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The Coaching Team at Kew Heights is committed to providing high quality advice for the benefit of the Individual and Club as a whole.

Coaching Qualifications:  

Level 1 National Accredited Coach

To be available to all Club Bowlers for Coaching Sessions whenever they need assistance.

Good Bowling Technique increases Confidence & Enjoyment of the Game.

Coaching, like Life is a Continual Learning Process.

Players will have SUCCESS if they play to the best of their ability.

They must BELIEVE that they CAN DO IT.

Carlton Vs Collingwood  - You had to be there!

Level 1 Umpire for 12 years

Coaching Philosophy:

Favourite Sporting Moment:

Goal:

Coaching Qualifications:

Level 2 Coach AIS accredited, Working with Children card, Disabled Bowler Coaching certificate.

Level 2 Umpire AIS accredited, Member of State Umpire squad.

Coaching Philosophy:

Teach new and experienced bowlers, basic, advanced and mental procedures, so that people may improve and enjoy their sport.

My aim is for these bowlers to obtain a comfortable, consistent and a mechanical process of play, with a belief in their own ability. So that a person may improve, have fun and enjoy their sport/activity.

To help achieve these aims a Supervised Training/Drill Program is conducted on Tuesday afternoons open to all members, not only the top team.

Training and practice should have a purpose.

I am available for individual and team coaching, especially to bowlers who wish to acquire a higher level or increased level of skill.

Enhancement of coaching knowledge is obtained not only through bowls but other sports, articles, discussion and networking.

Non practice bowls games should be fun, enjoyable and sociable.

Winning a Club bowls singles championship, and my first Club pair’s title.

‘Bowls spectator, commentator…competitor’

Lachlan Tighe, April 2009, Bowls Coaching Column

Which of the three categories above are you in. In last months March column I made reference to the finals due to be played at Australian level and in club pennant.

My observations this past month from these tournaments and finals surprised me. Far too many bowlers, and that certainly includes rink skips, I categorise as either spectators or commentators. Or remain in these two categories far too long within the bowls event. Let me continue to describe these bowlers

spectator

Once finished their deliveries this bowler either stands back from the team and pleasantly watches the ‘game’ on the other rinks or, worse, is off with the fairies;

these players only join in when the team has to cross over. And they walk straight onto the bank and not remain at the head to support the third/ skip.

Or spectator bowler ii is the one who races up to join the skip, and to see the outcome of his bowl – whatever happened to being a member of the front end team;

Or the skip as spectator, constantly chatting to fellow skips on the adjacent rinks while team mates await instructions on the mat, or, heaven help us, encouragement.

These bowler spectators love pennant (even finals) because they have things to watch, people to talk to, on either side of their own rink. Whoopee!

commentator

Commercial TV channels have a nursery ground of talent to recruit commentators out on the bowling green. Players making absurd comments about wind conditions, green surfaces, delivery errors, poor skipping, poor players, etc.

Nothing, not one thing about positive team support.

All the commentators lack an awareness that all the stated variables affect everyone, evenly. Unless you are more capable a bowler than they are.

You cannot blame the ‘commentator’ as he/ she has simply picked up the practices prevailing in the sport. And it is a practice to be disposed of, urgently.

competitor

As opposed to competitiveness which is more emotional. The competitor, if I can cite former Australian player Jack Wilson, is so totally focused on their own rink, their own delivery, their own contribution to the rink team. And that starts from the roll up to the final delivery of our skip for the very last end of the event.

Actually, it started with the way you go about training, personally and as a team.

Recently a successful finals club shared with me a 2 page document how they planned to get all 16 players in the competitor category. I share a snippet of that paper

·         Fine tuned the teams to ensure compatibility and harmony (made some open but tough decisions then worked on team morale)

·         Instilled discipline in the way we trained instead practiced (used drills to improve our skills and tried to have a bit of fun with it as well)

·         Quietly focused on the weaknesses of some individuals to improve their mental skills providing challenges and allowing them to develop greater confidence in their ability.

·         Ensured all four skippers “always” had a team plan and fall back mode

·         Ensured that each team remained focused on the performance of their rink alone

Reading that example shows not a lot of us are in the third category, competitor.

A difficulty is that we all want to be accepted and thus join in though we might have misgivings about the approach to training of fellow club mates.

Well, check – who in fact is letting the team, the club, down with complacent approach to training. Not you.

