The Coaching Arena

On this episode it was fantastic to sit down and chat with professional football coach, Ash Thompson.

You could sense the approach Ash has to his coaching with clarity, purpose and culture ringing very loud.

Ash explained that yes, there is planning and topics to be addressed, but at the heart of it is a human being, and that person is at the centre of it all.

It was evident that Ash believes that a coach has to know their message and create a culture where players can ask questions, but there are times where collaboration is needed and times where a coach takes the lead.

Ash explained the importance of communication and the process is two way but a space has to be created which allows conversations and discussion. With this in mind, it was very interesting to hear how Ash has those difficult conversations that are sometimes necessary in elite sport.

The concept of not coaching the game, but coaching the individual to solve the problems that the game brings to them really resonated with me. As too having self regulating players making decisions live on the pitch.

Also of interest was the use of data and stats. Everything is measurable, but not everything has to be measured, so it was great to hear Ash's view of data vs intuition.

It was also incredibly useful to hear Ash explain how to and the importance of communication, with the benefits of coaches self reflecting how they give their message. It was great to hear Ash explain why a coach knows their players and their context.

I hope you found this chat with Ash as helpful as I did.

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On this episode, I had the privilege to chat with professional rugby coach, Tomaso Parrini.

This chat was incredibly enlightening, as we discussed the responsibility but sheer privilege of coaching.

Tomaso has coached across many countries and his reflections that as coaches, we are landmarks and allow players to make their own path with a coach acting as a guide really resonated with me.

Tomaso's insights on culture and making players better people were fantastic. Coaches are not necessarily there to give all the answers, and as Tomaso put it so well, giving solutions to the players is the sedative to creativity.

We also spoke about creating the right environment which instils players with courage, creating hunger, establishing standards but also as a coach, how you create your own path.

Let me know what you think

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On this episode, it was incredible to chat with professional rugby coach, Coenie Basson.

Coenie is a former professional player who transitioned into coaching, coaching in the French Top14 and Pro D2 leagues.

This was an incredibly insightful chat on understanding the human element to coaching and understanding players as people first, then athletes.

Coenie also explained the importance of culture and I loved the quote that Culture Wins Championships.

I really hope you enjoyed this chat as much as I did, so much of what Coenie spoke about really resonated with me.

As he said, players don't care about what you know, they care if you care. Relationships are the foundations of coaching

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On this episode of the Coaching Arena, it was brilliant to sit down with Premiership winning rugby player, Calum Clark.

Calum has played for Northampton Saints, Saracens and England and is the founder of Innate High Performance, working with individuals across sports and business.

Calum is a psychologist, coach and consultant.

This was an incredibly eye opening chat focusing on many aspects around psychology and performance.

The points on intent as a coach and keeping the end in mind were incredibly useful to me.

We spoke of many things, including :

• Seeing the end and building the process
• Whilst understanding athletes and individuals is important, the tactical part of the game remains vital also
• There are not one or the other aspects, but components to sport
• High performance
• Similarities of elite sports and business leaders
• What does performance look like
• Doing the right things on a day to day basis to achieve success
• Sport as a vehicle for personal development
• A coach's intent
• Team dynamics
• How to have difficult conversations
• The types of mistake

Check out Innate High Performance at https://www.innate.works/

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On this episode it was awesome to sit down with Cody Royle.

Cody coaches head coaches in elite sports.

Cody himself has coached AFL at international level with Canada. Cody now coaches elite head coaches across rugby, football, AFL, basketball and ice hockey to name a few.

He has written three books (Where Others Won't, The Tough Stuff and Second Set of Eyes), and is a podcast host.

This was a completely eye opening chat on sports coaching including :

• Coaching at a participation versus competitive level
• Trait theory
• Curiosity
• Coaching philosophy of the past and the future
• Sport being a subset of society
• Creating buy in
• Intuition
• The importance of culture

I really hope you enjoyed this chat, please do let me know what you think

Check out www.codyroyle.com for Cody's work

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On this episode, it was awesome to chat with Craig Stewart, skills coach at recent Japanese League One winning rugby union side, Kobe Steelers.

