WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.799 Are you doing. Welcome to Rugby League Coach Podcast, episode 2 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.559 two hundred and fifty two. We're in season four of it. 3 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.080 My name is Lee Addison. As you may know by now, 4 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.720 I am the owner of Rugby League Coach dot com totau. 5 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.480 I'm a coach mentor, I'm a coach educator, coach consultant 6 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:23.920 and also an author. I'm a big water drinker and 7 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:27.320 my water consumption is sponsored by the Global League Network, 8 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:32.000 who you can find at Global League dot Network. I 9 00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:36.640 want to apologize about once again this podcast being out late. 10 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:41.960 I promise it every Monday. Sometimes life just gets it 11 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:46.320 the way. As I was traveling back from to Wumba 12 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:50.359 on Saturday night after the work I do over there 13 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.320 with a couple of clubs. Is two clubs that I 14 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:57.640 consult for over there, and it's about two hours away 15 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:02.840 from my front door and I'm so lucky. About ten 16 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.239 minutes away from my front door. Oh sorry, my good 17 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:09.200 friend's front door because he was in the car with 18 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:12.959 me too, my tire blue. So if you listen, if 19 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:16.719 you listen to a Little Warning, the Little Update podcast 20 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:19.719 that's about five minutes long, you'll know this. If you've 21 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:22.480 listened to the Super League three sixty podcast that was 22 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:27.359 there on the Monday morning instead of instead of this 23 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:33.959 podcast that you were explaining expecting. Sorry, you'll know this story. 24 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:36.120 The tire blue, and boy did I do a good 25 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:38.599 job on it. It was an absolute mess. I may 26 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:40.920 I may upload it on the socials one day so 27 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.879 you can see. Anyway, So I had to try and 28 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:46.319 change the tire, and then of course the thing that 29 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:49.760 the spanner that you use to get the nuts off 30 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:53.120 the off the wheel. I'm sure they've got a more 31 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:56.319 technical name the nuts, but put it this way. I 32 00:01:56.359 --> 00:02:02.719 couldn't grip onto the nuts, so we had to call breakdown. 33 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:09.159 Breakdown came and towed my car to my friend's house, 34 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:15.520 so it was stuck there and I got a lift 35 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.560 home off my friend and then decided i'd work it 36 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:24.039 out the following morning. Anyway, got in touch with well, 37 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:27.280 I'll tell you who it was. It's Jim's. Jim's tires, 38 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:31.439 I think they called. They're Australian Wide, so for anybody 39 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.840 Jim's mobile tires, So if anybody needs tires, I can 40 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.879 tell you now. These were brilliant. I got hold of 41 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:41.319 them on a Sunday and then somebody called me from 42 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:45.240 my locality and said, I'll check if I've got those 43 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:47.479 tires right now, and i'll be with you this afternoon 44 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:54.800 if I have. Unfortunately he didn't, but honestly within twelve hours. 45 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.560 So on the Monday, my tires were sorted and I 46 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.800 didn't even need to be there. He did them without 47 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:03.840 me there because I was watching England play in the 48 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:08.360 football in the soccer. So it's been a bit of 49 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:14.400 a journey, right. So but all's well, that ends well. 50 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:17.520 The tires are fine, and I guess I just want 51 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:23.560 to there's two ways of looking at life, right. I've 52 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:25.479 spent a lot on my car lately. I'm just trying 53 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:27.560 to get this car to the end of the year basically, 54 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:29.680 so I've been spending a little bit on it. If 55 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:35.039 anybody wants to buy it, it's holding you twenty twelve 56 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:37.319 if anyone wants to buy it. I bought it for 57 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:41.719 when I was doing clinics a few years ago. But 58 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:44.400 I've spent a bit of money on it lately. Knew this, 59 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:50.560 knew that, and therefore a tire blowing a matter of 60 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:56.719 six weeks since that happened. In terms of that expenditure, 61 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:02.000 it would have been easy for me to go life's 62 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:05.879 bad like this, I've got to be honest. I feel 63 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:08.919 really blessed or whatever the term you want to use 64 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:12.319 that in a two hour journey, I was ten minutes 65 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:16.680 away from I was about fifteen minutes away from home, 66 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:22.839 so I was able to get to get a toe comfortably. Secondly, 67 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:31.399 the absolute easiness of the repair. I am choosing to 68 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:37.240 look at this as glass half full. If that tire 69 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:42.759 problem would have helped, would have happened. Listen, I'm saying 70 