Movement Skills

Since September, the P.E Department at Bloxham School has been running two schemas of work during the Autumn/Winter term. The first half of term focused on types of fitness (strength, endurance, speed etc.) and how to define, measure and improve them; this is an area which the children had already been exposed to whilst at the school. The second half of the term’s main focus then fell onto Movement Skills. This was uncharted territory for both the children and the majority of the P.E department; however, with a structured and professional schema of work put together by Louis Yates, we found it to be very enjoyable and successful.

The below table gives you a small example of what was focused on during the 6 week half term

 

Lesson number	Overview	Objective
1	Flexibility – Static & PNF	To educate and perform static and PNF stretching
2	Flexibility – Dynamic, Flexibility in games	Educate about dynamic flexibility, and try to apply into games
3	Stability skills - Balance	Pupils practice balance, learn how to improve and apply to sporting situations
4	Stability skills – Jumping and Landing	Pupils learn the correct and safe Jumping + landing technique. This incorporates leg strength training and the teaching of the triple extension and flexion of the ankle, knee and hip joint
5	Stability skills – Rotation	Pupils should understand the importance of being able to rotate in a controlled manner. Also links into power development and catching/throwing ability.
6	Uncommon positions (extended, Inverted, Brachiated)	Pupils learn to “get out of their chairs” these poses are the 3 uncommon poses and are not completed enough in day to day life. You don’t need to use all 3 as Brachiated is hard to do. Examples are – Inverted: headstand/partner handstand/handstand. Extended: hanging/dangling/seal rolls Brachiated: upside down from feet

Unstructured - structured

As the age groups ranged from 11-16 during this schema of work, it was important to keep the training vibrant and fun throughout. The younger age groups were centred on more of a discovery style method of learning; as we progressed up the age groups the learning and training became more structured, with sets, reps and recovery time adding focus. As you can imagine giving 11/12 year olds the opportunity to hang off monkey bars needs no volume control; given the opportunity they will play on these for hours.  For the older students, the ownership was on them to plan and complete the sessions from start to finish, with the teachers advising them and offering support throughout.

Pupil Feedback

The most satisfying aspect of this schema of work was the feedback gained from the pupils. Compared to just being taught to play games, this was a new and exciting style of learning for them, which meant they had to actively plan the sessions, perform them within small groups, and then review/evaluate the work they had just performed. They were able to see the relevance of what they were performing and how all of these movements are replicated in the sports they play. More importantly the students were able to come away from the lessons with exercises/movement patterns that they will hopefully perform throughout the year and especially before games/competitions

 

The above picture is an example of a twisting lesson, most likely from a year 10 or 11 session. The whiteboard, which is probably our most important tool in the gym, is covered with ideas and work put on by the pupils. Giving them ownership in this way provides the majority of the teaching material for the lesson, and ensures their involvement throughout the lesson is maintained.

 

Conclusion

Overall this schema of work has been a huge success, considering how new and different it is, both students and staff were very happy with the structure and depth of the material. I hope that we can continue schemas of work like this in the future, as it brings back Physical Education to its roots, which is to equip children with a set of movement skills so they stay fit, active and injury free throughout life. My thanks go to Louis Yates for putting the Schema of Work together and James Marshall for exposing myself and Louis to many of these ideas.

 

 

 

10 Take Home Messages From A Graduate Sports Coach. Part 2

  The second part of my coaching review from my first year at Bloxham School.

   

     6.  Develop self-awareness through questions: I tend to use questions a lot with my coaching, both in the gym and out on the field. The main advantage is that it engages the child’s thought process; it is more ''we'' rather than ''me'' coaching. Traditional coaching has tended to sway more towards an authoritarian type manner; using questions with children tends to lend itself into a more democratic style of learning. It is also ignorant for the coach to believe they have all the answers. Sometimes just by asking questions you can possibly find out new ways of completing tasks that you hadn’t thought of before.

     7. Don’t let short term glory cloud your judgement: As a coach, it can be too easy to focus on the score line and the end result. However, especially with young developmental athletes, this should not be your only focus. Instead of being results dominated, try and be excellence dominated. Success can come in a number of fashions, not just on the scoreboard.  This also links into what I commonly see in gyms with young athletes; no focus on the long term or on a target. Instead the only focus is to work on the short term, to ''dominate'' a workout there and then. Everything you do needs to be working towards a collective end goal.

