Thursday 7 October 2010

PDS Performance Coach Training - Amazing coach development

I have been doing some personal development recently and I am 2/5 of the way through the Performance Coach course run by Mark Bennett MBE from Performance Development Systems and I have to say that it is one of the most transformational coach development experiences I have had to date.

The focus of the PDS programme is all about the human aspect of coaching and really looks in depth at the interaction between the coach and the participant. One of the main drivers behind the programme is getting people to take action and to get them motivated to take action, by utilising a number of highly skilful communication tools and by exploring how and when to use these tools most effectively I have found that my coaching is now 100% better than it was previously. I thought I was a good communicator and considered this to be one of my strengths, through this course and through watching Mark at work I have discovered that I am about 20% of where I should be in order to be truly effective.

I know that in the past I have looked for the technical or tactical or physical aspects when looking at coach development options. I realise now that I should have spent much more time on how I engage with the players I work with as the results I am getting now are so much better than previously.

It is truly powerful stuff and something that I would recommend to any coach looking to develop themselves and to work with high performance players.

The EGU has formed a partnership with PDS to enable coaches working in the England Talent Pathway (county academy, county, regional, national) to access the course at a 40% discount. Courses are running at the end of October, go to the PDS website to find out when the next course is running near you.