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:45.040 I've said a couple of words wrong already. Let me 71 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:47.720 just say this is how tired I am because I 72 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:49.920 had to get up early to do so much today 73 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.120 before England played today, so I'm all over the show. 74 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:56.759 I'm going to wing this podcast. But I decided to 75 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:00.879 look at this as if I was coming back from 76 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:03.680 to Wumba and I ended up the tire blue on 77 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.879 the bypass or something like that, which is a very 78 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:12.480 isolated place at that time of night, also can get 79 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:17.480 quite weather weather affected in terms of smogan things like that. 80 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:19.480 That would have been a lot worse than ten minutes 81 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:24.839 from home or ten minutes from sanctuary. So all I'm 82 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:29.040 seeing is the positives, and I guess any coach or 83 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.920 anybody in life can use that kind of kind of 84 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:35.199 approach as well. So take from that what you will 85 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:40.000 and apply it to whatever you need to apply it too. 86 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:44.120 This podcast could go in all sorts of directions today. 87 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:47.240 I've said to you many times that I am not 88 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:50.959 one hundred percent convinced that I know how to plan 89 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:53.639 a podcast properly in terms of getting it to an hour. 90 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:56.519 I honestly think I've got so much this week that 91 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.240 I might have enough content for next week too. But 92 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.720 the first thing, let's talk about some coaching such Ower 93 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:05.319 rather than Lee's Travis. But it is coming home by 94 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:11.839 the way England, England won. Some players will never learn 95 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:16.360 your game plan? Have you noticed that? Why is that 96 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:23.399 this week's first segment, after Lee's vehicle travise, is about 97 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:27.519 why our players might not learn our game plan. I 98 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:31.360 was looking back through some old files recently because I'm 99 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:33.920 writing a big document for a Queensland Cup club at 100 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:37.519 the moment, and I came across my old master's dissertation 101 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:41.160 from when I was at university in Sydney back in 102 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:45.279 twenty ten. The title of it was does Knowledge of 103 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:49.600 Learning Styles, learning Difficulties and differentiation within a rugby league 104 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:57.720 team help coaches create a more effective coaching program. Sixteen 105 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:01.079 years later, I think it's actually more relevant than when 106 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:06.839 I wrote it because today we have GPS, video drones, 107 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:15.279 coding software AI. We all still battle with whatever we 108 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:18.720 put down as a coach, is it getting picked up? 109 00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:23.879 So let me ask you something. Have you ever finished 110 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:27.360 training and asked your players? Does everyone understand that? Do 111 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:31.519 you get that? Have you ever known a player go no, 112 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:33.800 I'm done as shit. I don't know what you said. 113 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:37.279 Twenty players tend to not, don't they. If you've got 114 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:41.160 twenty of them, you might see one or two's eyes 115 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:44.199 roll or go to the side and think, coach, I 116 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:48.959 don't know, but I'm too scared to say, and then 117 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:54.480 they play absolutely nothing like what you've coached. Every single 118 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:57.399 coach listening to this has experienced that. This coach who's 119 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:02.839 talking to you now has experienced this and still experiences this. 120 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.439 For years, I used to think, well, the players mustn't 121 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:13.399 be concentrating, or must have been listening, or weren't trying. 122 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:17.079 But eventually I started to ask a different question, and 123 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.839 that question was what if they weren't learning from the 124 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:25.959 way I was teaching them. So when I did my 125 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:32.159 first lot of research, I was coaching in England as 126 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:33.919 part of the first part of the Matters, which I 127 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:38.919 did in England, and we had a good side and 128 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:43.799 organized side, detailed game plans, video written hands out, written handouts, 129 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:48.720 training twice a week, classroom sessions. Yet players still misunderstood 130 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:52.559 parts of the attacking system, not all of them, some 131 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:55.600 of them. And then of course there's that whole connection 132 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:58.399 between what you know mentally versus what you can carry 133 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:03.399 out physically. So it fascinated me and I thought to myself, 134 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:07.600 why aren't they getting it? And then I changed the 135 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:09.960 question in my head to how are they trying to 136 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:15.000 learn it? So I interviewed some players individually and asked them, 137 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:20.559 not what do you think? I said, I tested their understanding. 