End of Week 4

Over view of week 4 

Monday: Combined resistance & plyometric exercise circuit.

Wednesday: Straight line plyometric session.

Friday: Strength training session.

Review of week 4 

Monday:

I want to keep the sessions exciting and I feel the teams technical ability to perform the exercises has improved dramatically over the past few weeks. Therefore today's session will be a combination of resistance and plyometric exercises in a traditional low intensity, high volume circuit. My main aim was to observe the athletes form but my secondary aim was for the team to get a good enjoyable workout, at the end of the session I integrated some inter-team races which played with their competitive edge they display on the field and consequently raised moral.

At the end of the lesson I handed out a 'coaching evaluation form' (Bouch, Duffell, Madams, Mash, Caillet, McMahon and Tupla 2004). I instructed the team to use only Part 1 of the form and requested for it to be anonymous. In addition, I asked for them to be as honest as possible as I am trying to improve my coaching ability, I also emphasised there would be not repercussions regarding the feedback. I requested the forms to be back to me by Friday so I can analysis them over the weekend and make any necessary changes.

Video of Monday’s sessions:

Wednesday:

Based on how well the format from last weeks session went, I continued in the same fashion this week.  However, my action plan from last week was to implement a lane of exercises rather than just singular exercise in order to increase class participation. The first 40 minutes of the lesson I emphasised that I wanted to see perfect technique, this layout was easy for me to assess the progress that each individual has made over the past few weeks. Furthermore, the benefit of this layout was when someone could not perform the correct process (e.g. CMJ with arms), I was able to get them to watch the other athletes and discuss where they were going wrong.

Friday: 

These session seem to flow very nicely, the opinion from the team is that they are adding mass so there potential for athletics is keeping them motivated, what else can I expect from a group of lads. I still have concern for a few individuals whom cannot be consistent with the exercise form. Below I have video one of the athletes who believes his deadlift technique is correct and it is not until I show him video analysis of how he is actually performing the exercise does he change his style (see picture). 

Summary:

The combined circuit on Monday received good verbal feedback and did not hinder the performance on the other two session so I am happy to continue with that format. The same goes for the plyometric sessions as the new format allows me get the most from the team. Friday session are taking care of themselves, I feel apart from correcting some athletes on their form there is little point me being there, I see this as a positive point and I am glad they are enjoying it.

My action plan:

I have received all the evaluation sheets from the team and I will analysis them over the weekend. I will produce a separate blog with regards to the outcome of the feedback and produce an action plan (if required) for my duration. 

Reference list:

Bouch, A,. Duffell, J,. Madams, L,. Mash, V,. Caillet, A,. McMahon, G,. Tupla, K,. (2004). Guidelines for coaching in organisations. Association for coaching.

http://www.associationforcoaching.com/media/uploads/publications/ACguideC.pdf

End of week 3

Overview of week 3.

Monday: Strength speed session focusing on technique.
Wednesday: Plyometric training - straight line circuit.
Friday: Strength training utilising the RM equation.

Review of week 3

Monday:

The aim of this lesson was to ensure the athletes thoroughly understood each coaching point for the 5 fundamental exercises that we used for the RM Equation (squat, dead lift, lunge, lat pull down and bench press), this should help with the smooth running of the Friday strength training days as the majority of exercises are based on these exercises. The teaching style for this lesson was a whole part whole. I would demonstrate the exercise in its entirety and then break the exercise down and teach each coaching point in sequence, after 2 - 3 coaching points the team would go and practise in pairs and coach each other to assist their learning (Vickers and Schoensted 2011). The use of the video camera became very useful during this session as I was able to break down, in slow motion, the exact movements the athletes are performing. Even though I would explain how to do the move and highlight when they were going wrong it was almost as if they didn't believe me until they saw it for them self on video. I am very happy with the standard of the team at the moment, a couple are struggling with certain aspects of the exercise but as a whole they are now very proficient in executing the exercise. 

Wednesday:

I had some minor problems last week with the athletes getting bored and becoming lethargic when performing the plyometric exercises, this can lead to a poor use of the SSC and have a negative effect in the improvement of power (Markovic 2007). Therefore, this session I controlled in a stricter manner and command the exercises and rest periods. In addition, my sole aim is for the team not to realise that I have done this change because of their poor efforts in the previous session as this could also have a detrimental effect on my relationship with them. This lesson worked very well, I could see that I got the most out of my team and they enjoyed they seemed to enjoy the lesson more, mainly because they were jumping side by side and seen it as a competition. Very good!

Friday:

This session was the second strength training session and I think the use of the Monday session has helped with today. All of the athletes have improved on their form and this lesson almost seems effortless. I am very impressed with the attitude of them and they seem to enjoying the lesson. This has given the thought to get some feedback, next week I am going to implement an anonymous feedback so I can determine how I am getting perceived and this will hopefully highlight any areas this I may need to work on.

Summary:

As a whole the week was good, I have actioned my points from previous sessions this includes speaking to graham reference the injury during game, after speaking with graham it was evident to see that there is no communication between the management of this team. Therefore, I have implemented a weekly meeting and set up a group mobile chat to prevent tis poor communication from continuing. I am really liking the use video analysis as it has helped again this week, coupled with the whole part whole teaching the team are really coming on with their application. 

My action plan:

I am going to research a relevant coaching feedback sheet, I will make this anonymous as I do not want the athletes to feel judged by their honest opinions The set up the plyometric exercises was singular so for next week I am going to try and use the whole hall and have changing exercises throughout e.g. CMJ into Single CMJ into low level Drop jumps.

Reference list:

• Markovic. G., 2007. Does plyometric training improve vertical jump height? A meta-analytical review. Br J Sports Med, 41, 349- 355.
• Vickers, B., and Schoensted, L. (2011) Coaching development: Methods for youth sport introduction. Strategies, 24 (4), p. 14-19