And it is not your fault. I rest all responsibility on club committee and selectors and lastly club coaches for not standing up for a better approach so as to give our club the best chance to perform next time we are in competition.

Difficulty- the people responsible do not understand what I allude to either, so why should the majority of bowlers.

Why not aspire to that category by letting your eyes turn back down the narrow corridor called our rink, and do it every time at your own training and when supervised pennant training occurs (if it does).

And if you want to comment tune in to positive support, or clam up. Practice that at pennant training too.

Regards

Lachlan Tighe

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‘Marching….into finals, 2009’

Lachlan Tighe, March 2009, Bowls Coaching Column

A full season of bowls is over, final fours are decided. March 2009 is the month of miracles and premiership medals. Brett Wilkie and Kelsey Cottrell have their names posted as the final two to triumph as 2009 Australian Open AO singles champs (well done you two, great stuff).

So what have we other bowlers learnt – competitors who entered the AO qualifiers around the country; clubs who fielded sides in pennant without finalists; clubs in fact still in contention for pennant premierships.

Before you give the answer, you need to know the questions to ask. Let me probe your thoughts – those of you still in pennant finals really need to have answers if wanting to hold the premiership flag aloft and high.

Here goes.

1. What do we need to do for next year for the club to get into the final four

First and foremost just simply be aware of how many average wins your team needs to get into the pennant final four – 12 wins to be first, 10 for second, 9 for third and 8 wins should see you as fourth. And to avoid relegation about 5 wins are required from the 18 games. Secondly training and preparation. None of this…I won’t train Tuesdays, or under a certain coach. Get used to better approaches. Third, recruitment of better players. Finally, increase the skill level of all team members. That requires your club to consider a series of coach supervised training sessions over the season.

2. How will we cope going into the finals with recent losses fresh in our minds

This is a tough one. But Adelaide United did it in soccer in the national league. Ernie Merrick, Melbourne Victory soccer coach, reinforced the need to be mentally positive. All your technical, tactical and fitness skills were enough to take you to the finals. Now is the time to believe in yourself, your team mates. Selectors note. Hold strong. I am coach to numerous bowlers playing in finals at a variety of clubs. This message applies to all of them wherever they compete.

3. What goals have we set the club for next year

The current selectors have one more meeting post season. That should be to set the goals and direction for the club and maybe the incoming selectors for season 2010. Without goals you don’t score.

4. What goals have I set myself in bowls for next year

Brett Wilkie won the AO singles championship last weekend. Way back in 2004 he shared his goals with me, which I still keep. The success he just had is no surprise to me when I look back at the level of detail he wrote in those goals. Gail Waitai won the AO pairs 2008 and shared her goals with me too. Similarly successful. Safuan, Lina and Judy all detailed their goals for the intended international success they strived for, and achieved. Doing it despite being at times unsuccessful in games, such as this 2009 AO. To be better in your bowls you must, repeat must, go that length. I know in my coaching I cannot help anyone who has not set themselves a goal so we can refer to that statement. In fact it is my initial measure to find out how serious the bowler is who approaches me about coaching. I am serious about my coaching, maybe you  are not about your bowling. Good on ya!!!

5. You give the lead the choice for length, or to hand the mat away, do you as skip know what he considers

Some skips in the finals will give length and mat decision responsibility to the lead. But do you know the mindset of that lead. Will they be reacting based on their own form in the game, the result, our team, the opposition. And even so when will they be reacting – too early, too late, after 5 ends to see how  we go? Hell the final might be lost by then. Skips, sit down and discuss the approach with the lead and ensure they have the foresight you expect to make suitability judged decisions. If not, blame yourself, not them, if you hand them that responsibility.

6. What can I do to perform better in the 2010 AO

Or for that matter your group/zone events, state events. Firstly view the skill levels of the best, those in the big league, and digest their elite standard. Now review the use of your weekly time in bowls. If you play pennant, that is about 5 hours as a given allocation where you apply your trained skills. If you also ‘practice’ with club mates in pairs/ fours roll up that may be another say 5 hours in a week. Well, kick that 5 hours to 7 hours in the week. Now ensure that 3/7 of that time is set to improve your skill level with separate specific training. That still allows you 4 hours with mates if that is what you want too.

Otherwise by retaining your normal schedule, don’t expect a marked improvement in performance because your expectations exceed your work load and skill level. Stiff luck troops.

