I've not done one of these for a few weeks. Time to have a look in the cabinet of curiosities to see what has been going on.
New book - High Performance Habits by Brendan Burchard. I have John Noonan to thank for the recommendation. I'm currently dipping in between the book and audio book and I'm enjoying what I'm reading (hearing).
Here's the contents for you to look at and see if it's something that you're intertested in.
Personal Habits (seek clarity, generate energy, raise necessity)
Social Habits (increase productivity, develop influence, demonstrate courage)
Sustaining Success
Beware Three Traps
The #1 Thing
I recently delivered the opening presentation at the UK PLAELab in Loughborough. I didn't make life easy for myself! Instead of talking about one sport I decided to speak about three sports (Basketball, Football and Downhill Mountain Biking) that I've worked closely with during the past 8-years. I wanted to explore some of the challenges each sport presented and share three key strategies for each sport that lead to success. I really enjoyed delivering my presentation and the best bit about being a speaker at a conference is you get to hang out for the rest of the day and listen to some really switched on practitioners.
Here are some of my notes from the day...
Fergus Connolly - I picked up a book recommendation - The Signal and the Noise: The Art and Science of Prediction
I've not got my hands on a copy yet but from what Fergus said, I'm sure it will be a good read and worth adding to my book wishlist. I liked his idea about developing a 'secret syllabus' for mentoring, basically all the non-technical stuff that we are all starting to realise is super important. It's no good just being technically good, you need to be able to put it into practice.
Liam Hennessy - I've never had the opportunity to see Liam present until this conference but his work with Irish Rugby is well know. It was good to listen to him speak about his work developing the coach edcuation system. My two take homes:
"THE MACRO LEVEL IS WHERE THE DIFFERENCE CAN BE MADEâ€
"COACHING IS BUILDING"
EVIDENCE "CRAFT" PRACTICE
and
"AT A CLUB OR ORGANISATION YOU MUST HAVE SYSTEM ALIGNMENT BEWEEN ALL DEPARTMENTS"
Jeremy Sheppard - Jeremy did a first class job in his practical session exploring his extensive knowledge of jump based training. Develop STRONG PISTONS and remember that WEAK THINGS BREAK EASIER! Don't for a second think that's all I got from Jeremy. I was lucky enough to spend some time with him at dinner and breakfast and he is a unique individual that always leaves you feeling enlightened! I don't tend to say much when we are talking, I'm too busy trying to process everything he's talking about, either on a technical level or spiritual (yeh, I said spiritual) level, he's a proper brain!
Ben Rosenblatt and Martin Evans - Ben and Martin were a great double act (I mean they're not on the same level as Ant and Dec...maybe a poor mans Sam and Mark) and they provided an insightful overview of their work with England FA. Although I work with with FA as a consultant to one of their youth teams, I still found it really interesting to see how the programme has evolved in such a short space of time and the potential that it has to unlock the physical capacity of players within the men's and women's games. I thought they both showed a lot of humility and I think good things are coming.