Blog

Long Term Player Development

February 5, 2016

Eric Jones is the Head Coach of Lismore Rugbywhich he combines with his work as a Development Officer for the Scottish Rugby Union. As a coach it’s important for me to see the players, and ultimately the teams, I work with develop over a period of time. It’s great to look back and see where some players started and where they are just now.

Comparing the Incomparable

February 4, 2016

It's a very good try, yes. In fact it's an amazing try, but for someone such as myself that's at an age where I've only really watched professional era rugby, in recent years there have been far better tries scored that are now overlooked as 'the norm' rather than anything special.

Improve your Coaching through better learning

February 2, 2016

As a coach it is important to prioritise learning within your plans for development and career progression. In my view, learning is about more than just getting your qualifications, it is about embracing the concept of learning across all aspects of coaching. Whilst not exhaustive, in this blog I’ll discuss some of the areas that coaches can apply learning to and how they may do it.

Coach Logic User Board - Report from the Conference

February 2, 2016

Sports professionals from across the team sports of rugby, football and hockey gathered at Loughborough University’s London Campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to hear about the latest advances in technology from Coach Logic.

Elements to Recruiting at Club Level

January 26, 2016

What strategies do coaches use to entice a player to join their organisation? What characteristics should a player possess in order to make them an asset to your team? How do you build a team on with little/no budget?

Is a Team only as strong as the Weakest Link?

January 21, 2016

The best coaches and leaders are the ones who reflect on their practice and strive to improve. In many respects, reflecting is the easy part. If you watch sports on television, visit a book store, or listen to talk radio after a big game you will be inundated with coaching advice. The challenge is figuring out what pieces of advice will work in your context with your athletes.

The 'What' of Sports Performance Analysis

January 14, 2016

What effect do you want your analysis to have? Now you know why you want to do analysis, the ‘what’ should be rather easy. If you’re using it to improve player learning, you need to portray your analysis in a way which helps promote learning. Video is very powerful and combined with stats can be incredibly useful to portray a performance.

How Dean Benton prepared Australia for World Cup Success

January 12, 2016

Here we see Dean Benton answering Coach Logic's questions of how he prepared for World Cup Success.

Magic Seven: Most Popular Blogs of 2015

December 23, 2015

As the year draws to a close, it's time to release the most popular blogs of 2015. We'd again like to say a massive thanks to all writers who've given their time to share thoughts and expertise over the year. Without further ado, here are our most read posts of 2015.

Old School vs State of the Art: Attitudes of Athletes

December 15, 2015

With the Christmas holidays fast approaching the annual dashes around the local shopping outlets are sure to commence if they haven’t been endured by shop owners already! Some parents you see rushing around in some form of mad frenzy to buy the latest gadget, games console or mobile phone for their children, others hurriedly buying gifts without much thought or consideration as time is of the essence. Looking back five years to 2010, it is amazing to see the technological advances that have evolved in such a short period of time – some gifts that were bought as recent as last year are deemed surplus to requirements and subsequently tossed aside. At times it seems you must have the latest version of the latest gadget to be worthy of social acceptance in today’s society.

Video Analysis key part of Saracens Success

December 11, 2015

It’s been on our to-do list for a while to visit Allianz Park, Saracens' state-of-the-art playing and training facility, and catch up with players and coaches from Saracens Women RFC, current domestic League Champions and Cup Holders. Head Coach Rob Cain, a big man in stature very much matched by passion and knowledge for the game, was first port of call. Since retiring from professional playing duties, success has been part of Rob’s short coaching journey so far, having collected silverware in both 7s and 15s.

Achieving a Growth Mindset in Schools

November 23, 2015

In recent history there has been monumental curricular change in Scottish Schools. Staff, parents and students have adapted and moved with the times. Now, hopefully a period of calm will descend and a chance to consolidate will follow. Fingers crossed!

