December, 2022

Welcome to the tenth edition of our Coaching Newsletter

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Firstly, thank you to those coaches who actively contributed to the newsletters in 2022. It is so lovely to have you on board. Thanks also to each and every coach who responded to the newsletter at some point over the last year. It means the world to me that not only are you reading but enjoying and even learning from the articles we share with you.

I know some of the articles are long but sometimes the topics we need to discuss require more words, it's just the way it is.

Lastly I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to each and every reader of this newsletter because you are all coaches. I believe you are the most important part of our game, but I would say that though wouldn't I?

I hope you get the opportunity to share some love with your family over the break, please show your players some love too. My very best wishes to you for a rewarding 2023. MB

Coaching has changed

In conversation with another coach the other day, he told me that while nothing in coaching has changed, the “people” were just less receptive these days. Does that sound odd to you? It certainly did to me.

I immediately wondered if this coach is aware of just how much the world has changed in the last ten years and if they have adjusted at all. If you haven't really thought about it, here is an interesting exercise for you.

Get out a blank piece of paper and write down all the things that a current aspiring player would experience that you did not. The list should certainly include Social Media but it should be a fairly lengthy list. Once that list is complete, ask yourself, “How many of these items am I dealing with in my coaching and to what extent do they influence the effectiveness of my coaching?”

Every coach needs to be considering these things if they want to stay relevant and make the most of their own ability and that of their players.

Timing

There is no doubt in my mind that better bowlers find it easier to be effective coaches. I have heard so often in clubs “why would I get coached by him? Im a better bowler than he will ever be.” Lets face it, its pretty hard to argue against isn't it. I say to aspiring coaches, be the best you can be as a bowler, using the skills and information you have learned, and you will find, even your rapid improvement will catch people’s attention and they will want to have what you've got.

While it's probably true that a very average Grade 7 bowler can be a truly effective Club coach, I have yet to meet one. That is not to say because someone is a good bowler they will be a good coach. Good lord NO! These two things are very separate endeavours. 

FOOPO

We deal with FOOPO in the Advanced Coaching course but every Club Coach needs to be aware of the power of FOOPO. It is of course, the fear of other people’s opinion. For some people, it is the very thing that drives them, but for most athletes it is at the core of self limiting behaviour. 

They worry about how their team members will react if they do something like improve rapidly or play a bad game or find out they are a lawyer or something equally evil. (just kidding) 

FOOPO is so powerful for some athletes it forces them to leave the game, stop playing all together.

It used to be cars now its Lotto

Six years ago when I started in this role I was very worried about our top flight coaches travelling together. At the time we only had 11 qualified Advanced Coaches. If something terrible happened we had very thing stocks of qualified and capable coaches at our disposal. If Steve Glasson and Gary Willis were to vanish we would would have been in deep trouble.

Cheerfully I can report two things. Firstly, instead of worrying about car crashes, I have been taught to use the expression Lotto Win as an alternative. What would happen if Gary and Karen both won lotto next week? It’s a much cheerier way of thinking about the problem. Secondly we now have a great group of really talented, fully Accredited Advanced Coaches spread across the country that would fit into the vacant roles superbly.

While once I was afraid of car crashes, now I am on standby for a Lotto win, knowing that our coaching ranks are in good shape.

Working with other coaches

Chances are, there is more than one coach at your club. We both know that ego can sometimes get in the way in the coaching world, so how do you go about working with other coaches in your club?

My first suggestion is to specialise in something. That could be Bowling Arm, or stroke correction, or mental toughness, or Pre-shot routine or training sessions or any of the other dozen or so active components of the delivery and game process.  Make this space your own and let the other coaches know that this is the area you are keen to work in, and then get busy becoming great at it.

Best bowls snap

Every now and again I see bowls picture that is so wonderful it moves me. In the twenty years I have been involved in the game, my very favourite photograph came from the recently held All Abilities Championships. The fabulous Anthony Brown from Dubbo is pushing the equally fabulous Geoff Seton up the green. These two guys represent everything that is special about our game. They are both fierce competitors who try to extract the very best of their abilities in every game they play.

While I have met Anthony a few times I had the joy of playing with Geoff back in my time at Alexandria-Erskineville. Both champions in one great picture.

Review start

Part of the current strategic plan for Bowls Australia is the conduct of a review of the coaching program. It has been more than a decade since the last one so it seems like a pretty good idea to spend some time asking some questions. The world has changed in a decade and we need to make sure we are dealing adequately with the change.