8. Every day is a battle against the x-box generation: Children are becoming more and more sedentary. The desire to get fitter, stronger and better at sport is higher than ever, but the lifestyle is not replicating that desire. It is very difficult to achieve much on the field or court when children are already showing bad habits in the classroom. For example, if you sit with poor posture for 6 hours a day, this will have a huge knock on effect on your chances of having a back complaint. Children are becoming more and more acclimatised to choosing convenience over hard work. It might not mean a lot to them now, but when they complain they are not seeing ‘’results’’ then all those marginal gains will add up. Being an athlete means being an athlete, not just in the weights room or on the track, but in the classroom, canteen and at home.

9. Generalise, don’t specialise: Too many children want to pack everything in and specialise in one chosen sport by the time they are in their early teens. This, to me, shows lack of education on the parents and child’s behalf. If you generalise early and play several sports during the school year, children will be better equipped by the time they reach their late teens and want to specialise. I see this trend especially with young rugby players who want to pack all sports in and live mainly in the gym. This attitude will lead to becoming a paper-thin athlete; highly susceptible to injuries and structurally weak. The more sports you play at a younger age will only increase your physical literacy, and your overall enjoyment of sport as a whole.

10. No one child is ever the same: Therefore don’t treat everyone the same. As a coach you have to be able dip in and out of your coaching toolbox, to accommodate for different learning styles and different personalities. Physically, children cover a wide spectrum, as soon as they walk through the door watch them move and you will start to pick up certain discrepancies they already attain. This also links into different stages of maturation, which have a huge influence on programme design towards a youth athlete. For example, most training and competition programs are based on chronological age. However, same-age athletes between 10-16 years can be 4-5 years apart developmentally. This means that training programs may serve some of them well, but work against the needs of others.

10 Take Home Messages From A Graduate Sports Coach. Part 1

As my first year has finished at Bloxham, it feels right to reflect on what I have learnt and what key messages I can take forward to my next year of coaching

1) There is a difference between Physical Education and School Sport: However, many teachers, pupils and parents believe playing competitive games constitutes P.E. The job of Physical Education is to make a child as physically literate as possible. Every child in this country is taught to read and write, the same is true for P.E; every child should be taught to run, jump, throw, twist, pull, push, squat, lunge, brace and rotate. But many people try to stick a child on a rugby pitch who can’t control his/her bodyweight, let alone other peoples. Without the appropriate physical comprehension, many children struggle to play competitive sport and as a result get injured or just drop out of sport all together. Baroness Sue Campbell summarised this concept very well at a conference I recently attended; P.E is a need to do subject, competitive sport is a nice to do subject.

      2) Always reinforce the quality: This cannot be emphasised enough, especially with regards to strength and conditioning. Many children I have worked with this year feel as though they have earned the right to do certain exercises. If they can’t master the basics, there is no method of progressing up the athletic development ladder. Even with the more capable athletes, the basics can be mastered on a daily basis, through the use of warm ups and cool downs. This is the bread and butter, the fundamentals that all children should be competent in doing. Reinforce that quality from the start, and make your athletes aware that this is what is expected every time they train.

     3) There is more to life than sport: Due to the nature of our school sport structure, all of the children I coach play 3 terms of sport, an attribute which many children fail to complete due to early specialisation. This certainly helps them become more versatile athletes, but it means that Sports Coaches are pulling them in different directions throughout the school year, in order for them to gain advantage come game day. What is crucial for children, parents and coaches to understand is that there is more to life than sport. Sometimes children need to say no; have that afternoon off, catch up on coursework, use their ‘free time’ to learn an instrument or just chill out and be a kid. From my experience, the children that are pulled in these directions either get fed up of that sport or over-train and suffer the injury consequences that are associated with this.

4) You are part of a bigger team: Coaching doesn’t just involve yourself and the athlete. Parental education and support is vital if the child is going to succeed in sport. Communication from their sport coaches is imperative and needs to be constantly updated. You are just one part of a multi-disciplined team, each member can highlight aspects of the child’s life and sport, which has a direct impact on your coaching structure towards them.

5) Everything starts in the warm up: The attitude and direction of the session, whether it be in the gym, outside on the court or field, is dictated in the warm up. Too many of the children I work with thought that the warm up was an opportunity to discuss social agendas while lying down on a bench press! Set the tone and set the attitude for the session in the warm up; it is an opportunity to see how the athlete moves and works and therefore requires your concentration and commitment, as much as theirs. Treat each warm up as an opportunity to get better. 

My Coaching Toolbox

What does your coaching toolbox contain? The below diagram only illustrates 3 components of my toolbox, however, these 3 components still have many subsections within them and it's possible to go into even more detail than I already have.

Being able to review, add to or replace your tools in your toolbox is a vital part of the coaching framework. By standing back and looking at what this toolbox contains I can already assess my own strengths and weaknesses as a coach, and of course areas which require updating. 

