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Dan speaks to coaches Mike Pope and Rhys Williams about how they've used what they've learned from reading Doug Lemov's book: A Coach's Guide to Teaching.

Here are some of Doug's thoughts after listening to the podcast (more notes on the Rugby Coach Weekly website):

• Until it comes unprompted when we aren’t reminded to think about it, we probably haven’t learned it.
• “Interleaving is always with something you’ve already talked about.” Hugely important clarification for coaches that I hadn’t thought to make… though I will now.

Here are the key areas Dan, Rhys and Mike discussed:

• Rhys's six week plans: how they work in the context of what he took from the book
• Using feedback more effectively: examples, scenarios and maintaining flow in the session. Plus shortening the feedback loop
• How interleaving makes learning stick
• How the Forgetting Curve works for rugby players
• Tough feedback which creates pressure
• Desirable difficulty in training

Rhys is a youth rugby coach, plus works with Saracens DPP.
Mike is a school's head of rugby , senior mens coach, plus a lead coach with Bath DPP.

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Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. 

This week's guests:

Ian Hollingworth, Andy Stevens and Nick Wilkinson all of whom are preparing for the Rugby Advanced Coaching Award. 

 The team discuss their thoughts and preparation for the up coming England RACA course and this is the first in a four-part series which will follow them across the next 12 months. 

SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED 

• Understanding Organisational Cultures in Elite Sport - Dr Niels Feddersen (Pt1) - Meaningful Sport Series
• Create great conversation – The Coaching Lab
• The Magic Academy with Doug Lemov
• Coach A Long Social – Wimbledon – UK Sport
• Euro 2020: how football managers and coaches control the narrative
• Neuroscientists Have Discovered a Phenomenon That They Can’t Explain
• Dare to speak your mind and together we flourish
•  Simon DeDeo on How Explanations Work and Why They Sometimes Fail 
• Taking the Next Step: Ways Forward for Coaching Science
• Understanding Unconscious Bias
• Is It Time To Introduce Emotional Intelligence Into Sports Coaching?
• Talking Performance Episode 51 with Special Guest Ed Coughlan
• The Rogue Monkey Podcast with Richard Cheetham

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

CLICK HERE

Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

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Nick Scott is director of rugby at Rugby Colorno. He previously spent 20 years helping to build a world respected coaching department at England Rugby, with 9 years as National Coach Development Manager.

We chatted about:

• Why Nick isn't a reflective coach
• When not to use questions
• Speaking a different language in a different country
• Building better relationships with people, not just players
• Changing perceptions for players based on their previous coaching experiences
• Interpreting what fun means
• How to plan your sessions
• Playing full contact at U6s
• How much should we concentrate on "all-court" skillsets for every player
• What Nick's daughter's "rat under the sofa" taught him about the coaching process

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

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Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

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Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. 

This week's guests:
Cody Royle, former Head Coach for Canada Men's AFL, author and coach mentor, Doug Lemov, author and educator and Darren Lewis, former performance analyst and founder of Codex Analysis.  

The team pick out the key takeaways from each piece of great content and discuss how it can be applied to coaching.

 This week's content:

• Chris Petersen reflects on the busyness, the imbalance, and the ‘out of control’ recruiting grind of college football – The Athletic
• Lessons in Practise from the Seattle Seahawks - Doug Lemov's Field Notes 
• Swarms, X-Teams, and Routine vs. Critical Communications – Mission Critical Team Institute Teamcast

 SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED 

• The Tough Stuff – Cody Royle 
• Why Don't Students Like School - Daniel Willingham 
• Motivated Teaching – Peps Mccrea
• Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness – Owen Eastwood
• Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World – Carl Bergstrom

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

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Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

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Bird and LJ talk to Aileen Richards, who was the first women on the board of directors of Welsh Rugby Union.

Here are the questions posed to Aileen:

• Growing up what were thoughts on a career - did any female role models influence you on your journey?
• Why rugby?
• What is the most memorable event in your career?
• How did you progress to the role of senior exec at Mars? What life experiences provided you with the skills to do this role? 
• You’ve been a Welsh rugby fan for over 50 years do you think there are any lessons to learn from the men’s game at community, club and International level? 
• From your experience of working in Mars a global company. In terms of brand what do you think needs to happen for women’s rugby to secure more financial backing and access mainstream media?
• What was it like being the first woman on the board of the WRU? How did it happen?  
• Where do you feel your influence has created the greatest change in Welsh rugby? 
• What would be your advice to any female with a passion for rugby, who wants to support and make rugby a game for everyone about how to get involved at a strategic level in the game? What qualities/skills would they need?
• You’ve just become chair of the new cricket team Welsh Fire. Can you tell us a bit more about this role and set up? What can rugby learn from other sports such a cricket
• What one tip you would give to a young person looking to succeed? What is your next big goal that you would like to achieve?

Aileen Richards is a non-executive Director of WRU. She was a senior Executive with Mars Incorporated until 2015. As executive vice president of Mars, she was responsible for the Human Resources strategy for the company's 85,000 employees and she also led Mars Global Services (Mars IT, Mars Financial Services and Mars Associate Services). In her 30 years with Mars, she also held senior international roles in Procurement and Manufacturing and lived in Washington DC and Brussels.

 She is currently an independent non-executive director on several boards, including Mars Nederland, Jacob Douwe Egberts, Pret A Manger and Welsh National Opera. She was also the first woman on the board of directors of the Welsh Rugby Union and chairs the Board of the new Cricket Team Welsh Fire. 

She  has been a Welsh rugby fan for over 50 years, has travelled to many World Cups. Married with two children, all of whom played rugby.

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

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Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

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Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. 