It is also a good idea to include several voices in the review process. Coaching effects so much of what we do in the sport, it is one of those fundamental building blocks that we really need to get right. At the review we had a group of qualified coaches from across the country, we had representatives in the inclusion space, the High performance group, club coaches and administrators. 

We have made some recent changes to the accreditation process which was a discussion point. There was also plenty of talk about the need for ongoing education and the reaccreditation process as well.

Room for improvement

I try, I really do, to coach in a way that allows players to come to their own conclusions about what they might be doing wrong and then help them with a range of suggestions from which they can pick to find a way to improve. Sometimes they have already worked it out and are just checking in to see its not a silly solution. But occasionally I have to be tougher than that.

I recently bowled on the same rink with a dumper. We don't have a paid green keeper at the club, so the bowler was never going to receive input from that source. Volunteer green keepers are very reluctant to say anything to a fellow member about them ruining the green. I didn't say anything to the bowler until he bought up how he was trying something new in his grip. So I felt he had opened the door to discuss his bowling. He was so completely miffed when I told him it wasn't his grip it was him dumping the bowl and that if I was the green keeper I would insist he found a way to stop dumping, a change in style or an arm, he went quiet.

He later told me that I had grossly insulted him. I probably did. How could I have handled this better? I don't like hurting people’s feelings, that's not why I coach.

Success markers

What are your internal and external success markers? Have you ever really thought about them?  For a bowler, what are the internal success markers? Most people think winning is the most obvious success marker, but I would argue that in our game it may well be selection. It could be argued that this is an external success marker. I think it is often both. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

For a musician, an internal success marker may be the ability to write an original piece, or to play a piece with other musicians or to perform to an appreciative audience. It may be to collaborate with another writer. It may be to play more than one instrument. It may be to record to a high standard. It may even be to play in their own lounge room. As you can see, for a musician there are many possible variations on the theme of markers of internal success.

For a coach it could well be a variety of things too. What does it look like for you? Understanding what success looks like will have a real influence on your approach to coaching.

2500 coaches to help you

What would you like help with? New ideas? New training drills? A new way to structure your coaching sessions? Perhaps new ways to stay relevant at your club? We have 2500 coaches to help you. Send me an email (you can ask for anonymity if you prefer) Lets make the most of this great coaching community. MB

The Advanced Coaching Course

What I learned that surprised me.

What I discovered after doing the Advanced Coaching Course (Good or bad).

Have you ever had preconceived idea of how something will pan out only to have those ideas turned on their head, quickly? For me that was my early introduction to the Advanced Coaching Course. The concept of working with the elite of our sport in an effort to take the individuals and teams to another level was my motivation, whilst I still hold that lofty ideal, The Advanced Coaching Course caused me to realign my road map to achieving those outcomes.

Firstly, I had to truly know me, my biases, my strengths, my coaching style before I could assist

others. Central to achieving that was Clifton’s Strengths. If you are not aware of that entire approach I recommend them to you, as a coach they are invaluable, not only helping you understand yourself at a deeper level but also understanding your players and their motivations, their hot buttons and cold buttons, how to really get them to achieve their maximum.

I was astounded by the quality of persons undertaking the course, not just accomplished bowlers but very accomplished in their chosen field. All were deep thinkers, motivating, empathetic, courageous, down to earth. I loved their sense of humour and banter and learning about them. It makes me think of the players I have played with and against over the years and whether I paid enough attention to them as individuals when not on the bowling green. The course really taught me the value of knowing your players well, particularly away from bowls.

At one point we were introduced to the concept of continuous education through reading on all aspects of human endeavour. Of particular interest to me were the novel approaches to coaching from sports other than bowls and in countries beyond Australia. This interest fostered in the course continues for me. I love the use of evidence in other sports to assist in development, so much so that I have used data collection to assist club teams individuals and pennant sides since completing the course. For those interested score card analysis provides valuable insights into performance eg in each segment of a game, ends won and lost greater than 2 etc, in detecting patterns as a coach you are able to devise training programmes to remedy.

Also, analysis of team performance measurements in terms of effective bowls and mat length deliveries allows for more detailed assistance to individuals and teams. I always wondered why statistics were not used often in Lawn bowls yet in other sports they are central. The Advanced Course opened a door of research for me that I have willingly developed.