7. Have we a mechanism as a team to cope when we are struggling in the finals

You will struggle at some time in these forthcoming finals. It will happen maybe 4-5 ends where nothing works. As a rink you have to keep the spirits up, you have to meet as a team in the middle of the green to change your collective behavior. No good persisting with stuff that is not working. And you have to do it no later than 3 ends of any one members horror stretch. But don’t change anything if one team member is ‘bleeding to death’ in the horrors yet the team is winning. Just bad luck for him, back him emotionally by speeding to victory on the results board.

8. What is our game plan

Helps answer the above question too. At the AO one skipper informed his team to win the second set. If they won the first then they won overall. If they lost the first and won the second they had the momentum to go into the tie break knowing that statistically winners of the second set were generally winners of the round. Plans on length, mat placement, handovers, hand to play were all spelt out too. Interesting to talk to that skip later about his approach. Also talking to South African legend bowler Neil Burkett about his successful approach and plans to bowls. Congrats incidentally to Neil and his trio winning the AO event so soon after arriving in Australia.

9. What lessons have we learnt from this event- AO or pennant season

Earlier I referred to selectors sitting and examining the season for the club. Well this question applies to all bowlers and us coaches, at whatever level. I have already sat with my own squad as soon as they finished AO program. Every one of them has their own perspective for their improvement. My role as their coach in these conversations is to flesh out the tangible things/ skills they will work on where we can gauge, measure, train, improve, modify or even correct. Note that is the last factor. All of the above though is a reflection of their attitude, or mental skill. How hungry are you to be better?  A few national level bowlers had separate conversations and training sessions with me as soon as they were ousted from the AO setting out their next year of bowls. That’s what will drive you, not me nor anyone else. Me, I do all of the above as a coach because I am driven to be as good as I can be as a coach. Who knows how far I can go? My one limitation – I need driven players who want to be much better bowlers. Actually I was asked by one of the bowlers at the AO how come I was so passionate about bowls coaching and elite development. There above is part of the answer. I love the passion.

In our sport today, your time at the top is limited if you don’t take stock of what is occurring around you. We have new AO champions, new clubs in finals, new group contenders, new state and national squad members. Even new coaches- though few and far between.

All because more players are looking at ways to improve themselves, and their clubs. If you remain stationary, you are actually going backwards as the others pass you by. I encourage, in fact coach, you all to ‘march’ forward and learn from the triumphant who have recently finished their march in bowls this past season.

To all involved in the conduct of the Bowls Australia AO in Shepparton, well done, it was a ripper event. And again congrats to all who won at the AO and all who took the time to compete.

‘SUCCESS IS ALL IN THE MIND’

Lachlan Tighe, February 2009, Bowls Coaching Column

Last week a bowls coach attended my regular training session as an observer and at the conclusion asked me what makes for a good bowler. Gee I gulp when asked that as you hope to know the answer. I replied they needed the raw talent of ball skill, and sport skill, as their base then the important ingredient of motivation to optimize that skill.

As most of we bowlers are over 50 years of age, I reckon collectively we are not (necessarily) prepared to work too hard to be as good as we could be. Is that a question of a balanced life where bowls fits in, or, a sheer avoidance of grit and determination.

Conversely I see a lot of ‘young guns’ strutting around beating all us oldies and I think inwardly… get a life boys, you should be beating us just because you are younger, fitter, faster, with all your faculties. I don’t immediately think of them as fair dinkum sportsmen at their present levels of performance. Doesn’t mean they can’t get there. 

Anyway. I direct this column to anyone (youngies or we grey power groupies) keen to develop your bowls much further.

Last Saturday an article titled ‘Success is all in the mind’ featured prominently in the weekend newspaper and I was struck by its relevance to sport and our bowls. And I thought of those I have been fortunate to coach in Lina, Jude and Safuan for whom all achieved international success. Why?

The article cited the research of a Dr Ericsson on …deliberate practice…which makes someone extremely good at what they do. Thus Lina, Jude, Safuan in bowls.

Ericsson saw deliberate practice…as the major bullet taking the player into the stratosphere of brilliance. Again these three bowlers and their successes. He maintained it, success, is not innate talent, but practice; practice though of a particular, concentrated, grueling kind.

