Take the England Golf 'Attitudes to coaching survey' - you could win an 'England Experience' at the National Golf Centre, Woodhall Spa

Hi all,

England Golf is conducting a survey of peoples attitudes towards coaching. It should only take 5 minutes and everybody who provides their opinions will go into a draw to win a unique coaching experience at Woodhall Spa with the England national squad coaches.

Click the link below to go to the survey

Click here to take survey


Thanks 


Stuart

The Toyota Way - 14 Management principles

I have a friend who works for Toyota, he is a mid level manager and has been there for a good number of years. He lives and breathes the Toyota management philosophy and whenever I get together with him we will chat about the principles behind the philosophy and he will give me his latest insights into how this amazing organisation puts these principles into practice.

I thought I would share this slide show with you as it gives an interesting insight that I think would benefit us all an whatever area we work, hope you find it interesting.

The Toyota Way- 14 Management Principles

View more presentations from C.K. Vishwakarma.

Deep practice in action

Hi all,

I thought I would share a blog I am following with with you. The following passage is from a blog called 'The Angle of Reflection' by Michael Reddick. Michael is on a 2 year journey to transform himself into a professional pool player. The blog URL is www.angleofreflection.wordpress.com if you are interested in reading more about his mission.

Anyway onto Michael's story....

"I recently experienced a set of events so profound, which excited me so much, that it took me a full two days to calm down enough to allow me to sit and write about it.  Where do I begin with this story?

In Daniel Coyle’s book The Talent Code, Daniel describes a curious phenomenon that he refers to as the HSE (Holy Shit Event).  If you’ve read chapter 4 of his book, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  The HSE is the feeling you get when a person who is “just like you” suddenly displays a quantum leap in skill level.  It’s the feeling of, “Where did that come from?”  Daniel describes the scene well:  A person in the process of developing talent is being watched by an outside observer, and the outside observer, while watching, is “…dumbstruck, amazed, and bewildered, while the talent’s owner is unsurprised, even blasé.”

I experienced a mini-HSE event on Monday afternoon, then another one on Tuesday.  As described in my blog posts from last Friday and Saturday, I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about shot making fundamentals and practicing away from the table (see October 28 & 29 posts).  This Saturday, I conducted a two hour deep practice session at Santa Clara Billiards working primarily on my stance, stroke, and bridging as they relate to rail shots (see my November 28 post).  The Saturday deep practice session was fantastic, and I thought about it all day Sunday.  On Monday, I stopped by Edgie’s Billiards in Milpitas, CA with the intention of doing another hour of follow-up work from the Saturday session.  When I walked into the room, guess who was already waiting for me?  Mike! (See my post “Eating Humble Pie” from November 16).

The Eureka Shot

Mike asked if I wanted to play a few games.  I had originally intended to do some deep practice work that day, but I didn’t want to be antisocial, so I accepted.  I broke the first rack but didn’t make any balls.  Mike made a couple balls, calculated that the table was too difficult to run, and decided to play a safe and leave me with a very difficult shot.  The shot that he left me is diagrammed to the right.  (There were other balls on the table, but they aren’t relevant for this discussion.)   I stood from my chair, walked to table, and an eerie calm feel over me.  I thought, “Hummm. This shot looks familiar doesn’t it?” It was almost the exact same shot that I had practiced on Saturday; it’s my “new friend”!   I carried out the exact same pre-shot routine that I conducted during my deep practice session; focusing on the approach, foot positioning, stance, level cue, rock solid rail bridge, smooth calm stroke, and then I pulled the trigger.  Cue tip and cue ball collided, the cue ball traveled up the table, cue ball and object ball met with a gentle click, the object ball rolled slowly up table at “pocket speed,” traveling to the far right corner pocket without touching any rails and with just enough energy to barely fall into the pocket.  A perfectly executed very difficult shot!  But here’s the funny thing: I wasn’t at all surprised; I was just doing what I had practiced on Saturday.  I stood up without saying a word, walked around the table, and kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting.  An hour later I looked up, and I was leading 8-1.  It wasn’t until I started unscrewing my cue stick that I realized that I had just played a nearly perfect match.

