Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Team Management | Tags: coaching, inspirational coaches, belief
When you watch the best rugby coaches in action, there is something special about their delivery. They have an inner belief that makes what they say worth something.
I have been researching the methods of the delivery and persuasion for a number of articles in Rugby Coach. The simple idea of true belief in what you are saying still has a compelling case for the most important way of inspiring your players.
Coaching from the heart does not mean you need to be messianic in your delivery, or slightly mad in your manner. However, when the players look into your eyes, what will they see? If they’re perception of you is that you are confident, then this is part of the battle. If the perception is then that you also care deeply about what you are saying and why you saying it, the impact will be stronger.
Balance that passion with patience and player centred coaching and you will be amongst the best!
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Training | Tags: funding, facilities, training. rugby coahcing resources
The UK papers are full of the news of the shortfall in funding for the top athletes. The credit crunch is squeezing the government’s coffers and the Olympic hopefuls are going to struggle.
There is only a finite pot of money out there. It has to be spread wisely. The argument goes that the top sports people inspire others to go out to play sport. Hence we should fund them.
Grassroots sport is not so sure. Loads of players turn up and for what? Poor facilities and a lack of coaching and refereeing resources.
I watch and hear about valiant parents coping with loads of kids. Many they struggle.
Streuth, I coach a mini’s team with two other teachers a group of 20 delightful kids and that is hard enough. We have hired an astroturf, but we can’t do proper contact.
Resources must be invested in our facilities and coaches. Better prepared coaches create a sporting legacy that will endure for generations. That is where some of this valuable spending should go.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: coaching rugby tactics, rugby strategy
On Saturday, I sat in the crowd at the Millenium stadium surrounded by good natured fans from Wales and Australia.
Good natured but NO IDEA about how the game should be played. They bemoaned kicking tactics, taking contact and other such decisions which I knew were the right decisions.
And then I thought, perhaps they are right? Who am I to say they are wrong?
Some coaches are so certain they are right, it makes them sound right and the players believe it, enact it and, hey presto it works. If it doesn’t work, then it is due to the referee, weather, injuries or just poor execution.
Other coaches are so worried they might be wrong, they fuss and fiddle, so the players are confused and they don’t know whether they were right or wrong because no one made a certain course of play.
So which coach are you? Are you certain you are certain or certain you are uncertain or uncertain whether you are certain or uncertain?
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: coaching, frustration, losing
coaches despair, originally uploaded by pars_man_craig.
This picture tells us plenty about the role of a rugby coach:
1. Passion.
2. Despair.
3. Frustration.
The coach has turned from the pitch - was it a mistake, a referee’s decision, the end of a game?
But for every moment like this, remember the ups. It should make it all worthwhile.
PS: I am the world’s worst referee. The judge: My 8 year old son who I had just reffed to a 4 try to nil loss.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: Martin Johnson, RFU, All Blacks, England, Mike Corn, Secrets of the Front Row, Coaching Rugby DVD, How to Win the Lineout, Doug McClymont
In a remarkable piece of good luck (and you can decide for yourself who was the lucky one) I bumped into Phil Vickery and Steve Borthwick yesterday.
I was on my way back from a meeting in Bramley with the Rugby Coach publishers and an old friend of mine asked me to meet up with him. He is a football fan (well he supports Chelsea anyway) and he said he would see me at Pennyhill Park Hotel.
On my way I remembered that the England rugby team were staying there but thought little more of it.
I arrived, walked into the hotel bar, and passed a serious looking Martin Johnson and his coaching team of Graham Rowntree and John Wells. Now in my bag I had my new DVD, “Everything You Need to Know For Coaching Rugby“. I decided this was not the moment to hand a free copy over to Johnson.
I caught up with my mate and we laughed at the coincidence. Then in walks Phil Vickery. Phil has just endorsed our Secrets of the Front Row report, plus given us some signed shirts from his Raging Bull business. I went over to him to say thank you. And also to give our new How to Win the Lineout book which I had as a spare copy in my bag. And in walks Steve Borthwick. Both are charming men and Borthwick jokes about the need for the lineout book, though it is safe to say that it is one area England can feel quite pleased with.
So after a brief light-hearted exchange, I return to my friend, leaving the book with the England forwards. So I expect the England lineout to be in good hands tomorrow!