Ericsson reckons that the champion has a complex cognitive process that pushes the body, and mind, to extraordinary heights. And he cites Woods and Federer. In training I can still and well recall some sessions where Lina, Jude and Saf displayed these heights to me, extraordinary dedication to purpose.

Ericsson maintained everyone has that capacity to be an expert (bowler) as there is no known limit to the brain. Hey that means you so go tell the selectors to watch out there is hope yet. My observation in coaching where I am primarily watching behavior is the limit to success is our ego, our emotion. All linked to our effort. Or lack thereof.

Boy, Ericsson’s content is good fodder for me to push in my coaching. Listen to this. He said ‘……deliberate practice begins in the brain. What makes someone spectacular in their field – ours being bowls – and keeps them there is training via a kind of focused, repetitive practice in which the person is always monitoring their performance (in games and training), correcting, experimenting, listening to immediate and constant feedback, and always pushing beyond what has already been achieved. He put the kybosh on the idea that critical feedback is damaging.’

Note here – immediate feedback is best done and provided by your coach, or in the absence of having one your team mates. And feedback has to be both at training and post events.

Ericsson felt if you are in an accepting world ( by that he meant no one criticizes) people don’t develop or get better. For him, and I accede to it too, expert performers/ bowlers (and include bowls coaches) there’s always effort, improvement is never effortless.

Finally, Ericsson discovered one other thing in his research to apply to our sport, bowls and ‘deliberate practice’.

Using the best performers in the world from one sector he found the constraint was not the number of hours practiced, but the number of hours you could maintain and sustain full concentration. If you could not sustain concentration, you were wasting your time.

Who observes that concentration level for you – yes, your coach. Go get one.

Finally, Ian Schuback. For years I heard about him and his routines on practice, his reputed 8 hour days of private training. Seems to me that was ‘deliberate practice’ before we knew it. I finally met Shooey in 2002 at Comm Games in Manchester and we both lamented the lack of performance recording that abounded in elite bowls. How can you gauge effort unless you measure and record performance, your practice. We certainly made it a compulsory component of the Malaysians preparation. And since then Jude acquired it and benefited from that for her world championship success. A great effort.

Well this week congrats to Shooey for being acknowledged in the 2009 Australia Day national awards. For his effort he gains due reward.

Performing – a contest between stress and challenge

Lachlan Tighe, December 2008 Bowls Coaching Column #2

Since the column last week, two elite level bowlers with good recent form in national competitions, have approached me over concerns they have about the variation in their level of performance, one game they blitz the next game they struggle.

The first thing I suggest for them is don’t be too critical, it will happen, just learn from the experience(s) with a view to minimizing the (lower) range of performance.. Just had to make this conversation a special December column as it is familiar to all of us in sport, not only bowls.

For any profile bowler, sports person, winning is something they expect regularly, hence their profile as performers in our sport. However these profile players have one added contest in that every game they enter an event – EVERYONE wants to beat them, simply to be able to gloat, they did (win).

You profile players out there need to get used to that (stress or pressure).

One of the two elite bowlers I mentioned spoke to me about the ‘stress of the match’ that affects him. When he explained further it appears that frustration differs from singles to the fours team format. In the fours the distraction or stress may be more the demeanour of others in the rink displaying poor (stress) coping behavior.

He mentioned getting help ‘reaching a level of relaxation’ in the bowls event. He has answered his own concern, i.e. find your own relaxation level.

Immediately I react by referring to further mental skill work in our training. Remember these two blokes are elite level. They need to be on top of these emotional ‘intrusions’ into consistent performance. Not so for the rest of us scallywags who try our best with minimal or relevant training.

My first reaction is to steer the topic around and ask them to explain the game plan they took into the events and a discussion analyzing the results against the plan. That may reveal a lot about the varying performance levels, especially in the absence of any plan.

How I intend going about this relevant training when we next train together (though one of the two bowlers is interstate so my advice is via technology not direct supervised coaching) is to step up their current level of technical skill delivery rating to start with. Again note, every training session should have a purpose, otherwise what are you training?

Just one note though – all these delivery ratings are of minimal value if your mental and tactical skills are vastly inferior to your delivery skill. Poor choices and inferior focus or emotion in competition, where it counts, will always hinder your advance despite a great technical or delivery skill.

Did you know Jack Nicklaus, golfing great, worked harder on his mental and tactical skill as he already observed he was not as technically fluent as other profile golfers? Learn from these examples bowlers.

