|
Performance Coaching – Coaching
Outside of the Box
Until
recently Sevens Rugby has traditionally been known as an enjoyable
summer sport for 15-a-side players during the off season. However the
last few years have seen major changes as the game has raised its
standards and become more professional.
With the advent of the IRB
international series in 2000, the sport has gained greater worldwide
prestige, and along with the recent announcements, that Sevens will
become an Olympic sport again in 2016, and that a new National UK series
is commencing in 2010, has added impetus to an already unstoppable
growth pattern for the game.
So, this
calls for a massive rise in standards across the game, and one area that
is developing strongly in the new era is ‘Performance Coaching’. For any
team wishing to do well in today’s Sevens game, the old adage of 15’s
players, mostly backs, getting together at the end of the season to
practice “some moves” is dead and buried.
For teams wishing to achieve
elite status in the game by playing at some of the top tournaments,
performance coaching becomes even more important. Tactics for the Sevens
game are vastly different from 15’s and both players and coaches need to
appreciate a whole new game plan to succeed at the top.
So what is Performance Coaching?
In its base format Performance Coaching is a mix of:
This last point is a critical
aspect that focuses on encouraging the players to understand their own
game intimately so that the coach has more time to focus on strategies
and opposition threats.
The first two areas of goal setting and feedback are not covered
in this article but just to highlight their importance to any
budding coach, a sports psychologist named Bandura carried out
research into these aspects of coaching and found that when
employing both, the results were a stunning tripling of
performance compared to the control group (see chart). How many
training sessions have you ever attended where there were no
apparent goals or feedback sessions? By the way, feedback is
defined as “Two Way, Ask not Tell”.
So that moves us
on to Skills Coaching and it is here that you as a player, or coach
looking to improve your player or team skills, may need some ideas and
advice on the top level techniques that are available in today’s Sevens
environment.
|
 |
As the game becomes more and
more competitive, successful teams like the White Hart Marauders, are
creating their own tactics to give them an edge over the opposition.
These more successful tactics are then identified by the opposition,
redeveloped and built upon and so the game develops at an even faster
pace. This is creating a game which is constantly evolving and new
players and coaches need to learn quickly to compete in the top flight.
At this
stage no mention has been made of fitness. It is every player’s
responsibility to get themselves fit, and this applies to both
professional and junior clubs. Especially in Sevens where there is no
hiding place, an unfit player will get ‘skinned’ in the wide open spaces
that regularly appear. Quite simply you will be wasting your coach, team
and supporters time if you are not fit for Sevens. We will cover fitness
more fully in a later article.
While we are
obviously unable to unveil any of the Marauders current tactics and
playing techniques, we can give you the best advice in the game by
keeping you up to date with coaching developments and by referring you
to the http://www.rugbysevensguru.com website, run by Marauder Daniel Connolly. You
will be able to pick up hints and tips from top sevens coaches and
players, and by doing so help the game develop even further. Good luck
and good coaching!
The White Hart Marauders
|
You can
visit rugbysevensguru.com by clicking
here.... |
 |
Contact us for more info
|