138 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.240 I drew things and said what do you think that 139 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:28.639 means in terms of a play or in terms of 140 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.360 a set, or what should that be called? Ask them 141 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:35.120 what they do next? And sometimes I just mentally draw. 142 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:42.360 I talk to them and explain the picture. Out of 143 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:45.039 all the players who said they understood the game plan, 144 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:49.120 but when I asked them to explain it, the difference 145 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:52.799 between those two things were very different. Now we're not 146 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:55.960 coaching players, so they can talk to a victory. How 147 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:02.559 so keep listening. Some had it and were able to 148 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:08.519 articulate it. Some were close, some had completely different ideas. Yeah, 149 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:15.360 every player thought they understood and they never put the 150 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:20.240 hand up when you said, everyone get this, and this 151 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:24.919 kind of thing was you know, it wasn't just one incident. 152 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.039 It was building up and build up. That was one 153 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:29.559 of the biggest lessons of my coaching career, and therefore 154 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:38.360 this research that I did. Every player learns differently. Some 155 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:43.759 players love written notes. One who in one of the 156 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.120 teams a coach should go home, read them, study them, 157 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:51.159 come back better prepared. Another player told me he hated talking, 158 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:55.399 just let me do it. Another one wanted more video, 159 00:10:56.200 --> 00:11:03.399 another wanted diagrams from play. Of my research, I found 160 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:05.799 out one player was dyslexic. I think if I was 161 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:08.519 to do that now, this would be up to twenty 162 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:12.320 years later. You might find so many of your players 163 00:11:12.360 --> 00:11:17.080 have learning difficulties, he said. The written hand ounce meant 164 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:22.480 nothing to him. Imagine if I'd have continued coaching all 165 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:27.440 twenty exactly the same way. The reality is some of 166 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:30.919 those players would have been disadvantaged. All the time, and 167 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.080 it would have been nothing to do with their ability, 168 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:36.000 but it would have been that I was only speaking 169 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:42.919 limited coaching languages. So what I did with these players 170 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:46.279 was give them a recognized learning style assessment, which I'll 171 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:51.200 tell you about soon. And I found out that two 172 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:58.519 thirds of the squad preferred visual learning pictures, video watching demonstrations, 173 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:02.320 not endless talking from a coach right, and that changed 174 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:10.799 everything about the way I coached. Training changed dramatically. I 175 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:15.799 would sometimes delay training until we'd watched a video of 176 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.080 either what they wanted them to do or what they 177 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:23.639 did what they had done well in a previous game. 178 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:30.200 Just to reinforce it, I brought in whiteboards and progressive diagrams. 179 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.320 It was around this time that I started playing around 180 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.759 with powerpoints too, and there was also a lot of 181 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:40.399 question and answer, a lot more than they used to be. 182 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:46.120 I also gave players permission to if they didn't understand 183 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:48.120 a drill or a game that we were doing. They 184 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:54.080 literally had permission and a few minute window where they 185 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:56.759 could stand outside the drill or stand back from the 186 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:01.879 game just to just to understand it. I encouraged discussion. 187 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:07.840 I asked players to explain what I mean, what do 188 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:11.600 I mean when I say good ball boys or whatever 189 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.360 it may be? So instead of me talking all the time, 190 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:20.639 players were more involved. I was able to after this 191 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:26.879 bringing new attacking systems, players seem to understand it a 192 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:32.120 lot earlier. Previously, another system that I think was even 193 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:37.919 more complicated was all of a sudden happening a lot 194 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.360 quicker than the previous system that I thought was even 195 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:51.080 more simple. Every player preferred the new approach. The biggest 196 00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:58.159 lesson wasn't necessarily about learning styles. It was about the questions. 197 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:03.159 Stop asking players if they enjoyed training and nothing else. 198 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:07.759 Start asking if they understand it. Because there's a huge difference. 199 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:17.159 Coaches massively overestimate player understanding. We might explain something once twice, 200 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:21.000 then move on players. No decession continues. Particularly in England, 201 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:26.039 they were freezing. But how often do we check and 202 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:29.000 can that player explain it? Could they teach it somebody else? 203 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.320 Can they recognize it? Can they recognize it in a 204 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:35.200 game situation? Can they solve the problem that you're asking? 