Coaching Out of My Comfort Zone

Recently I worked with a group to develop a coaching video for four fundamental skills of AFL. The skills were kicking (the drop punt), marking (the arm/chest and hand mark), hand passing and bouncing. I was the coach for the marking section and you can view my clip below.

AFL Marking Coaching Video

Having little experience with AFL and no experience coaching marking, I was definitely out of my comfort zone. In preparation for my AFL coaching debut, I explored some resources. I watched some similar AFL skills videos such as those below. I also found the AFL Junior Coaching Manual: For coaches and players aged 5-12 years to be incredibly helpful. As I've said in previous posts, I think it's very important for coaches to utilise a range of resources to help them become a better coach/teacher, this time for me it was absolutely essential!

AFL Skills Video - Chest Mark


AFL Skills Video - Hand Mark

In my coaching approach, I attempted to follow the S.P.I.R Method as presented by the AFL.
S: Show - name the skill, demonstrate three times and provide three coaching points.
P: Practice - Have players practice the skill immediately.
I: Instruct - Give feedback on their performance based on what they have been taught.

R: Reward - Encourage and reward effort and achievement.

In the video I also included some main coaching points and some common problems which coaches may come across when trying to teach the skills. 

Our video used just the one participant who we were teaching the skills to and it was thus more instructional and the skills were more isolated. Obviously in a real coaching situation you will be dealing with a whole team rather than just the one participant. At the end of the video we presented some resources where coaches could find activities to use to work on these skills in a team training environment.

Overall I enjoyed pushing myself out of my comfort zone to teach a skill I wouldn't normally and it was a rewarding learning experience for me.