"Coaching is a mystery rather than a puzzle" - a conversation with Alex Twitchen

Alex Twitchen has spent all his life in coaching.

It is something that he has been able to combine as a career and as a practitioner. He is passionate about learning and development and is as passionate about helping other coaches develop as he is about the development of the players he coaches.

His most recent career move has seen him working in the 'University in the Cloud' so that he can bring more opportunities to help more coaches learn and develop.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode but here are some of the nuggets you will take away by listening...

• Jelly Tot Football

• Trashcan Challenge

• The 'Open Box' curriculum for coaches

• His new project to help coaches to develop other coaches

• The flow between games based and constraints led approaches

Lots to take away!!

Hope you enjoy

"I don't think you can go wrong if you give the players the tools to do it for themselves&q

Anastacia Long has had an amazing coaching journey!

In this enthralling story (that is straight out of the Hollywood archives!) she tells us all about her journey from going from being an elite high board diver to the novice rugby coach of a group of under 15 boys with no previous rugby experience, and how they went all the way to the finals of one of England Rugby’s national schools’ competitions.

In this episode she shares the way in which her coaching approach has evolved and developed and describes the ways in which she had to create an environment which asked the players to lead the activity and self-organise. The story also has some powerful lessons about the power of sport as a way to help bring young people together and develop their resilience and connection.

It is a tale of triumph against adversity, of bucking the trend, beating the odds. there is heartbreak and there is joy. As I said in the podcast, if any movie producers are out there, I want Executive Producer credit!!

I hope you enjoy

Investigating the concept of 'adaptability within adaptability' - A conversation with Shawn

The Superbowl is coming this weekend!!

As my excitement increases in the build up to the amazing global showcase of sporting endeavour and razzmatazz, I thought it was the perfect time to invite the human encyclopedia of all things movement skill in the NFL, Shawn Myszka (aka @movementmiyagi on Twitter) and author of the amazing blog 'Football Beyond the Stats' back on the podcast to share some of his insights on some of the star players of the season and geek out about skill acquisition and coaching.

In this discussion, Shawn shares some of the challenges he has faced this year facing up to some limitations in his coaching repertoire supporting athletes who are "hyper adaptable on the field but not hyper adaptable off the field!" He also dissects some of the star movers of the year, shares his approach to challenging players and taking them outside their comfort zone and we explore some deeper concepts around adaptability.

This is one not to be missed.

Go Pats!!

Some stuff from Saquon Barkley to drool over!!