205 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:44.399 Because that's football intelligence. And one thing I underestimated all 206 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:49.879 those years ago was technology. Today, there's no excuse. Every 207 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:52.360 single one of us carries a video editing suite in 208 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:57.320 our pocket. Basically it's called a telephone. Well, it's called 209 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:02.919 a smilephone. Make sure you legally can, but you can 210 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:06.840 film every drill if you want. Every session can have diagrams. 211 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:11.440 There is no reason why, whether WhatsApp account or a 212 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:17.279 Facebook group that has been cleared legally, there's no reason 213 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:20.279 why you can't send players clips before training, after training, 214 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:25.399 on game day. We can personalize learning and training now 215 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:30.799 more than ever before. If I was doing this research now, 216 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:34.799 I'd probably measure different things such as decision making, video recall, 217 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:40.360 positioning on the field, work rate at certain times, reaction times, 218 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:46.279 small sided game decisions. I'd use AI video libraries, player 219 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:50.759 learning profiles, but the central question would remain exactly the same, 220 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:55.159 which is how do we help every individual learn faster? 221 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:02.000 Pick three random players going ask them individually to explain 222 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:07.639 either a session or a concept, and you'll be amazed 223 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:12.919 by what you discover. And then the other thing is 224 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:17.639 teach everything for different ways. Show it, explain it, draw it, 225 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:21.639 or act it. Do it and I'll tell you more 226 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:25.039 about this concept as we go through this pod. Told 227 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:28.080 you I'm winging it, and we do it. Okay, though 228 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:33.399 the more ways that your players experience learning, the deeper 229 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:40.039 their understanding will be. Thirdly, get them to talk. Don't 230 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:45.720 become the only teacher. Ask players to explain drills and 231 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:54.840 concepts and game plans, etc. Get them to coach each other. 232 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.399 The player doing the explaining the most is often learning 233 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:04.640 the most. And looking back now, I don't think that 234 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:10.079 this research was necessarily about what I thought it was 235 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:12.920 the first half of it. At least there's about respect, 236 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:19.519 respecting that every player is different. We've had different experiences, 237 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:23.759 got different levels of confidence, different strengths, different weaknesses, process 238 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:30.920 information in very different ways. Best coaches, in my opinion, 239 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:37.599 don't know rugby league alone. They know how to deal 240 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:39.519 with people, and we know they know how to get 241 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:43.200 their players to run through brick walls for them. But 242 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:45.079 I'm telling you this now, the more you learn about 243 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:51.759 your players, you will become a far better coach because 244 00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:54.119 it's not about what you say, it's about what they hear. 245 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.599 Every one of you also, this was the second part 246 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:10.920 of my research. Every one of you has probably had 247 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:13.799 several things to fix, So I'll give you one of 248 00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:19.200 the most obvious examples. Your team gets battered and they 249 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:25.519 poor defensively. You feel that on the Tuesday training you 250 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:29.519 want to punish them, for want of a better term, 251 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:34.000 so that they don't do that again. Naughty boys, naughty girls. 252 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:39.240 But you also realize that the players are battered and bruised, 253 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.960 so how do you fix that? So the question is 254 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:47.480 how do you improve your players when you can't train 255 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:54.839 them anymore? Can players improve without training more? And this 256 00:18:54.920 --> 00:19:00.880 goes for every level of the game. Soundlous, doesn't it, 257 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:05.400 because we've all grown up in this game. If you 258 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:11.759 want to get better, train harder, train longer, do more repetitions. 