Resources
Craig has spent more than 30 years coaching athletes and mentoring coaches.
This section shares ideas, insights and practical coaching concepts drawn from that experience.
Start Here
The ‘Coaching is Teaching Series’
Coaching is Teaching
What Do You Notice?
Hook ’Em In
Start With the Game
Let Them Explore
Shape the Environment
Coaching Behaviour Matters
Keeping Kids in Sport
If you are new to Craig’s ideas, these articles provide a clear introduction to the core principles that underpin his approach to coaching and learning in sport.
Together they form the Coaching is Teaching series.
Coaching Philosophy
Ideas about how learning happens in sport and why coaching is teaching.
Game-Based Coaching
Practical ideas for designing training environments where athletes learn through play
Coaching Behaviour
How coaches influence learning through their behaviour, questioning and session design.
Youth Sport & Participation
Creating environments where young athletes enjoy sport and continue participating.
Hook ’Em In
Why engagement must come before instruction
All humans want to feel safe. Nothing matters until this happens.
Before athletes can learn, they must first be ready to engage. I often describes this simply as: “Hooking ’em in.” If attention is not there, learning will not happen. Having said this, it takes work…
Athletes (learners) need to feel:
• safe
• interested
• curious
• ready to participate
Teachers sometimes describe this idea as Maslow before Bloom. Basic needs and engagement must come before instruction.
I have worked at schools with learners from all kind of backgrounds. Sometimes you have to ask, “have you had your breakfast yet?” The basics like sleep, shelter and the like from Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs are considered well by teachers.
In other words, basics like pencils or deoderant are important in learning. Good teachers espouse this maxim, ‘Maslow before Bloom’. I could be showing my biases here, but sometimes, exciting innovations in strength and conditioning, data, skill acquisition or exercise science seem overrated by coaches. Therefore, basic emotional safety and other needs are far more important being met than the latest trends in external feedback or higher order thinking. I stress this is all in my experience…
The First Minutes Matter
The beginning of a session often shapes everything that follows. If athletes are standing in lines waiting for their turn, attention disappears quickly.
Instead, great sessions often begin with:
• movement
• games
• interaction
• curiosity
Players can become engaged before the coach begins explicit teaching of technique, strategy or whatever else.
Engagement Before Explanation
On the whole, many coaches start sessions by explaining what will happen. There is a place for this in your sessions but many athletes learn much faster when they experience the activity first. Now, let me be clear, I always start teaching the javelin throw to year 7 or 8s by first letting them throw it!!! Five metre spacing all waiting five metres behind and all the safety prescription etc notwithstanding. They see these big shiny spear things. They are engaged. Let them throw it.
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
Once they are moving and interacting, the coach can:
• observe
• ask questions
• shape the environment
In my experience, learning begins once the athletes are hooked into the activity.
Coaching Through Engagement
Engagement does not happen by accident. Great coaches design environments that immediately involve athletes. The goal is simple: Hook them in first.
Once athletes are engaged, everything else becomes easier.
A Simple Reminder
If attention is not there, learning will not happen.
Before anything else: Hook ’em in.
Part of the Coaching is Teaching Series
• Coaching is Teaching
• What do you Notice?
• Start With the Game
• Let Them Explore
• Shape the Environment
• Coaching Behaviour Matters
• Keeping Kids in Sport
Want to go deeper into this idea?
Want to go deeper?
I am currently developing a short course on creating engaging coaching environments.
Register your interest here → Course Interest/Coaching Enquiry
Source for reflection - there is nothing new under the sun:
Many of these ideas connect with broader work in coaching and physical education teaching.
Coaches interested in exploring what I call ‘operational’ pedagogy (the absolute art that onle teachers get hammered with at university) could start out with: Teaching Physical Education for Learning, Judith E. Rink, 1993. I have never found a better book for learning how to teach ‘the physical’ for complex groups.
What do you Notice?
Helping athletes develop awareness of the game.
Many coaches spend most of the session telling athletes what to do. They explain mistakes. They give corrections. They provide (many) sets of instructions. And, many also position themselves as the fountain of all knowledge.
But great players often operate outside this form of learning. They do something different and perform in spite of attempted one-way knowledge communication. Instead, they notice what is happening in the game themselves.
Try to make sure there is one ball, plastic bottle, beanbag, cup, etc. for each child — and provide enough for the adults too!
The Power of Awareness
I often asks athletes a simple question: "What do you notice?" At first, players often respond with something obvious, like:
"Too much drooped ball."
“We had numbers left."
"Get your hands up!!!."
Or the classic, “We need to talk more…”
But noticing in sport is much more than simply observing the ball or players. It’s about recognising:
space
pressure
timing
opportunities
the flow of the game
Great players don’t just react. They understand what is happening around them. Sometimes it involves expanding the other senses outside of sight too. What they heard, felt, thought etc.
