The summer can be difficult for coaches who work in winter sports like rugby and football. Do you continue through the summer, or encourage an off-season of sports sampling?
Specialisation in one sport offers the potential for mastery, while sampling others provides a diverse range of often transferable physical skills. The question is: can either, or both, paths lead to the same destination—high-level sports performance?
The outside view: a term used to describe taking a perspective other than your own, is worth considering. As coaches, our experiences are not unique, and we are subject to predictable patterns and biases. Perhaps the same challenge the athletes we coach face. Wouldn’t you agree?