Knowledge Nuggets

SIRC Blog How do experts differ from novices? In sport, success in both low-strategy sports and high-strategy sports relies on having a solid knowledge base: knowledge may be what determines who is a true expert when athletes have similar skills and experience. As coaches and parents, the importance of knowledge bases give us a clue...

Teaching Moment Anxiousness and excitement are “arousal congruent”, meaning that your body goes through the same things: your heart rate accelerates, you might feel butterflies, and cortisol surges. Excitement and calmness are both positive emotions, but because excitement and anxiousness are so similar in arousal level, we should get excited instead of trying to calm...

Infographic The ability to manage negative thoughts is incredibly important during practices and competitions, but also in daily life. Athletes or not, we can all benefit from these tips on how to keep negative thoughts in check.  

Leadership This Toolkit for Developing and Influencing Physical Activity Policy is a resource for anyone responsible for, or desiring to, support and promote physical activity in the community. It includes worksheets and step-by-step guidelines for new and experienced policymakers and can be shared with anyone interested in creating physical activity policy. 

SIRC Blog The Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Framework was developed to address several problems and gaps affecting low participation and excellence in Canadian sport. Check out this great resource for coaches and parents aiming to increase the physical activity of all and working with athletes on the high-performance track.

By the Numbers A British study associated cycling to work with a 45% lower risk of cancer and 46% lower risk of heart disease versus driving or bussing to work. If we used 1% of the budget for road construction towards building bike lanes instead, we could have a bike system comparable to those in...

Coaching Tip This E-Q Games-Based Coaching Model is a great resource for coaches. It is based on Engaging, Explaining, Energizing, Empowering, and Evaluating your athletes, with Questioning worked into all sections of the model. This article will make you reflect on your coaching while also providing ideas and resources.

Coaching Tip Praise is an important part of the feedback that coaches provide athletes, particularly children. Praise can be helpful, but can also be harmful to their development if not carefully thought through. These 5 Key Elements of Praising Your Athletes outline some things to keep in mind when giving praise to develop athlete confidence...

Understanding the factors that influence coach transitions is pertinent. In the article “Retaining Experienced Coaches”, research findings highlight the importance of practitioners and sports organizations providing support to enable coaches to advance their career and also provide better support and strategies to optimize coaches’ working environment.

Warming up is essential for athletic performance, not only does it get the body ready to train or compete, it can improve performance and help prevent injury as well. And one of the essential parts of the warmup is stretching those muscles out. However, there has been a long time debate going on over the...