Then, most important, train with simulated heads or conditions that appear in games and are seen as ‘stressful’ or ‘pressure’ and have the bowler, repeatedly, apply their honed deliveries to work out which option is best suited to the situation to convert or to maintain damage. Importance here is the repetition of the precise delivery with the repetition for the mental and tactical skill operating too. 

For example in our sessions intensity includes the knowledge and application of rehearsal and recall of choice, delivery and outcome. That enables the player to be familiar to a competition setting, or head, where the training becomes the game and the brain snaps into (familiar and repeated) action transferring training to the event situation.

Stress is personal. We will have to get the players to describe to me what pressure is to them; then set up such a practical situation and make it familiar to them. Sorting through various delivery options to erase the pressure so that when it appears in a game, and it will why else are we labeling it pressure, the player is accustomed to the situation, and, to the options open to him, and, the best choices to consider based on training solutions.

Again in discussion with these players, they and others voiced their frustration at their range of recorded performances in events. Meaning, they can play from 50% effective one day up to 70% effective. And it can vary depending on the perceived level of the opposition.

Welcome to the human race boys (and girls, I do coach gals too)!

My advice, don’t stress out on the result of the opposition. Challenge your delivery ‘pbs’. We use one part of training to gauge player delivery ‘pbs’ and it is invaluable to see if these can be applied, subject to good tactical choice, in each and every game the bowlers compete in.

That training means we train at an intensity similar to that expected in elite level events, training though spiced with a bit of fun. Training also in a squad, like athletics and swimming, where we have peers with the same mindset who can keep us honest, who can instill a desire to perform better. Hence I reckon the players can take that skill rating and intensity from training into most events. Note most events, no guarantee all events. Never any guarantees.

Note also the important events, not every event. Because not every event is important. Keep your best for the best.

Hawthorn club won the nationally televised AFL Football premiership in September though losing 4 of 22 games during the year. This week their coach reportedly said the runners up, Geelong, was still the leader in the competition having lost only 1/22 games. He saw them as the ‘pb’ team despite their loss in the final.

Keep that football mindset at the forefront of your approach.

Interesting that our two bowlers have expressed this stress and pressure concern. In July 2007 I met with Safuan, Boy, Lina and Chooie in Malaysia for some coaching, and Saf expressed exactly the same concern re stress and pressure. All I did at the time was sit and listen and then advise about the joy of the game, the chase of the challenge. His passion and dedication to succeed. As we know Saf is the current dual world indoor and singles champion.

What should drive us is the passion. That passion to perform well or in my case to coach as best I can. What I try to weed out of bowlers is the preoccupation with the fear of failure, or the annoyance or envy of allowing another player to roll us in a game. Worse if you think they are inferior. Are’nt we all compared to someone else on this earth! Too small minded, but human too.

Passion will drive you to enjoy, to strive, that is train, further, to thrill at the chase (of the challenge being in bigger bowls leagues), to thrill at your constant application of skill at each new and higher level.

For my two bowls mates concerned about their current concerns, let’s explore these concerns, these possible solutions at training in our squad surrounded by others keen to learn and contribute to our collective advancement; all of us driven by the passion to be better as players, or coach, trying always to do it well, to excel.

No more, no less. Enjoy

p.s congrats Brett Wilkie on a fabulous tournament in UK, just falling short of the big one

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Performing at your best

Lachlan Tighe, December 2008 Bowls Coaching Column

I ventured overseas on holiday these past months and upon my return I realized I may as well have been away (from bowls) forever. In the month since returning I have been invited to do about ten presentations to bowls clubs, nearly all along the theme of measuring and performing at your/ our best.

Simply, I think everyone is performing at their best (in the circumstances).

Last week I met a bowler, nice bloke and keen bowler, who was a bit critical of approaches taken by his pennant team mates. I listened to his gripe which summarily was that others didn't take it as seriously as he did. He sought my reaction. 

In suggesting to him a need to know your technical skill, then work on it to improve it, and forego some mid week games time to apply to this skill training, he displayed a sense of concern.

The concern – his reasoning was that these mid week games, especially if he opposed a name bowler, were the places where he learnt the most from the name bowler.

