Sport Parenting, Youth Coaching
Paul Gamble
Free-Range Athletes

The parallels between coaching and parenting are striking and both of these elements naturally come together with youth sports. The concept of free-range kids popularised by author (and parent) Lenore Skenazy thus readily applies to how we coach young athletes (as well as sport parenting). In each case, free play and participating in unsupervised games are essential parts of how children and young athletes develop. Engaging in play is central to how we learn to navigate the world and engage with others. Voluntarily participating in games with others (without intervention from the grown ups) teaches kids how to conduct themselves and develops the capability to interact with peers in a competitive context and a cooperative manner. A less structured environment where the kids themselves decide the playing area and the rules of the game affords the opportunity to apply what they have learned, explore different tactics and engage in trial and error. As such, free play and unsupervised games are particularly rich in opportunities to acquire and adapt sport skills and develop game sense. Given the myriad benefits and the essential role that these opportunities play in developing adept athletes and capable humans, it seems baffling that they are systematically being eliminated with today’s youth. So here we will make the case for applying the free-range perspective to rethink youth sports participation and talent development in a way that fosters engagement and creates self-reliant athletes.

Free-Range Athletes
Sport Parenting, Athlete Life
Paul Gamble
Helping Young Performers Find Their Aim

Having an end in mind is pretty important. Aspiring towards a future outcome provides the impetus and intent that helps us to act in the moment. Knowing where we want to get to also provides a sense of how we are progressing and in turn guides us along the way. Deciding upon an ultimate aim is thus a central theme of the youth sports journey. As we will explore to some extent the performer settles upon their ultimate aspiration through a process of elimination and will often try out a few before they find their true north star to guide the journey. These formative experiences and the lessons they contain are part of what makes participating in youth sports so valuable in developing crucial traits, tools and behaviours that serve the performer well not only in their chosen sport but also in their life outside sport.

Helping Young Performers Find Their Aim
Sport Parenting, Youth Coaching
Paul Gamble
What Performers Need to Hear

What we want to hear and what we need to hear do not always match up. Indeed in some instances they are distinctly different things! On the youth sports journey the performer will encounter numerous trials and situations that offer abundant lessons. The conversations with those around them are an integral part of how the performer makes sense of events, puzzle things through and elucidate what lessons to take. As the grown ups, it follows that coaches and parents alike have a duty to help performers be objective and uncover the insights to make the best use of these experiences. To that end, there is an onus on us to ensure that the performer maintains a healthy relationship with the truth and remains in touch with reality.

What Performers Need to Hear
Sport Parenting, Athlete Life
Paul Gamble
Feeling Privileged

The idea of privilege has taken on strange and somewhat dark connotations in recent times, as has the idea of feeling privileged. This strikes me as a little odd. As a coach I feel privileged to work with performers who are committed to their craft. I am quick to acknowledge that it is a privilege to coach these individuals and to have them place their faith in my expertise. I feel grateful for my good fortune. I also feel a profound sense of responsibility to hold such a privileged position and a duty to do great work in return. Perhaps we should foster a more healthy attitude towards privilege. By reframing how we think about privilege we can perhaps respond to it in ways that better serves the performer and those supporting them.

Feeling Privileged
Sport Parenting
Paul Gamble
Dealing with Distraction

Distraction is a constant feature of modern life. Current generations are growing up as digital natives and the allure of technology is ever-present in most environments. Clearly the genie is not going back in the bottle so it follows we should take steps to equip young performers to manage their own mental traffic to take back control of their actions and better deal with distractions of technological and other origin. The ability to marshal one’s own attention and resist becoming sidetracked is arguably the new superpower. Developing these capabilities to harness and direct our attention amidst all the distraction represents not only a competitive advantage but also the key to unlocking the possibilities for long term achievement in sport and beyond.

Dealing with Distraction

Problem-solving

The Merits of Becoming an Athletic Virtuoso

The Merits of Becoming an Athletic Virtuoso

Raw physical attributes and performance in junior competition are not good predictors of future success until late adolescence. Technical skills, tactical awareness and character traits are more reflective of future potential. Beyond the specialist skills of the sport, more evolved talent ID and development systems are also starting to recognise the value of general movement proficiency or athleticism. As with skills and character, these qualities are less biased by the transient influence of growth and maturation, making them a much more reliable indicator of future potential and a crucial asset regardless of the sport. From the performer’s perspective, developing athleticism is therefore a very good investment in the future.

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The Glaring Gap in Skill Development for Youth Sports

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The Glaring Gap in Skill Development for Youth Sports

Traditionally, practices and skill development in general within youth sports has focussed on technical and tactical aspects. Dedicated development of athletic skills have been largely overlooked, which was previously not a major issue as sports coaches were able to rely on the natural athleticism that young performers brought to the party. Consequently, whilst youth sports coaches with a physical education teaching background might bring expertise in these areas, for the most part athletic skills have not typically been part of the coach education process, particularly in ‘skill sports’ (i.e. team sports, racquet sports, etc.). However, we are now having to reckon with these omissions, as is becoming increasingly evident at all levels of junior competition in many sports.

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Learning to Take Responsibility

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Learning to Take Responsibility

A recent instalment of the Prepared Blog spoke about the transition into the teenage years as a key window where young performers start to become equipped and amenable to taking greater ownership. In the realms of coaching it is often advocated that we should place the performer at the centre of things. Like many others I have written about autonomy being an important objective in the coaching process. Clearly this does however place some onus on the performer. So what exactly do we require from the performer themselves in order to make it all viable?

Whilst this is primarily written in the context of young performers, these themes are equally applicable to performers of any age. To some degree we are all on this journey!

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Keeping the Fire Burning

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Keeping the Fire Burning

Whilst much of what I do involves sport at the elite level, throughout my career and to this day I have had a specific interest and involvement in the journey from youth sport to senior level. This area is variously described as talent development and long term athlete development, but these are largely academic concepts. One question that is not fully resolved is how we can create a learning environment that provides the challenge and support so that young performers acquire the necessary tools and abilities. But today we tackle a more fundamental question: how can we help to ensure that young performers have the fuel to sustain them through this journey which may span many years?

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Weekly Reflections: Getting it Wrong

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Weekly Reflections: Getting it Wrong

For this latest offering, I chose the theme of getting it wrong. Much of what I do as a coach involves helping individuals to acquire new skills and coaching them to move in ways that differ to what they are accustomed to. When we attempt something new or try out a different way of doing things naturally we do not get it right first time or every time. Learning, relearning or refining skills means having a go and in turn getting it wrong with some regularity!

Weekly Reflections: Managing Injury and Return to Performance

Weekly Reflections: Managing Injury and Return to Performance

After a week’s hiatus for some rest and recuperation, coinciding with a trip to Europe, we return with our regular update from the Prepared Athlete Training and Health project. Following recent events, a post on the theme of injury management and return to performance seemed apt. It is also always helpful to articulate what role and functions I fulfill in this space. As a sports medicine physician I met up with this week remarked, ‘it must be a confusing for some people, as you are not a (medical) doctor or a physio’. Indeed my wife also asked this week what I call what I do in this space, as she was having a hard time explaining it to a friend of hers. So in this week’s offering I will attempt to clarify those questions as we outline the process and rationale for working with injured athletes and preparing them to return to performing.