I have learnt that unless you have all affected parties ‘on board’ then change is very difficult. Change often affects those with personal investment of time, energy or position more than those that simply wish to improve their bowling performance. Most people are accommodating of change so long as it does not impact them. As a coach we need to be aware of the impacts any programme will have before we embark upon the first step. A case in point…. is the club culture catering to all or to the social component but not the competitive component or the reverse. Then, are the decision makers aware. Change is a process lead by a few but embarked upon only when you have significant support.

The course was magnificent, not only were we as a group pushed well beyond our comfort zones, we did so as a group. In many ways upon reflection the course facilitator acted as coach/mentor in

much the same way we were being taught to coach, creative, researched, practiced and collectively allowing the individuals to pursue their learning in a style suited to them. We were all very different with very different motivations, learning styles, and personalities. This diverse group of individuals was treated as a group with freedom to develop at our own pace and with our own bias and motivation, much the same as any group I have coached. We must get to know our players first before we can consider trying to assist them. The coach is the facilitator of their learning not the dictator.

I am a learner, I simply love it. My coaching style reflects who I am and my strengths. What is yours?

Are you using your strengths? Are you mindful of the different strengths in different people you coach and their motivations. Have you witnessed/assisted in their written smarter goals?

As one who values learning and evidence it is little wonder I struggle to understand why it is that elite players do not seek a coach to assist them develop. Perhaps it comes from historically bowls coaches in the main being coaches of technique. Whilst technique is important along with the fixed and variable aspects of delivery there is significantly more coaches of elite players can and must contribute.

Game plans, game tactics, the focus on positive psychology, the avoidance of external influences, most importantly understanding the player and what motivates them and how you the coach can assist and monitor their progress towards their goals. The bottom line is a coach is a facilitator who tells the absolute truth, the way it is, and works with the player to achieve the players’ goals.

Of course there is the Advanced Coaching Manual, which is full of gems covering all aspects performance at the elite level that you can be asked by elite players, state authorities and high performance squads to develop and master.

We coaches are in the people business and for me trying to be the best person and coach I can possibly be and encouraging others to do the same in an open, honest, inclusive environment which facilitates positive outcomes. That is exactly what the advanced Coaching Course provided for me.

Regards

Mark (Razor) Gillett

The way it most likely unfolds

For many of us, our successes need to be celebrated in silence. (I know thats a lot of “s’s”.) Often when a player improves it is seen as their success, not yours. When a team plays well together, it is their success not yours too. So part of your role as coach is to make sure you spend some time recognising your own successes. 

I know that in most clubs, players at the pointy end are super reluctant to accept any coaching and it is most often the lower grades and newer bowlers that coaches spend their time with. This also happens to be the less celebrated end of every club. It’s just the way it is. Until every club has “Best first year player” and “Most improved” bowler awards, your role is simply not going to be appreciated to the fullest extent. That is just part of the territory Im afraid.

So when a player you have put time into, gets some reward for effort, buy yourself a beer, give yourself a pat on the back and recognise the reward for effort for yourself. You have my thanks too.

You know you are a coach when…

You watch the Basketball but you are more interested in the huddle than the action.

You see the entire game but cant wait for the post match interview to hear the language used.

You used to read fiction, but now its neuroscience.

The biographies you read used to be world leaders, they are now coaches.

You start to see everything through the lens of coaching, facilitating and improved skill levels.

You're a new Coach

So you've just finished your accreditation and you are now a coach. What happens next? You want to help people don't you? You are probably busting at the seams to get among your fellow bowlers and correct things, fix actions and grips. Please do not do that!!!!!

The best advice I can give you is to take your time. Sit back and observe. Most bowlers are suspicious of new coaches, and with good reason. Time and time again someone has gone along to a coaching course and come back thinking they have all the answers. I tell new coaches, at their training, the certificate is your permission to start thinking, and listening and observing like a coach.

Apart from taking your time before jumping in, my next piece of advice is to hook up with some other coaches. Either in an online environment or in person. Start talking with other coaches about what they are doing, what is working, what they struggle with and all things coaching. You will learn so much in the early days as your eyes and ears are now attuned to the new world of coaching.

The next piece of advice I will give you is, apply what you have learnt, to yourself. If players around you see improvement in you, they will want to know about it. Your own improvement as a bowler is the very best advertisement for your coaching know-how. Of course there is an alternative to this, which is stop bowling all together. But if you are anything like me, you love the game too much to do that.

So in simple terms, take your time, talk to other coaches and dramatically improve your own bowling. This will set you up for future success.