Sport Coaching in Practice
Articles and Videos
Here is a collection of articles focused on the practical application of coaching. Covering a varied topic mix, they all relate to useful and relevant coaching issues, coaches face day in, day out. You may find our sections for our most recent articles, resources and materials, latest newsletters, or 5 Minutes with Bo Hanson video series valuable too.
Accelerating Athlete Decision Making
The skill of decision making is closely linked to problem solving. For some athletes, making the right decisions at the right time is a well-developed skill, whilst other athletes find this process more challenging. Like any critical skill, the key to developing an individual’s decision making is to practice. So, where should an athlete practice their decision making? The answer is in training.
Why Effective Leadership Starts with Structuring Your Captain Selection Process
Captain or leadership group, how can you determine what the right structure for your team is? Who should be appointed as the leader and, what exactly does the person in the leadership role do? These were some of the critical leadership questions we unpacked in our recent open webinar, ‘Choosing Captains and Leadership Development Within Your Team’.
From Coaching on the Court to Coaching in the Classroom
“I rarely choose the easy route just because something might be hard.” It’s a simple and succinct statement of fact, but it also serves as a quick character portrait summing up Dr. Scott Douglas, a 2x NWBA Champion, 4x player for the U.S. Men’s World Cup Tennis Team, 3x Paralympian, coach, and Associate Professor at University of Northern Colorado.
Hardwood Hustle Podcast: with Bo Hanson
We’re excited to share Bo’s chat with hosts of the Hardwood Hustle Podcast TJ and Sam, along with longtime friend of Athlete Assessments, Lisa who introduces Bo on the episode.
When Coaching Sport Isn’t All About Coaching Sport
Kinzee Salo, Teaching Specialist in Coaching at the University of Minnesota, and Assistant Men’s Tennis Coach at Gustavus Adolphus College, speaks to the philosophy of teaching coaching as a people management skill.
Q&A with Kinzee Salo, Teaching Specialist & Coach
We recently interviewed Kinzee Salo for our article When Coaching Sport isn’t All About Coaching Sport and we found that she shared too many valuable insights to include in just one article. So, we’re sharing all her answers in an extended Q&A here.
Are Your Athletes Ready To Perform?
This article was initiated by an important question that one of the gymnastic coaches we work with asked, “How can we make sure we’re ready to perform at our very best the moment competition begins.”
Why All Eyes Are On Ventson Donelson
Ventson Donelson, Coach, Motivational Speaker on Headgame, mental health, overcoming adversity, self-awareness, and DISC profiling.
Story of Success – Talented Junior to PGA Tournament Winner – his Coach’s Insight
Mental Performance Coach, Rick Sessinghaus, has coached long-time client Collin Morikawa, currently ranked #5 on the PGA tour, from talented junior to #1 World Amateur and on to professional status.
Making Use of Motivational Quotes
Undoubtedly, people love motivational quotes, they give us a chance to reflect on how or why we do things and they’re words of wisdom, an insight in to an unknown world of success, fear or fierce competition.
Learning from the Last Olympics – What Makes Super Athletes So Successful?
Research from the London Olympics revealed the defining difference between serially successful athletes and their competitors. And it might not be what you immediately think!
Coaching Insights to Develop a Competitive Advantage
Got a spare couple of minutes on the way to training or the weekend match? Catch the conversation between Bo Hanson and Adam Haniver on The Boxing Coaches’ Podcast. What really makes this podcast worth listening to is the way that Adam, host of The Boxing Coaches’ Podcast, asks Bo questions that surface the connections between the mechanisms and the outcomes that drive performance.
Shining the Spotlight on the Performance and Wellness Institute
On a daily basis, the Performance and Wellness Institute is buzzing with athletes practicing their verticals, leaping between stations, pushing their strength towards numbers that were previously unimaginable, while rehabbers are moving with increasing degrees and fluidity. But this isn’t what distinguishes the Institute, enter Crisa Renard and Ryan Wasilawski, these two Exercise Physiologists and their investment in every individual is what’s behind the success stories that clients are quick to share.
Coxswain Coaching Camps – Champion Creating Future Champions
Mary Whipple, who won three Olympic Medals, two Gold and one Silver, plus five World Championships, knows exactly how to achieve extraordinary results. As coxswain to the serially successful USA Women’s Rowing Eight, she was responsible for leading, understanding and ultimately driving her team across the line in first position, multiple times. Now,
Accountability Key to Championship Form
After a stellar playing career that included 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, Kristi Stefanoni, Head Coach of the UMass Softball Program, has solidified her position as a stellar coach with another successful year and being rewarded with the title of 2018 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.