As I have explained to coaches over the years, ‘notice’ is a strong word if you use it right.
The Coach’s Role
There is a place for explicitly telling players what to do. However, in my experience this is often overdone. However, instead of telling players what to do every time, great coaches create environments where athletes learn to ‘notice’ for themselves.
By asking the question, “What do you notice?”, the coach encourages athletes to:
become aware of their surroundings
understand the game through their own perspectives
recognise patterns and anticipate the next move
and much more…
Thus, rather than the coach giving all the answers, often good coaches encourage players to look for solutions themselves.
Noticing Helps Decision Making
Awareness is the foundation of decision making. Players who notice pressure early can react quicker. Players who see space before the opponent does, can use that to their advantage.
Noticing helps athletes make better decisions faster.
Teaching Awareness
Developing awareness doesn’t happen by simply asking one question. It’s a process. Great coaches ask this question throughout the session: “What do you notice?”
Great coaches also:
pause the game to give athletes time to think
change the environment to encourage new discoveries
ask more specific follow-up questions, such as:
“What do you notice about the space?”
“How does the pressure change when you move there?”
“What are you noticing about the game flow?”
A Simple Truth
The more athletes are encouraged to notice what is happening in the game, the more they learn. And the more they understand the game, the better their decisions become. This is the core of game-based learning approaches for example— not an overreliance on telling athletes what to do, but giving them the tools to recognise and understand the game for themselves.
“Great players don’t just react. They understand what is happening around them. ”
Hey teachers (coaches): “What do you notice when you watch your players?”
Part of the Coaching is Teaching Series
• Coaching is Teaching
• Hook ’Em In
• Start With the Game
• Let Them Explore
• Shape the Environment
• Coaching Behaviour Matters
• Keeping Kids in Sport
Source for reflection - there is nothing new under the sun:
Many of these ideas connect with broader work in coaching and physical education teaching.
Coaches interested in exploring a game base pedagogy could start out with Bunker and Thorpe’s work (1982) on Teaching Games for Understanding.
Coaching is Teaching
Why great coaching environments create better learning.
Players with tight cores and stacked shoulders: neutral hips, chest up, eyes forward — small details that build resilience in rugby and contact sports. However, they don’t need to be done in stale boring line-ups…
Go for a walk one Thursday afternoon. Many coaching sessions you come across look organised, but very little learning is actually happening. Players line up in columns. They wait their turn. They repeat drills. The coach talks (and talks, and talks...)… It’s the same in most sports no matter the context.
From the outside, the session may look structured. I have worked at ‘sporty’ type schools where this is what the principal wants. She/he, believes this is what parents or community members walking past PE classes expect. That’s probably right. But it doesn’t mean this is best for learning. When players aren’t preparing for military engagements, bungy jumping etc, there are other opportunities and as you will hear me and many experienced educators say, “it depends'“…
But it must be said games are never ‘structured’ in closed environments. Games are about reading situations, making decisions, interacting with teammates, opponents, officials, even the crowd, and much, much more.
To prepare coaches and PE teachers best I like to remind them of US legendary basketball coach John Wooden said, “Coaching is teaching.”
Coaching is teaching!
The role of the coach is not just to organise activity or give instructions. It’s not about yelling. It’s not about rolling the ball out and letting them work out stuff for themselves. I don’t believe you are teaching here on the whole.
The role of the coach is to create learning environments where athletes begin to understand the game.
The Coach as Teacher
Many of the most respected coaches in sport have understood this idea.
Like John Wooden, most of the greats often described coaching in educational terms. In Australia, many successful coaches have also been school teachers, particularly physical education teachers. And, it stand to reason: Teaching and coaching share the same goal: Helping people learn.
In both settings, the environment matters. The questions matter. The behaviour of the teacher or coach matters. “Pedagogy” is a word teachers understand and its Greek roots mean, ‘to lead (guide) the child’. It doesn’t say that there is one magic bullet. There are many, many ways to ‘guide’.
In summary here, learning rarely happens because someone simply explains what to do. Learning happens when people begin to recognise patterns and understand situations for themselves.
Learning Through the Game
When coaching is approached as teaching, the session begins to look different. Players interact more. They move, respond and make decisions. Instead of long explanations, the coach observes, asks questions and shapes the activity so learning can emerge through the game itself. Athletes begin to develop awareness of space, pressure, timing and opportunity. Over time they learn to read the game rather than simply follow instructions.
“Most coaches of girls and young women should do pre and post tests of players’ handstands. If they all can hold them longer at the end of the season, it can often mean you have kept them waiting for turns at the ball. You’ve made an impact, but not the impact you planned for...”
A Different Way to Coach
This approach does not mean the coach does less. In many ways it requires more awareness. The coach must watch closely, recognise what players are experiencing and create situations that help athletes learn. The focus shifts from controlling players to designing learning environments.