No, I said, using that mid week time to do serious skill training was where you learnt about yourself to take to a game. Opposing good players simply means you observe what they have learnt. Your own unwillingness to …put in the hard yards of training…shows me you learn nothing about the (unseen) work ethic of the name bowler.

The bowler heard me, but, did not listen. Thus he performs at his best, given the mindset restrictions. In many ways he is not dissimilar to his pennant mates, though he may not comprehend that observation

One of the clubs has reinvited me to present on the above topic. That was their theme last time I presented. Their club officials are obviously keen to address the prevailing problem as their view it. I wandered over to the club twice pre my formal presentation to get a feel for the members approach to their training. If there was any formal coaching I did not witness it.

My reaction: my presence and presentation was novel but not enduring. Because it takes EXTRA effort to train properly so I expect their members will continue to …perform to their best as it prevails past and present.

In contrast, after months working with a squad of good level bowlers, I feel many of these guys will prosper and find a new and better level of performing at their best.

Why?  Well they collectively and individually have made commitment to train, to learn, to share, to plan for bowls events, to apply the training in tournaments and pennant (even if slowly and surely), and to rate their skills.

And they have attempted to work harder and better at being team members. I think I said once a fun team is a winning team. Let’s try and have fun.

This group of bowlers listen. Individually some will advance further than others. That difference is simply down to raw skill levels. Moreover there is a good chance these blokes, by approaching their sport/ games in a better way will (fingers crossed) find they are all able to …..perform at a new level of their best in bowls.

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Question Time – Bowls ‘Parliament’

Lachlan Tighe, July 2008 Bowls Coaching Column

For the past few months I drafted a column which intends to cover the lessons to be learnt from the world’s best bowlers. Once again I delay that column topic because of the spate of questions arising from the two posed last month as well as those resulting from my presentations over the past month here in Victoria. The questions seemed more pressing than my topic. I think we can all explore the answers though I simply give my opinion in response to the person asking the question. Here goes.

Question time, Mr Speaker, starts now as questions without notice from bowlers, coaches, club officials:

Q.Why do the same few clubs succeed in winning the premier league championship? 

These top clubs constantly turnover their best crop of players, recruiting to force pressure on current team members. I feel they ‘suffocate’ good players who coast thus ensuring these good players fall off  the pace, replaced by the next batch of motivated talented bowlers wanting to succeed.

Q. I want to be a better lead in a 4s team…becoming the best lead bowler in Australia, what do I need to know?

The prescribed role and measure for a lead for me would be your MEASURED role

Ø       The jack delivery must be within a metre of requested min/ max length every end

Ø       60% acceptable ML deliveries (state level)

Ø       ML contributions 18/25 ends

Ø       lead and the second are a front end ‘team’ and that ‘team’ goal is to have 2/4 bowls in the head 18/25 ends

           (where   head = mat length from the location of the jack)

     Your ATTITUDE role

Ø       lead to record these above on a card for each end for review at team segment meeting)

Ø       support – once third finishes join her and go together as a team to the head

Ø       team meetings- listen, learn, focus on your next segment (e.g. 5 end) goal,

Ø       accountability: with the jack you deliver 33% of the bowls contribution, take responsibility for that role

Ø       support: verbal encouragement for your half of the front end team every end

this dark (blue) shaded area allows the reader to compare the acknowledged performance

percentages expected for the positions of lead / second / third/ skip at the four described levels

of competition at Division One, group, state and finally national. 

Q. I want to achieve my bowls goals that I am sharing with you for reaction?

Success comes about through having a goal, desperate motivation, talent, and doing the hard work required to succeed at the level. Now I think you need to know

            Your present skill level

            The present skill levels of the best players in that competition level

            Your competition performances for the year

            The current performance results of those best players

How do I get there (that higher level).

Not everyone has the skill and talent to be the best in your level of competition. But you should know what the best level is and compare yourself to it. It would be great if that best performance level is you.

However you can gauge what is the next level of skill (performance) above your own and set out to progress to that next (higher) level. Once there, review and reset the standard for the next level. Like climbing a ladder, one rung at a time. This applies both individually and for a team (of bowlers).