I know there will be good days and bad days.  I had a couple bad days recently, but after the Saturday practice session, it seems that I’ve somehow magically rewired my circuits.  My arm and body seem to be listening to my brain much better than before, almost on autopilot.  I had difficulty falling asleep Monday night.  When I woke up on Tuesday, it seemed almost like a dream.  I thought to myself, “Is it really possible to turn yourself around that quickly?  Surely not.  Probably just a fluke”. I was itching to get back to Edgie’s and practice more.  When I arrived the next day during my lunch break, Mike was not there, so I warmed up and hit practice shots for thirty minutes.  Everything seemed fine.  Everything was clicking.

Then for fun, I did something that I know I’m not supposed to do.  I grabbed two handfuls of balls, threw them out on the table, and started practicing run outs.  Usually when I practice run outs, I throw five or six balls out on the table, then try to pocket them in numbered order, similar to a game of nine ball.  This is one way to judge your progress and ascertain where you are in your skill development, but not necessarily the best way to practice.  I can usually run out about 40-60 percent of the time with six balls on the table, depending on how seriously I’m concentrating.  I looked at the spread in front of me, and realized that I had thrown out eight balls instead of six.  I have occasionally run out eight balls, but the percentages are very low, probably in the range of 2-10 percent.  “Oh, what the heck,” I thought.  I approached the table and started shooting.  I ran the table.  “Hah!  Bet you can’t do that again!”I chided myself.  I threw out eight more balls, and started shooting in order.  I ran out again.  A slight increase in heart beat.  A shortness of breath.  I threw out eight more balls.  I ran the table for a third time in a row.  Unbelievable.  I threw out eight more.  When the balls settled, two of them rolled up next to each other to form a cluster.  I was unable to break the cluster during my run, so I couldn’t run the fourth set.  I threw out another eight, and ran it out.  Now I’m freaking.  I stopped, sat in a chair, and looked around.  No one else was in the room, except for a handful of three-cushion players who weren’t paying me any attention.  I looked at my watch.  My lunch break was over, and I had to go back to work.  I guess it’s better to quit while I’m ahead."

I think this is a fantastic example of how deep practice can transform an individuals skill level as well as transform their beliefs and give them real confidence as they begin to develop that 'unconscious competence' that is so critical to the performance of skills in the sporting domain. It is clear to me that Michael has been able to really challenge himself in certain areas to take himself out of his comfort zone (Daniel Coyle would describe this as the 'sweet spot', the challenge that is just beyond our reach but not beyond our possibilities) which has made other areas of his game seem straightforward.

The Talent Code - Daniel Coyle

Here is a trailer for 'The Talent Code' a book by Daniel Coyle. This book is fantastic and really gives a different perspective on the development of talent. The concept of talent being derived from thousands of hours of 'Deep Practice' in places described as 'Talent Hotbeds' which are often pretty basic facilities (which actually encourages the work ethic which goes along with deep practice) and is ignited and encouraged by 'Master Coaches' (which are people that have radically different qualities and skills than the people we would normally think of as being master coaches), is inspiring and really changes your perspective.

Also, check out the talent code website at www.thetalentcode.com

More Stuff from TED - Dan Pink on Motivation

This talk from Dan Pink (who used to write speeches for Al Gore) is a really thought provoking look at our traditional views of motivation. Perhaps we need to motivate people by making them absolutely driven by what they do rather than providing them with external rewards such as praise, money, promotion?

'What I learned...' - Coaching and Reflective Practice

Hi All,

I have been giving some thought recently to the concept of 'reflective practice'. Essentially a key component of any coach aspiring to become a high level or level 4 coach is the capacity to critically analyse thier coaching, have the discipline to document this analysis and then act on the findings in order to bring about changes in their coaching behaviour. But it then got me thinking...how should a coach should go about this process? Obviously we are all very busy and all actually doing our coaching, is it realistic to expect a coach to reflect and write their thoughts down after every session or every day?

