Session 3 Essay

Session 4’s planning, aim and purpose was exactly the same as the planning for session 3, however the actual outcome was much different. It was even hotter on this day and the boys were particularly lethargic. We got given a spot in the sun also which didn’t help. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the catching drill, however were much less motivated to take part in the fielding drill. Despite frequent breaks, the boys kept complaining they were too hot. This meant they didn’t participate in the activities quite as wholeheartedly as we would’ve hoped. Because of this we had to spend a little bit longer on the fielding drill. There were 2 boys who were a particularly bad combination together, and when together they distracted the whole class, which
meant we had to split them up and take quite a hard line. Due to the situations making the class unfocused, distracted and unenthused, we had to take quite a harsh dictator type leadership style in order to keep the boys in check. The time we could spend on the game was reduced due to the extra time we had to spend on the fielding drill. The game was a lot less successful than session 3, however the boys still showed fairly good skills, meaning we were still able to play the game and give it a decent go, however not the extent we could in session 3 with the other class. There were a lot of learnings we took out of this session. The first learning is that we have to make sure the boys continually stay engaged in the drill, which is especially important when there are plenty of other distractions around the place such as other boys and heat etc.
The other is that we have to make sure we are continually trying to improve the way the boys train. For example we probably weren’t disciplined enough at allowing the boys to get drinks of water etc. meaning they weren't overly focused for most of the lesson. Due to a variety of factors, we didn’t quite meet the intended outcome of the lesson. Whilst we improved the fielding skills of the boys, it wasn’t quite to the level we would have hoped, and the game wasn’t a whole lot better. We couldn’t really get the boys to be at their best, and I put this down to a lack of focus from the boys. We did however, follow through with all of our responsibilities, and throughout the session we kept trying to get through to the boys. During this session we used a dictator type of leadership throughout the whole time and couldn’t really give the boys a say for reasons previously explained. Next time to meet the aim and purpose I think we need to keep on trying to limit distractions for the boys as at the end of the day, this is what limited us from unlocking the boys real
potential. This session was a real learning for us and at the end of the day, we became better coaches because of it.