The coincidences didn’t stop there, because when I arrived home, I had an email from Doug McClymont, who worked with Mike Cron, the All Blacks scrum guru. He has just sent me the methods that make the New Zealand scrum one of, if not the best set piece in the world. More on that in the next Rugby Coach Newsletter…
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Training | Tags: delivery, learning environment, Rugby Coaching, voice control
This week at the Rugby Coach office we received a call from a new coach: How do I go about delivering a rugby coaching session? He had never coached before but had played a number of years ago.
Most of you will have some sympathy with his question. We all had to coach our first session once upon a time. I expect you had two experiences. First, you suddenly had to look after a session when the main coach didn’t turn up. Second, you knew well in advance that you were coaching a session and spent every waking moment thinking about what to do.
If you were lucky, you faced the second situation and had the benefit of going on Level 1 course.
But it pays to think about the basics of delivery, the “How to” skills because we can easily get lost in the detail of the techniques and skills. Players are still having to learn and we can accelerate this learning through better “How to” methods.
I am actually not formally coaching anything until next Monday (though watching plenty of rugby in the meantime), so I am to concentrate on my delivery for the next session. I know some of the players read this blog but I am not afraid to say I am going to make sure I work on these two aspects:
1. The quality of language emphasised using different levels of volume.
2. The pace of the session, to maintain a balance between consolidation and advancement.
I will report back on Tuesday.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, top tips | Tags: rugby motivation, praise, rugby top tips
My second rugby coaching top tip for the season:
#2 Learn five new ways to praise a player.
It keeps your language fresh and motivates the players when they hear something slightly different.
Here are five:
1. “That was the best {pop pass} you have done today”
2. “You looked like you enjoyed that, well done”
3. “Did that feel good?”
4. “What an improvement!”
5. “You are on top form today”
Click here for Top Tip #1
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: coaching rugby, Danny Cipriani, rugby kicking
High profile players inevitably draw the most attention. Danny Cipriani, the England fly half, is certainly one. He has had three charged down kicks leading to tries in his six internationals.
Not a great strike rate. But his problem is common to fly halves who are long legged. He needs to adjust his kicking style to accommodate the longer levers when clearing the ball.
In normal circumstances, he will receive the ball in time to strike it with no pressure. However when he receives a poor pass with a defender bearing down on him, he should consider the following:
1. Half a stride steps to kick rather than normal steps.
2. Kick at an angle and not straight downfield.
3. Drop the ball from a lower height.
4. Run sideways to step into the kick and not run upfield.
And use my kicking practice from the Coaching Rugby manual, a video of which is out on Friday!
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Team Management | Tags: Rugby Skills, Munster, winning rugby, All Blacks, rugby game plans, Thormond Park
On Wednesday night, the Young Osprey Under 16 team (the team I help coach) beat the best of the rest (the players who did not make the squad) 42-13.
The pattern of the game did not surprise me or the other coaches, and we were 8-6 down at half time. This was in part due to excellent spirit, endeavour and organisation of the opposition. The second half was a different story to the first, and the fitness, strength and speed of the senior boys was too much to handle.
The key reasons why we didn’t win the first half though were:
1. Not executing the basics well - dropped passes and slow movement into set plays.
2. Getting undermined at the the set piece.
3. Not playing the game plan.
A determined opposition can disrupt all these areas, but your team needs to rise above it. Now that can be a big ask for a fifteen year old boy. That’s why you, as a coach, earn your stripes. Your influence can calm the situation, focus the players and maintain the equilibrium.
The half time team talk did just that. Actually it was a two tone talk, with the forwards receiving a little more of the “guts” talk and the backs on the execution and game plan. The second half speaks for itself.
And here is another game which happened the night before. Munster v All Blacks…similiar circumstances?
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, ELVs, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Team Management | Tags: ELVs, IRB, rugby development
The IRB meet annually to discuss the game. This year’s meeting takes place today and is at the Lensbury Club in London.
The IRB conference is focused on “development”. This list of topics makes for interesting reading:
Mark Egan, the IRB’s Head of Performance and Development is leading the forum.
“This forum will explore and debate a broad range of issues and challenges faced by the Unions on the ground. Ultimately, the participants are the practitioners, the people at the coalface of development; the people who help Rugby grow all over the world.”
“Blueprints will emerge from the debate and some optimal forms of action will be identified. In addition there will be seminars on legal and judicial matters, the Laws of the Game and Playing Regulations, on playing surfaces and clothing, on tournaments and competitions, on training and education, medical as well as development funding.”