The answer to this is probably not, however an expert or high level coach would be expected to record their key learning experiences over a period of time. This may well be done in the form of an article, journal, presentation, video diary, podcast, interview, question and answer session or practical session which highlights the ideas and elements learned and can be shared with other coaches and then critiqued and appraised. This process of having the piece analysed by others will refine the thoughts and make the ideas stronger. Too many coaches are reluctant to share their learning experiences with others as they feel that they will be giving away 'their secrets' or allowing others to gain an advantage in what can often be a commercially competitive market place......these coaches will never be able to fully develop their capabilities because the same thought process which limits them from sharing will be the one that linits them from receving the thoughts of others and therefore strnthening their own knowldge in the process. 

Dr Paul Schemp of the University of Georgia in the US often states that one of the things that sets an expert coach apart from a less able coach is the desire to constantly learn and improve. The high level coach recognises that the best way to gain knowledge is to be willing to give knowledge and as such benefits from the exchange process. He or she should also be seeking to innovate and create new programmes and delivery methods, the only way that these methods and programmes can be effectively analysed and evaluated is for others in the same situation to provide their feedback. This turns a coaching theory or opinion into a coaching methodology....golf is full of opinions and theories....lets have more critically appraised and evaluated methodologies.

So where do you start? Try this as a starting point...most high level coaches are always reading things about the game they coach or looking to pick up tips. The next time you read an article or book or see something interesting on TV or at a seminar write a short 1 page review of the book/article/programme/seminar putting across your thoughts and what you took from it. This will demonstrate the knowledge you have gained and also highlight what your own thoughts on the subject are. If you can get into a habit of doing this once a month you will be well on your way. 

Rory McIlroy, a talent nurtured

At the Masters the bubbly and ever engaging past Masters champion and genuine legend of the game, Gary Player said this about the young Irish star, Rory McIlroy...

“This young man is brilliant. His golf swing is unbelievable and his theory side, his swing, is better than Tiger Woods."

“He’s an incredible talent and has excelled already at a very young age. I believe he’s a very nice young man too and I hope he goes from strength to strength."

What this doesn't tell is the story of how Rory got to where he is now and the impact that a number of people had on his career.....

Back in 2001 I was working for the Golf Foundation and covering Ireland, I was invited to deliver a 'Golf Leaders' course by the junior organiser of a club in Belfast called 'Shandon Park'...the organisers' name was Ronny McNeice and a kinder, more generous and fun loving gentlemen you would find it hard to meet.

Ronny had researched on the internet and found that the GF provided Leaders courses which had only been launched the year before and he had asked me to come over and deliver the course for him and a number of other organisers from his club and clubs in the area. He arranged everything and saw to it that the club provided for our every need including the cost of our accomodation. The 2 day course was a great success and the people on it were really keen and enthusiastic to support the young people in their clubs.

Half way through the 1st day during the lunch break Ronny asked me to come and meet one of the junior golfers that was practicing on the putting green outside the club house. He called him over and this curly haired little 10 year old enthusiastically bounced over to me, Ronny introduced me and the little boy calmly and confidently held out his hand and said 'my names Rory...pleased to meet you!'. We chatted for a little while and Rory told me that he had just returned from the World Junior Golf Championships, which he had won and the various other things that he had done in his short career. I made a mental note after we chatted to keep an eye on this young man's progress!!

I wonder how Rory's development would have been affected had he not been at a club that was so committed to junior golfers. I also wonder what would have happened had he not had a junior organiser like Ronny who was so committed to youngsters and wanted to do the best for them at any cost?

I don't work in Ireland anymore but if I did I would ensure that Ronny McNeice was given an award...people like him are the unsung heroes, the guys who set kids off on the right path, who unearth the talent, nurture it, create the environment so it can thrive.

So here's my tribute to you Ronny.... the golfing world needs more people like you!!