Smells like Team Spirit

November 9, 2015

As the World Cup has drawn to a close, performance levels across the Northern Hemisphere sides has been varied to say the least. The on-field showings have been a disappointment, but with the time spent together pre-tournament and the coaching set ups covering every minor facet of the game, it's unlikely that the coaching is solely to blame for poor performances.

Seeking, Finding and Coaching

November 2, 2015

‘When someone is seeking,’ said Siddharta, ‘it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.’

Performance Analysis: the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of Analysis

October 20, 2015

At the end of my previous blog, I asked the questions… why do you want to use analysis? And, what do you want to get out of it? Asking ‘WHY’ is extremely important, if you don’t understand why you’re doing something then why do it at all? The ‘WHY’ is important to doing analysis for the right reasons and aligning your views with your coaching philosophy.

Saracens Women Raising the Bar with Coach Logic

October 8, 2015

Coach Logic are delighted to announce an official partnership with Saracens Women’s RFC to provide the Club with a 2 year deal for the Performance + platform. Saracens Women have been at the forefront in the growth of Women’s Rugby across England for the past twenty years. The side were recently named Women’s Team of the Year at last year’s National Rugby Awards. The award capped a historic season in which the team won every available trophy including a League and Cup Double.

Key Elements to Coaches Communicating Effectively

October 4, 2015

Communication is crucial to all aspects of coaching and it is my belief that it needs to be carefully considered and continually reviewed by a coach.

Performance Analysis: what do you want from it?

September 28, 2015

As technology becomes more accessible its implementation into sport becomes ever vaster. With affordable solutions, performance analysis is now accessible across all levels of sport. So how should you properly implement analysis to get the most out of it? It can be a complex process with limited education from National Governing Bodies and what is being delivered is often by those with little knowledge themselves.

Are We Really Coaching Decision Making?

September 13, 2015

It has become one of the hottest topics in coaching today. Skill, speed, and power are no longer enough for success if they are not used effectively.

Interview with the authors of Rugby Revealed

September 1, 2015

Rugby Revealed is about today’s winners inspiring the future generation of champions. This isn’t theory, it is top international players and coaches explaining the game we love. This engaging guide to rugby union will help coaches and players understand the modern game. With its mix of contributions from leading names, practical coaching advice and player statistics, Rugby Revealed shares the experience of those involved at the highest levels of the sport, and the data that drives it, to provide the definitive guide to the game.

Attitude is Everything

August 30, 2015

Erik Imler is an American former professional footballer. He won the National Championships while playing for UVa and also competed at the 1992 Olympics in Bareclona with the US national team. Erik moved into coaching after his playing career and was Assistant Coach for the US u17 side. He is determined to change the landscape of youth club soccer and address the technical deficiencies in youth players.

The Ashes 2015 - Survival of the Fittest

August 17, 2015

What a turnaround. Who would have thought that England five months ago – after being unceremoniously dumped out of the World Cup at the hands of Rubel Hossain and Bangladesh – would be heading into the final Ashes test of the summer with an unbeaten series record against New Zealand and the precious urn already on its way back to Lords.

My Warmup Conundrum

August 13, 2015

I am part of a club where it has been established that all age groups do the same FIFA 11 warmup. The Youth Academy program (U8-U11) is a selection of the players who possess the drive to reach the higher levels of youth soccer through their development. This is the program that I oversee.

Learning in Good Company - The Six Nations Coaching Conference

August 7, 2015

The opportunity to attend the 6 Nations Coaching Conference in June was fantastic, the best Continual Professional Development (CPD) I have ever had and I would love to be part of it again. But if not, I’m very privileged to have been once. CPD is only meaningful if it has an impact, I hope this will impact positively on my practice, my coaching vision and the performance of the coaches and players I work with.

Technology in Sport - the Pros and Cons in Player Development and Coaching

August 2, 2015

Mark Upton and Al Smith discuss Technology in Sport in the video below. As you can see from Mark's bio below the video, we were exceptionally lucky and grateful to get someone so well-respected to contribute to the blog.