SportCentral Benefit from Knox Masterclass

On Sunday 10th January 2010, cricketers from the SportCentral Academy Squad and coaches from four clubs in the Forth Valley area attended a specialist batting session being run by Level 3 Coach and Scotland Internationalist Steven Knox. The idea behind the session was to allow the player’s exposure to a specialist skill coach, and also to give the local coaches an opportunity to attend the session and observe how you would deliver such a session, as well as being able to ask Steven any questions they may have about how the session was run.

The theme of the session was ‘Hitting Over The Top,’ and after a quick explanation of how the session would work, the players were thrown into a pairs game to do some game based learning. After this had finished, the group moved onto drill work, using a technique called Reverse Chaining to break the skill down into its constituent parts. This allowed the coaches to observe how you would break a skill down to either teach it to a beginner or use it to highlight areas of strength or weakness within an existing technique.

The drills used were progressive in their nature, and allowed the players to understand more about the skill they were trying to execute, as well as allowing the coaches in attendance to try and assist the players, having been listening to Steven’s explanations.

At the end of the session, Steven gave an overview of his session and the coaches were given some coaching aids to take away with them for future use and reference. SportCentral Cricket Academy Head Coach Gordon Allan stated ‘Having a coach of Steven’s calibre along to deliver a session can only have a positive effect for all involved. The players really took on board what Steven said to them, and the progression through the session was clear for everyone present to see. The coaches in attendance weren’t afraid to get involved and ask questions as well, which can only benefit them in the long run as they continue to develop and learn new coaching techniques.’