Be an Elite Coach, Build Elite Athletes

Things to develop your coaching and have a greater impact on your athletes. You define what your “elite” is!

By Isaac Leung, Athletic Skills

Hey reader,

Hope your week is going well!

In this newsletter, I want to share a couple of observations from recent coaching sessions, as well as my thought process during a one-on-one movement coaching session today.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

• What I look for when analyzing a new athlete or client's movement and how I assess where to start.

• Why queuing is the worst thing you can do with your group.

I'll also share some advice and tips!

Before we dive in, if anyone is interested in being a guest writer and sharing what’s happening in your coaching or training, or if you have advice you'd like to share, let me know. I’d love to feature some of you in this newsletter!

Be an Elite Coach:

This week, I had a one-on-one session with a 13-year-old cricketer who wanted to improve his general fitness and movement, as well as aid his overall development.

I’d like to share what goes through my mind and my step-by-step thought process when analysing and assessing what needs to be worked on.

It all begins with the warm-up. I have the athlete move in various ways to get physically ready, but this also allows me to assess his movement. During the warm-up, we incorporate running in different directions, jumping and landing, side shuffles, skipping, crawling, squatting, lunging, balancing, and more. I gathered all of this information in just a 5-minute warm-up. From this brief period, I identified the key areas to focus on for the rest of the session. However, the assessment and adaptation don’t stop there. I continue to analyze and use coaching cues throughout the session, reacting to what I observe. While experience helps in picking up cues more quickly, having a clear, step-by-step thought process further enhances this.

So, what am I thinking about when analysing movement?

Firstly, is the movement safe? Anything standing out that puts the athlete at risk? Large curve in the spine? Knees caving in?

Comparison to the technical model: In an ideal scenario, how does the movement—such as a straight-line sprint—compare to what I am currently observing?

I like to start at the top and work my way down. First, I look at posture. Is the head and overall posture correct? This is crucial because it can affect everything else. For instance, if the athlete is leaning forward too much, tilting their hips, or looking down, it can throw off the rest of their movement.

Next, I focus on what the lower body is doing, or where the primary action is taking place. For example, if the athlete is running, I concentrate on the legs; if they are crawling or throwing, I also observe the upper body.

Does the movement look rhythmical and smooth? Is the timing of the body correct?

Do they have the physical qualities to move with intent? For instance, an athlete might have great running mechanics but lack the speed to cycle their legs quickly, or they might have the correct jumping technique but lack the power to jump high.

Would you include anything else when analysing movement in your coaching?

So I like to go through: Safety, Posture, Main Action Area, Rhythm, Physicality in my head.

Build Elite Athletes:

I also want to touch on something I've noticed numerous times from coaches, both in person and online, and it's a pet peeve of mine: long queues of athletes waiting for their turn, only to get 10 seconds of action in a drill.

Why do I dislike this?

• The session becomes flat and loses energy.

• Athletes get bored and are less engaged.

• There’s not enough time on task for athletes to learn and develop.

• You can’t observe what your group is doing while they’re waiting, which compromises safety.

How can you mitigate queuing, especially when you’re outnumbered with large groups and only a small number of coaches?

• Create drills that involve everyone or keep everyone moving.

• Use the athletes as feeders or assistant coaches, getting them involved in the drills.

• Educate the group and give them ownership to train independently in areas where you can still observe them.

• Lower the numbers in the session (which can be challenging, I understand).

What other strategies have worked for you to keep everyone engaged? The last thing you want is your group waiting over a minute for their turn.

Need help or support in taking your coaching to the next level? Hit reply and get in touch and let’s have a chat!

Here is my latest podcast on all things early years physical development!

Speak soon,

Isaac 🙂 

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