A Simple Principle
At its heart, the idea is straightforward: Coaching is teaching.
When coaches begin to think like teachers, sessions become environments where players can explore, notice patterns and begin to understand the game. Stick with me and you’ll learn about the art and craft of coaching. I might even mention the word ‘pedagogy’ again… You are the ‘guide’ only. A shepherd.
And that is where real learning begins.
“Let them explore. Stand back and notice your own behaviours first...”
Part of the Coaching is Teaching Series:
• Coaching is Teaching
• What Do You Notice?
• Hook ’Em In
• Start With the Game
• Let Them Explore
• Shape the Environment
• Coaching Behaviour Matters
• Keeping Kids in Sport
Sources to reflect with
Important - There is nothing new under the sun:
Many ideas connect to broader coaching and education work for coaches as teacher.
Coaches can read Robyn Jones’s The Coach as Educator, Chapter 2 “Coaching Pedagogy” in the Routledge Handbook of Coaching Children in Sport (Pill & SueSee), and related teaching, physical education and coaching pedagogy research.
Let Them Explore
Why learning often happens when the coach steps back
Observation is noticing. Here I am letting a team explore wrestling techniques in a game. But I am feeling it and getting dominated…
One of the hardest things for many coaches to do is step back. When something goes wrong, the instinct is often to stop the activity immediately.
Explain the mistake.
Correct the technique.
Tell the players what to do.
But constant instruction can interrupt learni
I often take a different approach. Let them explore.
Exploration Creates Understanding
When athletes are given time to play and interact, they begin to recognise patterns.
They start to notice:
• space
• pressure
• timing
• movement
• opportunities
Instead of relying on instructions, players begin to understand the game for themselves.
Observation Is Still Coaching
From the outside, it can sometimes look like the coach is doing very little. But good coaching still requires attention.
The coach is watching, feeling, listening (noticing) closely:
• how players move
• how decisions are made
• what problems are emerging
The coach may step in briefly, ask a question or adjust the environment. Then the game continues.
“If players cannot solve problems during training, how will they solve them during the game?”
Not the Same as Doing Nothing
Allowing players to explore does not mean the coach disappears. In fact, the coach is often working harder.
They are noticing carefully and deciding:
• when to step in
• when to ask a question
• when to let the game continue
The difference is that the coach does not interrupt every moment. Players are given time to interact, think and adapt.
Learning Through Experience
Sport is full of situations that cannot be fully explained in advance. Players need opportunities to experience these situations themselves. Exploration helps athletes develop confidence and awareness. Over time they begin to recognise patterns and respond more effectively.
A Simple Reminder
Sometimes the most powerful thing a coach can do is allow the game to continue.
Let them explore.
Part of the Coaching is Teaching Series
• Coaching is Teaching
• What Do You Notice?
• Hook ’Em In
• Start With the Game
• Let Them Explore
• Shape the Environment
• Coaching Behaviour Matters
• Keeping Kids in Sport
Craig will soon be releasing a short course on creating engaging coaching environments.
Start With the Game
Becoming immersed in a game helps coaches notice what is required in sessions.
Why the game itself should come first.
Many coaching sessions begin in the same way:
A warm-up.
Lines of players.
Drills that isolate technique.
Only later do the athletes actually play the game. But the game itself is where the real learning happens.
As you may have heard, I often begins sessions differently.
Start with the game.
Everyone likes to be chased. Adults and kids alike!
The Game Creates the Context
Games immediately create the things that matter most in sport.
• interaction
• decision making
• timing
• pressure
• space
Players must move, respond and adapt. Instead of practising skills in isolation, athletes experience how those skills appear inside the game itself.
The Game Reveals the Problems
When a session begins with the game, situations quickly emerge.
Space appears.
Pressure increases.
Mistakes happen.
Opportunities appear.
This gives the coach something valuable: a real context for learning.
Instead of explaining everything before the activity begins, the coach can observe the game and ask questions that help players understand what is happening.
Learning Through the Game
Starting with the game does not mean the coach is passive. The coach is watching carefully. Small adjustments can change the experience for the players.
The coach may change. Just some examples appear below:
• the size of the space
• the rules of the activity
• the number of players
These adjustments shape how the game unfolds and create new learning opportunities.
The Coach Observes
When the game comes first, the coach can see how players are thinking.
Who notices the space?
Who recognises pressure?
Who moves early?
These observations help the coach decide when to step in and when to allow the game to continue.
“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things”
A Simple Principle
Great coaching sessions often begin with the activity that matters most.
The game itself.
Part of the Coaching is Teaching Series
• Coaching is Teaching
• What Do You Notice?
• Hook ’Em In
• Start With the Game
• Let Them Explore
• Shape the Environment
• Coaching Behaviour Matters
• Keeping Kids in Sport
Want to go deeper into this idea?
Craig will soon be releasing a short course on creating engaging coaching environments.