Kristi Stefanoni – University of Massachusetts Softball Program
Kristi Stefanoni ‘The UMass Minutewomen’ Extended Question & Answer By Mim Haigh, Sports Writer – Athlete Assessments For our recent article “Accountability Key to Championship Form”, our interview with Coach Kristi Stefanoni resulted in the below Q&A. For
Google’s Management Tips Translated to Coaching
Google, the #1 search engine in the world, ranked the top 10 attributes common to its best managers. We found that those behaviors run parallel to characteristics displayed by the most successful leaders in sport. Google’s findings support our knowledge that the best in the world reach that rank because of their expertise in people management, not just technology, equipment or physical capabilities.
Coaches, Don’t Let Your Athletes Miss This In Their Training Journals
We’ve all heard about the importance of athletes keeping training journals to improve performance, and like all valuable performance strategies it isn’t whether or not our athletes know about it, but whether they do it. Bo Hanson, Senior Consultant at Athlete Assessments says, “a training journal is one of the first activities we encourage athletes to do. The kind of things we like to see in a training journal include; the way an athlete feels about the session, any mental, physical or technical challenges they identify, things they want to improve on, things they were coached to improve on, strategies they tried and the values they lived on the team that practice.”
6 CRUCIAL Steps to Success in Taking Over a Program
Congratulations! You’ve just been recruited as the new Head Coach. Whatever circumstances led to your appointment, the fact remains; you need to turn this team around – fast. You’ve got to get important elements of the team on side and develop what’s left of the team culture into a culture that you want. A culture that develops growth and delivers performance. There are six non-negotiable elements to success in this situation.
Answer to THE Coaching Question
What’s the difference between super champions, champions and athletes who don’t quite make it? It’s the quintessential coaching question and in this article we’ll recap the research findings that reveal the answers and tell you everything you need to know to apply the academic knowledge to everyday coaching.
Energize your Team like a Rock Star
Rock bands follow a formula for managing their audience’s energy. When you think about any of the live gigs you’ve been to, they follow a pretty predictable pattern. Predictable but effective. In this short video Bo Hanson shows you how to apply that formula to coaching sessions.
It’s unrealistic to expect athletes to be energized 100% of the time over the course of a training session which may be 2-3 hours long. Instead, it is our job as coaches to manage their energy in an effective way, taking into account physical development, skill acquisition and importantly, enjoyment.
It’s enjoyment and satisfaction that keeps athletes coming back.
It’s essential that most needed, least enjoyable and favorite drills are scheduled in an order that manages your athletes’ energy, ensures they make the most of every session and come back for more.
Watch this video as Bo Hanson explains:
Momentary Vs Sustained Adaptations – What this means in Elite Sport
very athlete has a way of doing things that just feels right. A way they like to shoot, or move, or run. Like writing with your dominant hand, it’s comfortable and not in any way forced. That’s what a ‘natural profile’ or ‘natural style’ in the AthleteDISC Profile is, it’s the way you prefer to do things.
When an athlete is able to compete according to this natural style, rather than continually making significant adaptations, they perform at their best. They’re not using any extra energy to do something that doesn’t come naturally.
Domino Effect in Sport
Many believe in the ‘domino effect’ as a natural force in life and subsequently, sport. It’s often referred to as the concept of ‘momentum’. The domino effect is best explained as looking at life, or sport, as a series of somehow connected events or situations. When one domino is pushed, the others all fall until the inevitable end result occurs and a thousand dominos are all lying flat.
The Pressure of Perfectionism
How the pressure of perfectionism can be alleviated by coaching strategies that focus on effort not execution, beliefs and behavior
By Bo Hanson, Director and Lead Consultant – Athlete Assessments
‘The Rise of Perfectionism’ among college students is a significant trend according to an article by the Harvard Business Review. In summary, the article was reporting on research conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), which surveyed 41,641 American, Canadian, and British college students from 1989 to 2016 and found an increasing tendency to
Elite Sports Camps – Include the Skills that Really Need Work
Camp can be a pivotal time for young athletes, they are exposed to new ideas, techniques, facilities, coaches and competition strategies. Equally, sports camps present the best coaches with an outstanding opportunity to work on an athlete’s people skills and strengthen their performance potential, alongside the usual physical and technical focus.
Don’t miss another newsletter! Sign up today…
At Athlete Assessments, we’re here to provide you with excellence in service and to help you be your best. If there is anything we can assist you with, please Contact Us.
Search our library of free articles and videos.
Looking for something specific? You can use our search function to find what you are looking for:
Learn more about Athlete Assessments
DISC Profiling
Learn how to master the people side of sport using DISC Profiling...
What We Do
We specialize in helping our clients create and sustain winning results...
Our Clients
See who we work with and read what they say about us...
Learn more about Athlete Assessments
DISC Profiling
Learn how to master the people side of sport using DISC Profiling...
What We Do
We specialize in helping our clients create and sustain winning results...
Our Clients
See who we work with and read what they say about us...
