DEFINITION OF COACHING
Athletes (bowlers) will achieve their goals and outcomes through their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual capabilities.
The role of the coach is to plan and conduct training sessions to enable the athletes to make the most of all of their talents. The primary purpose is to help the athletes to improve their level of performance.
Outcomes achieved will also be influenced by the attitude of the athlete, and how they practise and apply the advice and information presented by the coach.
Coaching is a set of behaviours intended to develop skilled athletes. It uses a range of strategies designed to enable the athlete to perform at their highest possible level.
At the same time it recognises individual needs and preferences with regard to participation and competitive experiences and makes the necessary changes to accommodate these needs and preferences.
The coach is an instructor who helps athletes to improve their performance.
A coach who does not intend to help their athletes to change their performance is not a coach but a manager, supervisor, or trainer.
From SPARC Coach Mentor Programme
There are two major parts to the role of a bowls coach.
The first is the development of a delivery technique (smooth & balanced) that will enable the player to bowl consistently on all surfaces, natural & artificial, fast (18+ sec), average (14 -17 sec) & heavy (10-14 sec). The delivery technique also includes the methodology of how to take a line, again consistently.
Often bowlers believe they cannot change their delivery technique because they have been bowling ‘that way’ for several or many years. However it can be easily shown that changes can be made – for the betterment of the individual – if the player wants to “really” improve.
“As an example I observed several players recently playing singles on a slightly heavy green. They were consistently short and didn’t seem to be able to put the extra weight on to be closer to the head. Knowing how to do this is part of having a better delivery technique.”
The second major part is working with the player on a training programme that develops the various skills required in a game. These include how to change line, increase or decrease the length of each delivery, to draw to different lengths or when the kitty is off centre, to play the “yard through” shot, the weighted shot & the drive.
These skills do not come about from not doing any training at all or from having played a lot of bowls over the years.
To obtain real consistency, an individual needs to train (practice) at the minimum 2 hours per week. Consistency comes from practicing the same skill over & over again until it becomes second nature, and then continuing to practice and then to move on to the next skill.
Then, when it comes to playing a game the need for a particular shot to be played is not a concern because you have practiced it. Too many times a player has to play a particular shot (eg when you need to play a back bowl in a particular position as that is where the kitty will go) and it will happen only once in a game of 18 ends.
How can you expect to succeed unless you know you have put the time into practicing that scenario?
There is another part to bowls coaching.
It is helping the player (or team) to develop strategy or how to have game plan. (Sharon Sims used to say that her Black Jacks teams used to review their game plan/strategy every 5 – 7 ends.) There is also how to read a head, to help develop what the next bowl should be played. Another is how to talk to your team players to help them play to the best of their ability.
Many bowlers come from or have played other sports.
In all these other sports bowlers would have had coaches & would have been required to do a certain level of training. It always amazes me that the same people don’t think they need to have a coach or do any training for the sport of bowls.
Kerry