I think the power of the internet for sharing information and garnering knowledge is huge! However the potential of this in relation to quality coaching content is unfulfilled at this stage. One thing that seems missing to me is the lack of online presentation recordings from the numerous coaching conferences/courses/seminars/workshops that would be held around ...
coaching resources for Australian Football (AFL) and other team sports
Tag Archive: Skill development
More thoughts on developing “thinking players”
I recently produced a post on this topic and have since found some more good stuff to follow up with. First came a play in the recent AFL game between Collingwood and Richmond. This play shows experienced Richmond player Chris Newman (no. 17 in the black and yellow) looking away from the ball as ...
Developing “Thinking Players”
I recently gave a short talk to a group of year 12 students about how we go about training and playing at the elite level. I touched briefly on the importance of developing "thinking players" - players who have the ability, with or without the ball, to be aware of the important cues in the ...
Designing drills for AFL – applying a constraints-led approach
For those following some recent posts on training and the use of game-based activities (or "game-sense", "tgfu" etc), I thought it might be useful to provide an example of a practical implementation. In the video presentation below I use Australian Football (AFL) and a handball game as a practical example of how to implement concepts ...
Observing “off the ball” when coaching in training or games
Watch the video below for some thoughts on the importance of coaches observing "off the ball" during training drills and games. Interested in being updated via email of new content on this site? Click here
How do you coach during game-based training drills?
Recent posts on this blog have had a theme about training, and in particular "game-based" training (insert other terminology here such as "game sense", "tgfu", "decision making" if you want). It is a topic I am really passionate about. With that in mind I wanted to share an experience from our training session this week. It ...
Please, no more lanework drills!
I am not a fan of kicking lanework drills - in fact I think they may be the greatest misuse of training time imaginable. Some of the reasons for my dislike of lanework is that it practices a kicking scenario that is hardly ever seen in a game (how often does a player lead out ...
Coaches – learn to teach, not copy drills!
I won't write too much other than to say this is a topic I am really passionate about. In a nutshell coaches need to be taught and understand good teaching and learning principles to then apply in their coaching and practice - not rely on copying drills that have been handed down through the ages. ...
Does your training resemble the game?
You have probably heard of at least one of these terms - "game sense", "game based", "decision making","tactical approach" "TGFU", "game simulation". They all relate to the training environment and specifically refer to training activities that put players in game-like situations where decisions on what movement technique to produce have to be constantly made by ...
Coaches & Administrators Working Together
How do the coaches and the administration act and interact for the present and future well-being of your club? Do you have questions that are shared and discussed openly and frankly on an ongoing basis in relation to the key management principles you aspire to in order to underpin the decisions arrived at? Some questions you ...