ECB Coaches Association links Coaching Insight 2019 | Page 37
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What is ‘player-centred’?
as a kind of modernist, liberal
nonsense? Hopefully not. Surely not?
It does, however, challenge us all.
It challenges ECB because its lead
coaching staff will be as conscious
as the rest of us that plenty of
sages of a certain age are nodding
wisely and doing that “told you
so” thing. Saying that some things
are non-negotiable – that there
is such a thing as a solid defence
and that everyone has to have
that before the other stuff. In this
way we might understand a surge,
forward or back, towards what we
might call ‘traditional’, ‘orthodox’ or
prescribed.
“I looked back and
thought about
player-centred
coaching. What does
that actually mean?”
That shift may happen: not that
it’s necessarily the job of ECB to
flinch or capitulate to this year’s
model or method. They will
nevertheless reflect – that’s what
good coaches do.
On this point specifically I’m
slightly fascinated to see how the
language in our coaching courses
and publications might respond
over the next year or two.