Focus of Attention – part 4   In September 2023 over 70 coaches from grassroots participation to Olympic level met at the UK Snowsports Coaching Conference. The conference theme was “It ain’t what you do but the way that you do it” and blended learning and coaching theory with its practical application.   Recorded at the conference, this podcast builds on workshops by Marianne Davies of UK Coaching and Richard Barbour exploring ‘focus of attention’ from the perspectives of Information Processing and Ecological Dynamics theories. After the workshops we ventured onto the indoor sn ..read more

Focus of Attention - part 2 Where performers and coaches direct their focus of attention has significant influence on behaviour and learning.  Marianne Davies is a Senior Coach educator for UK Coaching and former Coaching Manager for Canoe Wales. She’s got a background in adventure sports, is a keen equestrian and is currently doing a part-time PhD in Skill Acquisition in Equine Sports.  We’ve teamed up to run some workshops at the forthcoming UK Snowsports Conference in Castleford at the beginning of September. In this second of two related podcasts we delve further and closer ..read more

Focus of Attention - part 1 Where coaches and performers direct their focus of attention has significant influence on behaviour and learning.    I’ve got a great guest who knows a lot about this topic and that’s Marianne Davies. Currently a Senior Coach educator for UK Coaching and former Coaching Manager for Canoe Wales she’s got a background in adventure sports, is a keen equestrian and currently doing a part-time PhD in Skill Acquisition in Equine Sports.   An avid researcher, she’s recently co-authored a paper on focus of attention, which is something close to my heart ..read more

What we see depends where we’re looking. Or more accurately…what we perceive as a coach or performer depends on what we are paying attention to, the information we receive and how we process that information.  My coaching guru John Shedden devised a skill model based on the information processing concept in cognitive psychology. This has the same mnemonic as a technical analysis tool. Both models contain the letters P E and T with one of them being a favourite PET of mine when coaching.  In this episode we’re discussing the models and their place in coaching and instructing.  To ..read more

Skill: Measured vs Judged Locked In Shed bitesize are short episodes covering key coaching concepts. In this episode John Shedden, former National Coach and Director of Coaching for the English Ski Council, and I discuss evaluation of skill. Skill can be measured or judged. Listen on to hear more about skill and implications for the coach, especially when balancing the needs of young skiers and their parents. If you want to hear more, listen to the full recording of Series 1: episode 9: reasons to be skilful part 3. These recordings are about the art, science and history of snowsport coaching ..read more

Episode 9 Reasons to be skilful (part 3) In this episode I’m continuing my discussion with John Shedden and my intention is to focus more attention on skill. As well as expanding on the implications of skill for performers and their coaches, we discuss considerations for goal setting, planning a coaching programme, some anecdotes, Mikaela Shiffrin’s practice and Donald Rumsfeld – Donald Rumsfeld! what on earth has he got to so with skiing? We also reveal the secret weapon of this podcast, with responsibility for maintaining cheer and focus. These recordings are about the art, science and histo ..read more

Episode 7 I’m continuing my discussion with the former National Coach and Director of Coaching for Snowsport England, John Shedden. During research, John explored how skiers’ perceptions were affected by sensory information. This influenced his thinking about skill and the importance of developing sound habits in closed environments before applying them in more complex environments. We go onto discuss some of the differences between the ski instructing and coaching and the role of governing bodies. An insightful episode to help instructors and coaches use a person-centred approach with their s ..read more

Episode 6 Skilful skiing I’m continuing my discussion with the former National Coach and Director of Coaching for Snowsport England, John Shedden. Three of John’s books: Ski Teaching, Skilful Skiing and Skiing: Developing Your Skill are seminal works. From the early 70s they were hugely influential on those developing ski instructing in Britain and form the backbone of national coaching schemes operated by the home nation governing bodies. Having read them as part of my own coach education I set out to discuss some of the key themes to gain further insights. We start by discussing coach educat ..read more

Episode 5 I’m continuing my discussion with the former National Coach and Director of Coaching for Snowsport England, John Shedden. In this episode I am concluding a 2 hours discussion that was made into three episodes, this one being the third. John discusses the work of Georges Joubert, how dynamic balance became active balancing, arousal, emotions and finally meeting the American professor who marked his degree. These recordings are about the art, science and history of snowsport coaching. As a coach educator for the national governing body Snowsport England, I wanted to create resources th ..read more

Episode 4 Information processing and PET I’m continuing my discussion with the former National Coach and Director of Coaching for Snowsport England, John Shedden. In this episode I am talking with John about his university study where he explored his interest in psychology and information processing, leading him to develop a new model of motor skill development, still in use today. We also discuss the sensory information needed at different stages of skill development and two PET models used in ski coaching. Members of the Snowsport England Coaching Scheme also receive a supporting article wri ..read more