Q. What sets the elite bowlers apart from us other bowlers, that is what I want to know?

The best bowlers are all highly motivated, all talented, most have a coach, all submit training programs, use sports science even if only limited, and have instinctive sports competitiveness

Q. I want to improve my performance, however once I enter into competition…my mind and body freeze up, what can I do?

Read my above responses above as a start. Now I suggest maybe such approaches as

keep the game in perspective as it is only a game; confidence is accepting who and what you are, some of us are just not at elite level or as good as the other bloke / lady;

however go out with a coach (do you not do that now, well start) and do an audit of your delivery skills and maybe there is the first answer; and in coach driven training you can also work on mental skills; also ask yourself what is concerning you, is it a bit of an ego thing, is it annoying the hell out of you that other people (who you might not regard too highly) are too good for you, well learn to accept that; look around you we are all types not one type, part of the fun of being human; and maybe look at how and what you are doing to be better and in my mind playing a lot is useless, compare that to training often with a view to applying the skill in serious events; kids play games (and enjoy it too) but you train to be better; finally you are allowed to be anxious/ nervous but keep it contained as much as possible

Q. Which Psychology books should I read?

I reckon you cannot beat being coached to improve your mental skill in training. However go to any library and look up section 796.0 series of the shelves and see what they have; no doubt these authors are bods I read in the past in no order of surname-

Gummerson, Morris, Syer, Hodges, Loehr, Rushall, Summers, Butt, Orlick, Warren, Pyke and Connolly as a start. Any others would be helpful too.

Q. What bowl size and brand should I use?

The question most asked, annoyingly; it is not the bowl it is the person shoving it down the other end that matters. No disrespect to the bowls manufacturers. Bowlers have to learn to know their body, know what they do to their bowl.

Q. We have upwards of 50 new bowlers coming to our club….what sort of training should we provide?

Use all your coaches to plan and conduct even one weekly session for the season as a club group with the following as a sort of time breakdown

You have the competitive edge in bowls knowing…

How you applied skills and time to train & prepare for this game.

Warm up                                         20 minutes

Skill rating /Technical delivery  30 minutes

Tactical skill training                     30 minutes

Mental skill training                       30 minutes

Games and modified formats   60 minutes

Fun to finish                                      10 minutes

                        You always do (plan)...

                                        …get what you always get (success)

Q. I have been approached by a club to be the non playing coach and I seek some advice on plans, preparations and team goals?

I have already spoken to this contact person who asked the question. Briefly what I shared with him was the need to set mutual goals with the team, instill game plans, have a calendar of training preparation for the season, require a commitment from selectors to reinforce your approach, a training session similar in theme to that above, select the best players every time, and, I share a statement of a team values approach, minus the detail, that I am using this coming week, as follows

The Squad should set their guide to goals and values. Later the Team should refine these to suit the final team composition. And, next year the boys that enter the squad have a guide to commence their goal pursuit and to decide what it is their squad intake has as team goals/ values. The following content (not included in this article) intends to give example statements for you to consider, not accept, or have imposed. Beside each statement (total of 40) there is a box in which you place either a letter

Y= yes I feel OK about that for me, or

N= no, definitely don’t like or agree to that, or even don’t understand it, or

M= maybe, but not committed to it.

That represents your current view on the statement.

There is no obligation to any or all of the statements. It is what would drive me as a player striving to be better.

What I ask is for each squad member invited to read and if interested to place a letter (Y, N or M) in that box alongside and return to me today preferably as an indication to us all as to what you ultimately want as Team goals and values with other blokes alongside you in the ‘heat of battle’.

Please, if you don’t believe in any of this stuff, feel OK, but allow others to also have their own sense of belief.

Q. Where can we get your bowls book mentioned on Pat McErlane’s radio program recently?

You misheard my comment on Pat’s radio show. I indicated that the book draft is with a major Australian publisher, fingers crossed, and I await their confirmation of publication. But I am confident the approval will come shortly and when it does this is what the seven chapters will cover

Ø       Chapter One         Warm up training routines ….A series of programs to get you to focus as soon as you walk onto the green

Ø       Chapter Two         Measuring and rating technical skill (the science)…do you know your 'pb' when it comes to draw bowls; well if you were Ian Thorpe or Tiger Woods they can tell you as any swimmer or golfer can; so why not us bowlers- here are some guidelines

Ø       Chapter Three       Fundamental deliveries and drills…different training routines to add to those already out there in other bowls books and manual

Ø       Chapter Four         Tactical skills and drills…where oh where is all this information to be learnt in bowls; nowhere to be seen except now her in this Chapter with accompanying training diagram routines

