should be about transformational change, not the acquisition of knowledge.