ASCA Podcast #111 - Ben Norcott

Ben Norcott is an ASCA Level 3 Elite coach specialising in Human Performance. Ben's career spans various industries, including Rugby Union, League, Defence and Law Enforcement. He has worked with numerous organisations, including the Australian Federal Police, Royal Australian Air Force, Rugby Australia, ACT Brumbies, and Vikings Rugby. He is currently Head of Physical Performance for Specialist Operations at the Australian Federal Police, and is responsible for the physical performance and training of personnel in various specialised areas. He also works as the Physical Performance Coach for NRLW & SG Ball teams for the Canberra Raiders. QUOTES “The basics of a coaching philosophy is it is a way for to get information, filter it down, make your decisions and planning and interact with others… and that has to grow and change as you grow and change” “I like to think of a coaching philosophy as a tree, it gets planted in the soil of the environment, it gets enough sunlight and water and it grows to the environment it is in and if you go and try and grow something artificial that is not right for that environment, it is going to die” “The worst place to work is where the senior coach micromanages the developing coach so they can’t understand and have their own philosophy” “if you can influence the intent of a group, and players have good buy-in, you can change a program significantly” “The best way to think of it is performance is like you are in a boat, experience is your captain, and sport science is your navigator“ SHOWNOTES 1) The back story to Ben Norcott and his journey in S&C 2) The in's and out's of having a coaching philosophy 3) The importance of creating a coaching philosophy that allows different people to contribute to success 4) Why you should treat your coaching environment like growing a tree 5) The optimal interaction between senior and junior coaches for coaches to develop 6) The optimal frequency to reviewing your coaching philosophy 7) Examples of when and why Ben has changed his coaching philosophy including a decreased reliance on GPS and increased focus on running technique 8) Practical strategies to help embed and develop your coaching philosophy 9) Key learnings from working with the AFP special ops program 10) The program set up at AFP special ops and how to integrate athlete choice into programs 11) The importance of setting boundaries in the S&C profession and multipliers and diminishers as managers PEOPLE MENTIONED Chris Hickey John Mitchell Ash Jones Mike Anthony