Highly regarded “football” pundit, Francis Leach, has given his assessment of the Socceroos performance against South Korea on Saturday night and has come down with the opinion that Australia’s problem is that we don’t have a natural number 9 (central forward/striker) who can optimise opportunities that come from dominating possession by regularly popping the ball into the back … [Read more...]
Can Usain Bolt succeed at soccer?
A couple of days ago the perceptive and articulate (especially in relation to sporting matters), Peter Fitzsimons, threw his hat (or bandanna) into the twitter sphere ring of people commenting on Usain Bolt’s intention to swap his snug running daks for baggy soccer shorts. Fitz was less than enthusiastic about Usain’s prospects and offered a catalogue of sound reasons why the … [Read more...]
What coaches can learn from a brilliant psychotherapist – adapting the views of a counselling professional to the world of sports coaching
What can a famed psychotherapist teach sports coaches? Quite a lot, it seems. I came across an interview with New York based psychotherapist and podcast superstar, Esther Perel, in the terrific magazine Dumbo Feather, the other day. While the whole of her interview about her life and counselling career was fascinating, the thing that most caught my eye most was … [Read more...]
What tika taka is… and isn’t
Tika taka is way more than just maintaining possession and being patient. Tika taka is a commitment to knowing where your team mates are... and vision of the full field rather than just the player next to you. Tika taka is about learning to keep your head up. Tika taka is about being committed to making two forward passes to every one back pass or lateral … [Read more...]
Sally Pearson shows the Phoenix how the rising from the ashes thing is done! (Part 1)
A few weeks back Socrates had a chat to World Champion hurdler, Sally Pearson, about her last few years as an athlete. What a tale the world's number one had to tell. In Part 1. of Sally's story, Socrates describes Pearson's rise from the ashes despite extraordinary physical and emotional pressures and, just to prove she doesn't mind doing it the hard way, she did it all … [Read more...]