This was a fantastic chat, jam packed with insights from an elite coach.

We spoke of many things, including :

• Understanding the people you are working with
• The love of the game and enjoyment
• Traits of elite players
• Keeping clarity with simplicity
• Being a 'player first' coach and allowing the player to be the most important part of the puzzle
• The power of creativity
• Not having to be the cleverest in the room
• Having a growth mindset
• Why you should allow players to experiment
• Frameworks but why it is important to have players self correcting
• What is the most under coached and under valued skill

I really hope you enjoy this chat, let me know what you think

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On this episode of The Coaching Arena, I had the absolute privilege to hear the insights of world renowned rugby coach Damian McGrath.

Damian has been a professional coach since 1990, and has coached at elite levels in both Rugby League and Rugby Union.

Damian has coached at domestic and international sides, including Leicester Tigers and at 7s level, with England, Spain, Manu Samoa, Canada, Germany and Kenya.

In addition he is a leading author and speaker and is an expert on communication and leadership. I found his insights in how to get your message across as being invaluable, jam packed with useful and practical tips.

This was a brilliant chat, speaking on many things including :

• Knowing your people
• Understanding the ABC, audience before content
• Checking for understanding
• Making your players feel valued
• How a message is given across, not just the content
• Culture
• Knowing your purpose, your people, your business and yourself
• What is success?
• Start, stop, continue approach
• Damian's 'Doubt Percentage' concept

I took so much from this chat, and I hope you do too. This chat is full of key take aways that can be easily adapted at any level

Let me know what you think

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On this episode, I had the absolute privilege to speak with Warren Spragg.

Warren is the kicking coach at Prem Rugby Club, Sale. He has played for Italy, Italy 7s, England u21s and England u18s. He has over 20 years experience in elite level rugby as a player and coach.

I am blown away with the coaches and athletes that have given me their time and insights on the Coaching Arena. These chats are gold, and this chat with Warren has completely changed my mindset on coaching and how I thought my son was results driven, when perhaps in hindsight, he isn't.

This was an incredible chat on developing people, players and as coaches.

We spoke of many things, including :

• Common coaching themes from juniors to elite level
• Inside out coaching, Transformational Coaching vs Transactional Coaching
• Understanding people and what motivates them and what players need
• Collaboration
• Superpowers of a player
• Being curious
• Minimum standards and the consistency of practice habits and skill challenges
• Mindset, routine and clarity
• The rewards of sport
• How you know you are making progress
• The importance of feedback loops
• Skill sets, not pigeon holing

I really hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did and thanks very much for listening

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On this episode I had the absolute privilege to hear the insights from International Rugby Coach, Paul Delport.

Paul is currently Head Coach of India Women's 7s, having previously coached South Africa Women's national rugby 7s team.

As a player, Paul played for the Lions and Stormers before focusing on rugby sevens, where he captained the Blitzboks and has won the IRB Sevens World Series. Paul also captained South Africa at u19 and u21 level and has won the IRB World Championships.

This was a brilliant chat, really focusing on the human element of coaching and understanding the why.

Paul has a huge amount of experience and shared his insights into coaching, speaking about :

• Care, Connection, Standards and Challenge
• Understanding the 'why'
• Showing the players you care and having a willingness to connect
• Putting the team first
• Nurturing a player's growth and development
• Outlining standards
• Passing on knowledge
• A coach doesn't need to have all the answers
• A team's immune system

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It was absolutely fantastic to chat with international rugby coach, Alex Laybourne on this episode of The Coaching Arena.

Alex is Head Coach of Sweden Men's rugby team, having previously been Scotland's Women's u20s Head Coach.

This was a brilliant chat, with Alex giving his insights on :

• The importance of a mentor in order for coaches to develop
• Understanding the player
• Connection with players and having open and honest dialogue
• Winning is important but results do not define a good coach
• Coaching in different environments
• Standards not rules
• Metrics to measure progress

I really hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did

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