259 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:16.279 But I challenge this thinking as part of this thesis, 260 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:19.880 not completely, but enough to know that it changed me 261 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:23.720 as a coach forever. At the time of the second 262 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:26.839 half of its head coach of rugby league at Saint 263 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:32.279 Gregory's College, which is where nine national titles have been 264 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:36.359 one over the years, one of the most famous schoolboy 265 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:41.119 rugby league names in the world, and I had a 266 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:45.119 player called James that's going my team. What we also 267 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:49.920 had was half the team we're playing junior reps, so 268 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:53.440 they were getting an awful lot of training at West Magpies, 269 00:19:53.759 --> 00:20:00.319 Balmain Tigers, Canterbury Bulldogs, etc. The others didn't play junior Rep. 270 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:02.480 So if you imagine a squad of twenty I can't 271 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:04.400 remember the exact number, but if you imagine a squad 272 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:10.880 of twenty ten in REP ten not it was. I 273 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.960 can't remember the exact numbers of players, but I do 274 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.839 remember the two. You could literally cut them almost in 275 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:21.920 half in terms of who was a REP player and 276 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:25.920 who wasn't and back then, and I would imagine it's 277 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:30.119 only got worse. The training standards required a lot of 278 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:32.680 these NROL clubs when they were playing junior reps were 279 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:36.880 through the roof. I mean, I had no room to maneuver. 280 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:42.000 And I've told you before on this podcast that I 281 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:45.720 had two training groups, Group one and Group two. Group 282 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:49.720 one were the junior Rep players. They just had to 283 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:53.480 do the team run on the Thursday every week. This 284 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.279 is in pre season, not during the season. They had 285 00:20:56.279 --> 00:20:59.279 to do the team run every week, but to every 286 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:03.160 other session native needed to help fill the water, putcorns out, 287 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:06.200 et cetera. They could have that off, but they had 288 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:09.960 to be there. The other half of the group, Group 289 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.319 two were the ones that did my full pre season 290 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:20.440 with me. So I had a coaching dilemma I e. 291 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:22.839 How can I improve the players that I don't see 292 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:25.480 for four of the five sessions I do in a 293 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:32.480 week without burning them out, without creating more of an 294 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:37.880 injury risk. And I was hopefully intuitive enough that I 295 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:41.119 didn't want to overload players who were already training more 296 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:47.640 than enough, and I actually started consuming as much as 297 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:51.279 I could, again because I've done some of this before, 298 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:59.160 but I zoned back in on sports psychology research and 299 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:03.680 one topic to peering, and it's three ways of saying 300 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:09.119 the same thing. Mental rehearsal, visualization, and imagery, the idea 301 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:15.480 that athletes could mentally practice movements without actually performing them. Now, 302 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:18.680 one of the stories that I always remember is a 303 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:22.519 story about somebody who was in prison, and whether it's 304 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:27.319 a fable or not, whether it's but it was. It 305 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:32.400 was brought up in this book that I read. Spent 306 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:35.559 life in prison every day just imagined going out to 307 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:38.799 play golf on his local course when he got out 308 00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:43.319 of prison, and he kept imagining the perfect round, and 309 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:47.400 that helped him while away the hours in the nick 310 00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:51.599 And when he eventually left prison, he went to the 311 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:54.839 golf course and played something very close to the perfect round, 312 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:56.680 even though he had not swung a golf club for 313 00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:00.279 however long he was in his Majesty's plague. You for 314 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:11.640 elite performers talk about this, Olympic athletes, tennis players, so 315 00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:16.359 many other sports, but rugby league's always always had a 316 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:22.039 difficulty facing this. If you want to know how important 317 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.119 the mind is when it comes to sport, have you 318 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.759 ever coached a team when they just don't mustle up 319 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:33.480 because the opposition are bigger, or they're worried about the outcome. 320 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:38.519 That's because we play a physical game, and if your 321 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:42.880 mind is negative about the outcomes of you getting involved 322 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:46.279 in that game, it will literally affect your ability to 323 00:23:46.279 --> 00:23:51.640 carry out your tasks. So the skill I chose was 324 00:23:52.200 --> 00:24:04.160 tackle tech because tackle tech isn't just strength or yeah, 325 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:10.720 strength or speed. It's coordination, timing, body shape, movement, decision making. 