I’m curious about… why fish don’t know they are in water

The first part of this statement reminds me of Nigel Redman. If Nigel asked me a question starting with “I’m curious/interested/wondering…” I was fairly confident I was that fish in water.

This second is a quote I used when convincing British Rowing that I could influence their coaches (the fish) as I observed them in their environment (water). The clear benefit being that I know very little about rowing and so would be super-curious!

I’ve asked the same question in various guises over the last few weeks both in my role with the RFU and as a parent to a 10-year-old boy who loves his sport. I’m curious how you would answer each of these questions honestly for the water you swim in…

I’m really interested in why you coach and what you hope to achieve today…
I’m curious as to what you are currently working on in your coaching and how you are achieving this…

I wonder if you could bring your attacking philosophy to life for me… (I’m hoping it resembles what I see in training)

I’m interested in whether you’re players are reliant on you calling huddles to solve problems after the event rather than in/before the moment…

I wonder what would happen if you called the players into a huddle and didn’t speak… who would speak first… after how long… what would they say… (The litmus test for self-reliant players)

 I wonder if you realize that the more you tell the players what to do, the fewer decisions they make themselves…

I wonder what would happen if you didn’t say anything for the next 10 minutes…

I’m curious as to whether you could do a whole session without a huddle…

I’m interested in whether coaching too much structure (by using language such as  ‘red zone’, ‘exits’ and ‘round the corner’) you prevent the players seeing better opportunities to go forward?

I wonder if you know the principles of play…

I’m really interested in whether the best way for a 10 year old kid to prepare for a game is to stand and listen to you speak for 8 minutes…

I wonder if you could challenge individual players more within this practice…

I’m curious as to why you would train well below match intensity…

I wonder why you would answer your own questions…

I’m curious as to how you are allowing you are developing creativity/awareness/resilience/decision-making/self-organization (or insert any appropriate life skill) for your players in each and every session…

I’m interested in what you might be doing to prevent the development of (insert life skill)…

I’m interested in why you would want to be just like everyone else as a team…

I’m curious as to whether you have looked at an attacking framework built around the strengths of your players rather than an arbitrary structure you’ve seen on TV…

I’m interested in the benefits of your players running patterns against nobody…

I wonder if your players would benefit from 15 minutes of self-organized practice (with you supporting) on their individual skills…

I wonder what three words your players/fellow coaches/parents of your players would use to describe you…

I’d love to you see your and your players’ IDP’s…

Russel Earnshaw is an RFU coach mentor and former England Sevens Coach. He teaches at Eastbourne College.