As the footy reached the business end of the season many of us started gearing up for our summer sports focus. In my case this is cricket, a sport I have been playing for a very long time. While experience is a wonderful thing in sport it does not make anyone immune to issues in their game and pre-season is a good time to work on your flaws and as I have discovered over the last two seasons, you're never too old to learn.
My time playing the game of cricket began as an eleven year old in the under 12's for my local cricket club. I lived centrally to about four clubs and chose this one because my older brother was already enjoying the game in the club's senior ranks. I've been told my interest in the game goes back further than this point, but unfortunately my memory doesn't.
I am now 37 years old and, when you combine seniors and juniors I am sure that I have played well over 200 games of cricket. In that time I have had many club coaches and mentors, but for the most part my team-mates and I self coach. It's a pretty simple arrangement; you know what works for you so try to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
The problem with this is that bad habits become ingrained and difficult to break. While the club coach can help, he must prepare himself and often has more than fifty guys to organize and inspire. This is where professional coaching can come in very handy, and below is a look at the three professional coaches I have used. Their advice and impact on the technical side of the game and the mental side of the game has been a huge plus.