Ø       Chapter Five         Mental skills applied in training and practice…research shows that you are only delivering a bowl 9% of the time you are on the green; we all need to learn more about that 91% factor and the skills that go with it

Ø       Chapter Six            Games sense and game simulations (for game preparation)…training for the reality of the game, called Games Sense is widely applied in all profile sports, we can do it for bowls too, read on and…do you really know what role you have in a bowls team; here is a wider interpretation and some training sessions to assist you too

Ø       Chapter Seven      Coaching sessions, templates…finally for you coaches who would love to get a few ideas on how and what to include in modern and successful training sessions

I had not realized when I said last month to feel free to email me with your suggestions as we all learn the more we share and exchange. Boy that response has knocked the socks off me. I may need to hide to hibernate, but thanks for the interest.

Cheers,

Lachlan Tighe

"Attitude: all about practising habits"

Email: ltighe@kangan.edu.au

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 The inevitable question: Success

Lachlan Tighe, June 2008 Bowls Coaching Column

This past month two questions were put to me requesting a response

·        Why do the same few clubs succeed in winning the premier league championship

·        What do you do to peak for a competition (in this particular case the competition referred to the 2010 Games, India).

 Success comes about through having a goal, desperate motivation, talent, and doing the hard work required to succeed at the level.

These top clubs constantly turnover their best crop of players, recruiting to force pressure on current team members. I feel they ‘suffocate’ good players who coast thus ensuring these good players fall of the pace, replaced by the next batch of motivated talented bowlers wanting to succeed.

The response to the second question coincidentally comes following a few sessions I have had with individual bowlers striving to be at the next level, be it at state or international standard. Some of these bowlers, good as they are, fail in one vital area – they have no goal other than representation at the next level. Lacks desperation!

What are you peaking for? Medals at Games 2010, state titles, pennant premierships? Or is it simply attendance and representation at either the Games or in State teams, or in premier league sides which is truly peeking, at others that are better than you, to me.

To all players in any of these three competition levels, for you to be in that top team you need to know:

Your present skill level

The present skill levels of the best players in that competition level

Your competition performances for the year

The current performance results of those best player

How do I get there (that higher level).

Not everyone has the skill and talent to be the best in your level of competition. But you should know what the best level is and compare yourself to it. It would be great if that best performance level is you.

However you can gauge what is the next level of skill (performance) above your own and set out to progress to that next (higher) level. Once there, review and reset the standard for the next level. Like climbing a ladder, one rung at a time. This applies both individually and for a team (of bowlers).

That’s the general principle. Now some specifics to achieve that peak, as per the request, for 2010

Set the realistic objective

·        Set timelines for progress toward the final objective

·        Use a coach to co-ordinate your efforts

·        Construct a year round calendar for training and competition

·        Have the coach assess your technical skill deliveries now

·        Appraise those skills monthly and improve upon them

·        Have coach co-ordinate instruction / training in tactical and mental skills

·        Review all facets of skill monthly with coach as progress in improved attitude

·        Set objectives and plans for all events over the year

·        Coach conducted competitions debrief basing it on specific competition objective

·        Increase the amount of training time, maybe and simply, by reducing the amount of time you play games

·        Enjoy the challenge.

All the people making contact with me on this question are telling me there no coaches around to assist and certainly not to do the role I set out here. I say there are coaches out there who are willing, so tap into them even if it is only in a small way. It is progress, that rung up the ladder. Be your own coach and soak up what other (better) bowlers do. Seek out and talk to these better players. Use the web www. to sift out approaches toward success from other sport.

As Safuan would vouch, I often used to say to him, ‘…if you want to soar with the Eagles, don’t mix with turkeys’. Look at his two world titles in 2008.

It is a disappointment for all of us that in 2008, there is not an abundance of coaches able to help the aspiring premier league / state level / national player reach their goal.

Our bowls associations take pride in your representing them in competition. By not providing adequate coaching they do the players a disservice in their support for the players to win. Maybe the associations will see the merit in fostering better level coaches who can and will assist you the bowler, and the bowls association, revel in your competition success (winning) rather than the self satisfaction simply of your representation.

For the bowlers who initially asked these two questions I hope the response is adequate. Feel free to email me with your suggestions as we all learn the more we share and exchange.

Cheers,

Lachlan Tighe

Email: ltighe@kangan.edu.au

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