This week's guests:

Caz Morgan, Senior Analyst with England Rugby, Dan Cooper, Senior Analyst with Bath Rugby and Jack Lawrenson, Senior Analyst with Welsh Rugby Union Women's national team

 The team pick out the key takeaways from each piece of great content and discuss how it can be applied to coaching.

 This week's content:

• Jane Ludlow – Striking the right balance between innovation, empowerment and the fundamentals- State of Play Series
•  Learning Styles & the Importance of Critical Self-Reflection - Tesia Marshik – TedX 
•  James Smith – Not A Life Coach – James Smith

 SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

• Steve Kerr and Pete Carroll with Brene Brown - The Flying Coach Podcast
• The Culture Code – Daniel Coyle
•  Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
• Deep Work – Cal Newport
• “Learning by Design”: What Sports Coaches can Learn from Video Game Designs
• Using Challenge Cards to Put the Athlete at the Centre of Their Learning

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

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Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

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For this episode I’m joined by two coaches I hold in high regard for the information they share and the positive outlook they portray as coaches.

Adam Gillings is U12’s Coach at Bracknell RFC, Kids First Mentor but primarily, dad to his two kids.

Rhys Davies is now a Coach Developer with the RFU after stints at London Irish and the Honourable Artillery Company.

The conversation revolved around a following a player-centred approach especially after such a lay off during lockdown and how to incorporate some session design elements that don’t always spring to mind.

The excellent London Irish Session Design Toolbox gives some great ideas and my guests talk about the Tactical Warfare and Meta-Cognition elements, and how block practice still has its place.

You can find information on the London Irish Session Design Toolbox here.

We also talked about adaptive games following Rhys’ excellent recent article for Rugby Coach Weekly. You can find his article on Fiji Touch here.

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

CLICK HERE

Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan Mail

Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. 

This week's guests:

Charlie Hayter, Great Britain Rugby 7s Men's and Women's team leader and assistant coach, Craig Morris, Great Britain Canoe slalom coach and Ian Johns, British Judo Head Para-Olympic Coach.

This week is an Olympic and Para-Olympic special where the team discuss their preparations for the upcoming Games in Tokyo. 

SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

International Performers Podcast – Brian Levenson

Webcast Ecological Dynamics of Skill - Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Human Performance

Coaching Project Podcast – TJ Manastersky

A systematic review of small sided games within rugby: Acute and chronic effects of constraints manipulation - Zanin et al, (2021)

What Cognitive Mechanism, When, Where, and Why? Exploring the Decision Making of University and Professional Rugby Union Players During Competitive Matches – Ashford, Abraham & Poolton, (2021)

Coach Well-being: Taking Time for Yourself – UK Coaching 

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

CLICK HERE

Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan Mail

Alan Dymock is Features Editor of Rugby World Magazine. He specialises in long-reads and detailed studies, as well as stories of far-flung events and quirky characters.

In this Deep Dive, we discuss Alan's features on pain killer and performance-enhancing drug use in rugby.

• Alan's playing background & how he transitioned to journalism
• Why Alan decided to investigate doping
• Did Alan have any apprehension about investigating such a thorny issue?
• Where did the investigation start?
• Why do players take banned substances?
• Pain killer use and the slippery slope of their use
• The advances in medical science that have occurred around pain & how we should be looking to the long term and psychological interventions Issues around Therapeutic Use Exemptions
• Is there a genuine appetite to catch drug cheats?
• How we should be looking to prevent use rather than catching cheats
• Why we need to constantly re-visit the discussion around doping
• How widespread is doping in rugby?

The features we discuss can be found here:
Doping in rugby: a Rugby World investigation - https://www.rugbyworld.com/countries/france-countries/doping-rugby-41475
Playing through the pain: an investigation into painkiller use in rugby - https://www.rugbyworld.com/news/blogs/playing-pain-investigation-painkiller-use-rugby-77805
Chronic Pain, Cannabis & Rugbyhttps://www.rugbyworld.com/featured/chronic-pain-cannabis-rugby-113821
All of Alan's investigations can be found here -https://www.rugbyworld.com/tag/investigation
Informed Sport Supplement Check Service - https://www.wetestyoutrust.com/
England Rugby Anti Doping & Illicit Drugs - https://www.englandrugby.com/governance/anti-doping-and-illicit-drugs

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

To find out more about our Partner Club offer

CLICK HERE

Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week.

This week's guests: Richard Shorter, Baptist Church Minister and Non Perfect Dad and Sarah Murray, Senior Psychologist Brighton and Hove Albion FC (Men and Women teams).

This week's content:

• Motivational Interviewing – Professor Stephen Rollnick
• PsychWire Course
• The Long Win – Cath Bishop

SUGGESTED CONTENT/WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

Listening Well: The Art of Empathic Understanding – William Miller
UK Coaching Reflective Essential – UK Coaching
Brene Brown with Simon Sinek – Brene Brown
Brene Brown with Pippa Grange – Brene Brown
Radical Candor – Kim Scott
The Cornavirus and Post Traumatic Growth – Steve Taylor
What Cognitive Mechanism, When, Where, and Why? Exploring the Decision Making of University and Professional Rugby Union Players During Competitive Matches – Ashford, Abraham & Poolton, (2021)

CALL FOR RESEARCH

Call for research participants –
Study 1
Survey “A Study on coaching philosophy in rugby union” John Widdowson
https://edinburgh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/a-study-of-the-artifacts-beliefs-values-and-philosophy
Study 2
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) - Global screening of high-performance and recreational athletes -  All athletes (male and female, recreational to elite, able-bodied or para-athletes), over the age of 15 are invited to participate in this survey
https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/REDS-Global