All coaches operate using a toolbox, they dip in and out of it every time they coach. Having a wide variety of tools to use and pick from can open up your coaching methods and provide you with a greater depth of understanding, which will only benefit your athletes. 

My thanks are passed onto James Marshall, who first brought this idea to my attention.

‘‘I have done 1.2 million squats in my career’’

The above quote was taken from Paul Nixon, ex Leicestershire and England wicket-keeper, who ran a course I attended this week on coaching cricket to children. This proved to be a great day and credit must be given to Paul for providing a fun, relaxed and stimulating course. 

Paul Nixon in action for England  

Below are some of the take home messages that I took from the day:

1    Being agile in cricket: the ability to fall, turn and move quickly off the ground is central to any good cricketers match preparation. Paul demonstrated this a lot while showing us wicket-keeping drills and concluded that crickets need to be flexible and athletic enough to put their bodies into sometimes awkward and challenging positions. Many of the drills we completed were similar to gymnastic type movements; children find gymnastics fun and it’s a great way to test our bodies to move from one position to the next.

2   Head movement: Not just for wicket-keepers but for all fielders this is a crucial take home message. For your body to move quickly towards the ball your head moves first, this provides your central nervous system with the information on where to go and how to get there. This message can be relayed across all sports which require speed and agility; the head moves first and the rest of the body follows.

3    Get into good habits early: For children, getting into good habits early is fundamental for success. These habits can be in the form of nutrition, match preparation, goal setting and balancing sport with school work. However, Paul focused on warm ups in relation to this point. Getting the children to jog round the pitch, have a few stretches and a few throw downs is not preparing the child physically and mentally for competition. Promote decision making and movement skills in a warm up, this will get children into good habits early.

4    5 min of quality is better than an hour of rubbish nets: This was a very important point which I’m sure is faced by every cricket coach at some point, how do make net practise productive and worthwhile for the children? Much net practise is of such low quality that it is almost worthless. In some cases it can be damaging to technique by reinforcing bad habits. The most worthless situation is having 6 boys in one net, batting 10mins each in rotation, facing a mixed bag of bowling in rapid fire, where bowlers are expected to bowl for the 50mins they are not batting. The ideal number for a net is 3 or 4. This can be achieved, even if there are too few facilities, by involving players in different forms of practise within the same session. Treat nets like a circuit so that players have an opportunity to be exposed to a variety of training situations.

5    ‘‘I have done 1.2 million squats in my career’’: Even for someone who has played 23 years of professional cricket, this is a lot of squats and therefore places a huge strain on the body. This quote highlights the physical requirements of a wicket-keeper, but also reinforces a key concept that alignment and control are vital in cricket. Therefore, getting wicket-keepers doing endless amounts of squats because this is a common movement pattern will not help their long term development. Teaching correct posture, maintaining lower back and anterior/posterior muscle balance however, will keep them on the pitch and not consistently needing massages or rehab. Bowlers are very much the same, a huge amount of strain and force is placed through the body, and because of this many bowlers are lopsided and have uneven alignment. Placing more strain on the body in the form of weight training and high repetitions will only increase the chances of injury. Get the body aligned; get it moving well under control and then place resistance upon it.

Athleticism and Cricket going hand in hand

Testing is Training and Training is Testing

The above statement has been used by countless coaches, however I think it applies extremely well with the children I work with at Bloxham School.

With limited time available, putting aside a day/afternoon or even a couple of hours towards testing can be very difficult. Therefore, every exercise, each rep is an opportunity to evaluate. This term for example I find myself working alongside Boys Hockey and Girls Netball; we have used a very simple but yet comprehensive 5 exercise screening tool. This provides me and the coaching team vital information regarding potential injury risks, muscles imbalances and areas of strength and weaknesses.

The exercises are:

Overhead Squat (with a wooden dowel)

Wall Angels

Single leg balance and reach: Left and Right measurement

Single leg squat: Left and Right measurement

Press up

Each exercise is performed 5 times and is scored out of 5 using a marking criteria.

Figure 1: A good example of an overhead squat, although to score maximum marks we would like hamstrings to be parallel with the floor 

Figure 2: A poor overhead squat with the ear not staying in line with the ankle bone. This could be due to hamstring tightness/lower back flexibility and poor strength. 

Both sets of results were extremely varied; with the boys hockey ranging from 26/35 to 7/35. Common results from the boys came in the form of over reliance on one side, poor lower back control and very tight lower limb flexibility.

The range was very similar within the girls Netball squad; poor upper body strength, weak knee control and poor strength/control of the hips was commonplace within this group of girls.

Now with a foundation to work on, and a structured programme in place, future assessments can be taken place throughout the training calendar so to indicate any positive/negative changes from the original screening.