Swings, Techniques, and Design

Austin Einhorn   THIS ARTICLE IS ONLY ABOUT TWO THINGS, REALLY. IT’S ABOUT HOW THE HUMAN ORGANISM IS DESIGNED AND HOW IT LEARNS. Since sports require skills, improving them is perhaps the one thing coaches are responsible for, by the current definition of the role. However, most coaches know almost nothing about the topic. A […]

A Curious Cultural Experiment

Christine Ruffolo   For many reasons and convergences of fate, I recently took on the assignment of coaching high school volleyball.  It was a sport I knew very little about and had the least experience coaching and playing.  It was also a position to lead JV2, traditionally known as the ‘freshman team’.  I was the […]

Shaping the Game

Alex Sporticus   At the heart of a games based approach to teaching is the challenge to the centrality of learning isolated and decontextualised techniques that will ‘allow’ the child to play. Instead of starting with the practice of the prerequisite techniques, the starting point is the game and play itself. It is through play that […]

Taking up Space

Austin Einhorn     Here’s a infinitely better alternative to developing soccer skills than the swill I posted yesterday. “Agility” with speed ladders and non representative environments are mucking up the internet and the population’s ideas of how to develop athletes. Space…A better defender takes up a larger amount of space around them. A better […]