Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: level 1 course, rugby coach educators, WRU, youth rugby
The end of a coaching course is a new coaching dawn for many coaches. They come out of the course invigorated and ready for action.
And so they should.
The level 1 course is a must for any aspiring coach whether they have played international rugby or just put on their tracksuit for the first time to coach their child’s team.
I have just finished tutoring a course in South West Wales. I had six coaches in my group, all with a huge variety of backgrounds and ages. There was no variety in effort and enthusiasm though. It was, as it always is, refreshing to have such a positive attitude to learning, self-improvement and problem solving.
I was being assessed as well. All the “coach educators” are internally verified to help us deliver more effectively.
If anyone is venturing onto a level one course in the next few weeks, here are a few top tips beforehand:
1. Get plenty of sleep – they are long days, though they fly by.
2. Don’t worry about your rugby background.
3. Get stuck in to all the activities – push yourself, challenge yourself.
4. Be prepared to change your way of thinking.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: coaching, level 1 course, questioning styles, Welsh Women
What a rugby coaching weekend. Friday night was the first evening of a Level 1 course as a tutor, Saturday all day, coaching with the Welsh Women’s National Squad and Sunday, the second part of the Level 1.
It has been tiring, but exhilarating. And all those who I have been tutoring will tell you that I have already said the word that I didn’t want to say. More on that later.
Here are some of my reflections.
1. I delivered a presentation on “children in rugby and child protection”. It is more than a “I must listen because it’s my duty” session. Many key points came out which are worth remembering.
For me, it is the amount of contact you can have with the child, and by that I mean physical contact. Running around on the field with them can be dangerous for instance. We also debated holding tackle shields, and physical demonstrations.
2. On Saturday we worked on a number of areas of concern for the Welsh team. The mood was good, given the famous victory the previous weekend against England. However there was a good sense of focus on the coming fixture with France.
A lot of our exercises aimed to improve the intensity of training. One way was to make the players “self correct” as the drills worked through. Instead of lots of stop/start, feedback was on-the-go.
The coach hinted at and identified good and bad play and allowed the players to suggest solutions, as they moved from the end of one attempt to the start of the next. Far more activity and the players were empowered to coach themselves.
3. On Sunday, back on the Level 1 course, the coaches had their first chance to show their “how to coach” skills.
As part of my group, we had to cover warm up, 2 v 1, footwork skills and pass and catch. I did not coach one piece of skill throughout the morning. I showed the group one set up of cones to help the sidestep and that was it.
By questioning, I let them set up and coach all the skills. I was delighted with their response and in the afternoon, their more formal coaching sessions were very good.
What word was I trying not to say (and didn’t do too well at I must admit): “but”. Perhaps someone might like to tell us I was not trying to say “but”?
