Don't screw up the nuts and bolts of a coaching session
Jun 7, 2024
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Kris Stafford, a Rugby Development Officer and U.K Coaching award winner, joins the discussion about effective coaching strategies. He emphasizes the importance of valuing players and engaging with them personally. The conversation dives into creating supportive environments, using the STEP model for practice design, and balancing player guidance with autonomy. Kris shares insights on enhancing player huddles and leveraging all coaches in sessions, making game-based coaching an essential part of player development.
Coaches must prioritize valuing players and integrating them into the coaching process to enhance engagement and team cohesion.
Designing game-based practices that are relevant to match situations can significantly boost player involvement and skill development.
Fostering leadership within the team by empowering players to take on leadership roles helps cultivate ownership and enhances overall performance.
Deep dives
Upcoming Webinars for Coaches
Monthly webinars are scheduled to enhance rugby coaching skills, covering topics such as designing tackling programs and game-based strategies for success. Each session is designed to last for 30 minutes and aims to boost coaches' confidence and provide training ideas that have yet to be tried. Coaches are encouraged to engage with these resources to develop their skills and gain valuable insights. These webinars serve as a supportive community for continuous learning among rugby coaches.
Engaging Players in the Coaching Process
Coaches must focus on making players feel valued and involved in the coaching process to enhance their engagement in training. This includes taking the time to have individual conversations with players about their interests outside of rugby, which builds rapport and fosters a supportive environment. Genuine interactions can help coaches understand players better, allowing for a deeper connection that translates into improved performance on the field. By investing time in players' personal interests, coaches can create a more cohesive team dynamic.
The Importance of Technical Skills
While basic skills in rugby, such as passing and tackling, may seem mundane, they are essential for players to reach their full potential. Coaches should integrate these skills into practice design to ensure that players understand their relevance in actual game scenarios. Effective practice sessions should address the key principles that underpin these techniques, ensuring players not only perform the skills correctly but also appreciate their importance in gameplay. Encouraging this understanding among players fosters a more skillful and resilient team.
Utilizing Game-Based Coaching
Integrating game-based coaching can significantly enhance player engagement and skill development by making sessions more dynamic and relevant to real match situations. Coaches are advised to adapt drills to ensure that each player remains actively involved, regardless of their position on the field. By strategically designing games with constraints, coaches can motivate players to improve while also promoting teamwork and strategy. This form of coaching encourages players to think critically about their roles in the game and fosters a competitive yet supportive training environment.
Fostering Leadership Among Players
Creating leaders within a team involves recognizing individual strengths and encouraging all players to develop their leadership skills. Coaches should engage players in discussions about team dynamics and empower them to take leadership roles during practice and games. Establishing a structured leadership group can facilitate communication between players and coaches, ensuring that the group's feedback is constructive and focused on achieving common goals. This approach helps cultivate a sense of ownership within the team, ultimately enhancing performance and cohesion.
Dan chats to Kris Stafford, Rugby Development Officer at Leeds Beckett, MSc in Sports Coaching, U.K Coaching award winner, and host of the @bigbreakdownhq podcast.
In the podcast, they discuss:
Making sure the players are valued and integrated into the coaching process
How to genuinely engage with the players outside their sport
How to have entire team conversations
What a positive and supportive learning environment looks like
Ways to design a practice to make purposeful
Using the STEP model to develop practices
What is meant by the MOTs of the ABCs
Where to use a self-directed learning approach, where players spend time exploring and practicing key skills both with and without coach guidance
Where players need guidance and where they can take control
Using all the coaches in the session to run an effective game
How to make player huddles more impactful
To find out more about the The Big Breakdown: A Coaching Podcast, click here.
To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly
Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!
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