UK Coaching Framework

[moo-mop]

Originally Posted by Robin the Hood

ie L1...Beginners / L2...Up to first class etc.

I have to say it was laid out that L1 coaches beginners [and to be clear I also asked what was meant by beginners and that was under first class - so I was told L1 is expected to coach archers (with support) for up to about 2/3 months, including the course, when they are shooting 2/3 times/week for an normal adult]. Of course in fact most of what I am likely to be doing when I qualify as L1 is the beginners' courses, have-a-gos and the club sessions for real novices shooting more like 0.5/1/2 times a week (if you shoot half the number of arrows you will develop more slowly than half the pace). Aside: of course it was an L1 coach (at the time) that helped me make GMB from MB in 2006, so I also strongly support the idea that an adult archer may choose whatever coach they want to help them, provided the coach does say that they are not officially qualified at the level.

[not dead yet]

this is where we go wrong.....

Six days a week, with rest on Sunday
Nichols shoots anywhere between 100 to 230 arrows during training that lasts seven to eight hours a day, six days a week. She uses a workout with weights and cardio training as well. "We weight train to balance our body out since archery is definitely one-sided," she said. "(There is) the duplication of the movement over and over again so weight training is important to balance out our muscles and so that we don't become strong on just one side of our body. Also, the cardio workout helps us to have a lower heart rate under pressure which is always good, but also I think that my dance classes over the years have been a real advantage for me in learning balance and grace and just the ability to move and body awareness

no relation to me but as you all know an awesome archer

[Robin the Hood]

Originally Posted by not dead yet

this is where we go wrong.....
no relation to me but as you all know an awesome archer

I'm sure her know this woman.....let me think!....

Paul....

[not dead yet]

Originally Posted by Robin the Hood

I'm sure her know this woman.....let me think!....

Paul....

jennifer nichols USA age 26

[Deadeye Doc]

I have been following this thread sporadically since it started. Throughout there has been no mention of the frequently acknowledged influence of the mental side of archery.
Not being a coach, but having been a sports physician, I have not seen the contents of the "Framework" but nevertheless wonder if there has been ANY mention of the contribution of psychological methods such as Attention Control Technique or the use of the T.A.I.S. questionnaire in the Framework.
I have heard highly experienced archers and coaches say that good perfomance in shooting is between 85% and 95% determined by psychological factors (I'm not sure that I would put quite this much emphasis on psychology), but what if anything is being done about this given its commonly mentioned importance?
For the average club archer it may be of minimal importance, although their enjoyment of archery might be enhanced, and may not be something the average club coach should have in their toolkit, but what about county level or even above this? Is this being addressed by the "Framework"?

[grimsby archer]

Originally Posted by Deadeye Doc

I have not seen the contents of the "Framework" but nevertheless wonder if there has been ANY mention of the contribution of psychological methods such as Attention Control Technique

I suspect that Attention Control Technique falls in the same category as many psychological techniques, "expensive"

I googled "Attention control technique" got no relevant results so tried "Attention Control Training" which gave me several thousand results, each of which involved buying someones book or paying to go on a course or paying to view a resource.

Same thing with NLP and other similiar techniques and technologies.
Understandably, NLP practisioners pay a fortune to become NLP practisioners so dont want to give away their source of income. (Sorry to be picking on NLP, I am just using it as an example)

Until these things are made readily available (so people like me can find out what they are, how to use them and whether they work) without costing a small fortune up front, how does anyone expect them to come into common usage as part of the "average" coaches bag of tricks?

[Loomer]

Originally Posted by Deadeye Doc

I have been following this thread sporadically since it started. Throughout there has been no mention of the frequently acknowledged influence of the mental side of archery.

You are quite right, there is no mention of mental skills in the coaching framework, but then, there is no mention of the physical skills either. The framework task (as I understand it) is going through a process of a) identifying how archers develop, b) identifying the support they need to do so, c) developing a coaching structure that fits these needs.

The NSG are responsible for the content of coaching courses, and they appear to understand the importance of the mental side of things - at least, those that I know keep saying it should be taught much earlier in the coaching process.

[Deadeye Doc]

Originally Posted by grimsby archer

I suspect that Attention Control Technique falls in the same category as many psychological techniques, "expensive"

I googled "Attention control technique" got no relevant results so tried "Attention Control Training" which gave me several thousand results, each of which involved buying someones book or paying to go on a course or paying to view a resource.
Same thing with NLP and other similiar techniques and technologies.
Understandably, NLP practisioners pay a fortune to become NLP practisioners so dont want to give away their source of income. (Sorry to be picking on NLP, I am just using it as an example)
Until these things are made readily available (so people like me can find out what they are, how to use them and whether they work) without costing a small fortune up front, how does anyone expect them to come into common usage as part of the "average" coaches bag of tricks?

Thanks for this GA and Loomer.
In reply I would perhaps suggest that Al Henderson's little book "Understanding Winning Archery" should be made mandatory reading. I can't recall what it cost me when I first came accross it but it ain't going to break the bank and has some remarkable insights on the "mental game".
GA, you're right about NLP, which is pushed by its proponents very efficiently. I happen to be qualified as an NLP practitioner, a Hypno-psychotherapist, and an Autogenic practitioner. (This, by the way, is not a self-promotion). I happened to be exceptionally interested by the mental set of many of my patients and by the athletes I met and so as CPD did the training.
NLP is over promoted as a panacea for all ills. It has "stolen" a whole host of techniques from all sorts of other psychotherapeutic disciplines and branded the package. It is nevertheless quite useful as a "toolkit". I have found NLP "practitioners" to be far too pushy for my liking.
Self-hypnosis and Autogenic Training are useful skills for an archer to have, both disciplines having the same roots. They can be learned and modified by the archer fairly simply.
With respect to Attention Control Training, originating from Robert Nideffer's work in the 1970s, you might like to look at this URL
http://www.internationalmta.org/2003...,Concentration vs. Alertness/Arousal
This is "selling" a biofeedback machine called a "Peak Achievement Trainer". It comes expensive! Nevertheless it is worth taking a peek at the ideas. Most of the ideas are intuitively right and again because at Club or County level funding anf time are scarce commodities simple awareness of the ideas may help coaches to be "better" and achieve better outcomes.