326 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:16.000 Its actually a motor skill. And if mental rehearsal worked anywhere, 327 00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:22.759 then I was thinking it could work with this. Again, 328 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:24.799 if you've listened to me for a long time, you'll 329 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:29.359 know what talk about. Shoulder shape studs shoulder contact, top 330 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:33.200 of the shoulder contact in the tackle S shape body. 331 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:36.759 So I imagine being sat on a toilet that's an 332 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:40.000 S shaped body and keep your studs close and in 333 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:46.440 the ground for some purchase s SS studs in the 334 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:50.559 ground to drive through contact, easy to remember, easy to coach, 335 00:24:50.680 --> 00:25:01.920 easy to assess. One group physically practiced, but the representative 336 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:06.960 players instead of extra physical practice were given video good 337 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:12.039 examples of it, slow motion examples, key coaching points. And 338 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:16.960 just because players are getting coached by REP coaches, it 339 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:21.839 doesn't mean they get number one in tackle technique. The 340 00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:24.640 amount of so called REP coaches that I coached against 341 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:28.000 and they never even looked at defense. But number two 342 00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:31.240 coach a completely different type of tackle technique. Guy eat 343 00:25:31.319 --> 00:25:34.559 over the ball. I wanted them under the ball. And 344 00:25:34.599 --> 00:25:38.440 I asked the players to mentally rehearse fifteen perfect tackles 345 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:41.400 every night. I'm sure that they did other things before 346 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:48.480 or after doing that with their mental rehearsal too, And 347 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:52.240 instead of just watching them mentally rehearsed, and I asked 348 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:55.039 them to imagine themselves making the tackle, to feel it, 349 00:25:55.119 --> 00:26:02.400 to see it, experience it. And these emotions very much 350 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:04.680 linked to the fact that you might think about eating 351 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:10.480 a big meal and your mouth starts salivating, and why 352 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:12.559 you might not see the meal but you're thinking about it. 353 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:17.960 There's numerous other examples. I'm sure you can use your 354 00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:21.400 brain to think about how the body might react just 355 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:31.160 because you're thinking something or you're watching something. Right, the 356 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:34.400 other players who all they did was mentally visualize their 357 00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:38.680 performances didn't fall away at all. In fact, several of 358 00:26:38.680 --> 00:26:54.559 them improved. Nobody got worse despite doing significantly less physical practice. Again, 359 00:26:54.599 --> 00:26:58.480 it was about learning, and it was about if players 360 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.839 aren't physically training, they're not in improving and challenging that thought. 361 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.880 If you think about your players now, the amount of 362 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:11.680 football things they can watch. They can watch the TV 363 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.599 games on TV Origin, NRL, but they can go on 364 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:21.200 social media and consume videos on different sites and whatnot. 365 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:27.960 But they'll also think about football. They'll talk football, They'll 366 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:31.599 constantly be talking about analysis of football, and they probably 367 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:37.720 do that more than we realized. I got the players 368 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:41.240 to journal the players that were in my testing group, 369 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:44.440 so we're in one group we're doing all the tackle 370 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:48.960 technique practice. The other group were just doing the mental visualization. 371 00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:52.039 I think to make it past the university muster as well, 372 00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:57.559 it wasn't just all representative players and non representative players 373 00:27:57.559 --> 00:27:59.680 and another group. I mixed a few of them up. 374 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:05.400 The journals were fascinating. Some players loved it, some struggled 375 00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:10.200 to concentrate. One admitted it kept fall asleep, another found 376 00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:17.960 it boring, another absolutely embraced it. And look, there's that 377 00:28:18.039 --> 00:28:22.160 lesson again. Every player was different. Stop thinking everybody learns 378 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:30.680 the same way. I think as coaches, and particularly inexperienced coaches, 379 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:33.799 often believe rest or time away from training means you 380 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:39.079 can't improve. It doesn't. Sometimes the greatest improvement happens away 381 00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:43.359 from the field. I always remember, as a player myself, 382 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:47.200 having a summer away from the game and the training, 383 00:28:47.240 --> 00:28:49.319 I just seem to come back a better player because 384 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:53.200 it's almost like the mind processes the information after you 385 00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:56.400 were required to do it sometimes and it processes some 386 00:28:56.480 --> 00:29:07.480 of the learnings. That's called reflection. And from that you 387 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:10.359 can watch some more video. You can talk, you can plan, 388 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:16.240 you can visualize, you can think. Fatigue can stop learning, 389 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:24.079 but sometimes less physical work creates more mental learning. So 390 00:29:24.200 --> 00:29:28.519 fast forward to now. So that was twenty ten. Now 391 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:32.759 you've got AI, you've got a smartphone, access to video. 392 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.720 Imagine giving every player a few clips before training or 393 00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:40.359 even just before they do a rep, and say I 394 00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:43.880 want you to do this. Imagine videoing your player who's 395 00:29:43.880 --> 00:29:45.799 doing a repetition and say look, I just need you 396 00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:48.400 to change this or change that, and you show them 397 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:54.240 on your phone. Imagine what this can do for your training. 398 00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:03.400 It's all about asking how you can keep improving your 399 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:10.079 players without simply making them do more. So send players 400 00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:14.759 now today. Send one great video clip before training, just 401 00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:21.359