My latest Centre10 Development day at the beginning of October is one which I always really look forward to. It’s not just the learning and getting my grey cells going that I love, but the meeting up of like-minded professionals in the most supportive way imaginable.
Even though the fee for the day’s training, travel to Bristol and overnight stay beforehand are costly, the value I get from the meet-up to myself and the clients I coach is worth every penny.
I’ve also made great contacts and friends I keep in touch with regularly and it’s good to bounce ideas off each other as freelancing can be lonely at times.
Centre10 Background
There is so much diversity in the coaches’ backgrounds and skillsets within Centre10 and are far ranging from riding school, and coaches in the Army to event trainers from everywhere in the UK- indeed many travel over from Ireland and up and down the country from Scotland and Devon. Never before have in my experience so many travelled so far for training days on an annual basis. Such is the power of Centre10!!
To maintain accreditation you have to attend at least two events per year (Meet-up development days [2 days per year] and Action Learning Groups on Zoom [4 mornings per year])
We have a Coaching hub, a dedicated members-only Facebook page and evening Coach Clinics by Zoom every month so there is an awful lot of input from Charlie Unwin and Steffi Dampney as well as input from different coaches.
Don’t get me wrong I am very proud of my BHS qualifications however becoming a Centre10 Advanced Coach has given me far more tools enabling me to help my clients by changing or enhancing their mindset as well as training their horses. It seems a long time ago that I became qualified after 2 days of intensive training in April 2022 but that was only the start! There was a lot of research, reading and exploring new concepts to do beforehand and afterwards. And it is ongoing.
I was so thrilled to achieve the Breakthrough Award in April 2023 presented to me for making the greatest transformation in my coaching practice.
I certainly have gained far more confidence in performing off-horse coaching and love this side of my work. It’s wonderful to be part of a team helping an individual on their journey whatever that may be. The mind is such an influential part of success and can either help or hinder
So… I digress! What was the latest Development day all about?
When I read the title ‘Neurodiversity in Sport’ I remember thinking yes this is something about the brain however a more correct definition would be a word used to explain the unique ways people’s brains work.
A week prior to our meet-up one of Centre10 coaches Jackie Mccormick gave a video presentation to share her experience, professional knowledge, and wisdom of neurodiversity.
Jackie runs her own consultancy specialising in solution-focused therapy and working with adolescents and adults with autism and ADHD. Jackie made a potentially tricky subject easier to understand and helped us to skilfully navigate neuro-diversity within our own coaching practice. I also found it useful for understanding how neuro-divergent people can teach us about the way we work with neuro-typical people.
Jackie, along with other coaches was really helpful throughout the day with hints and tips regarding how we could better help riders with ADHD, Autism, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia to name but a few. There’s not actually much research regarding neurodiversity in sport and how athletes with neurodivergence can be helped.
It is suggested that ADHD may provide competitive advantage in elite sport, such as rapid reaction and attention diversion to random emerging stimuli.
So its about how myself as a coach can understand the complexities of someone who perhaps doesn’t operate outside of the ‘norm’ and be able to stretch and support them better. Indeed I can think of some of my clients who are hyper mobile and when this is supported by physical conditioning actually gives them the edge over their competitors.
Many riders are perfectionists and therefore motivated to perform to very high standards and are mainly ‘goal’ orientated. Care must be taken here to encourage focus on the success of the process and not over scrutinise the performance otherwise paralysis ensues.
I had many ‘take-aways’ from the day, but the main one was how could I be the best version of myself in order to help my riders. It is a complex subject and we will never have it sussed but communication is key.
Structure is important in a session as is trust, I like to feel my riders know they are valued and involved which enables me to help them, and that they feel free to converse and be a part of their learning.
I particularly liked this simple graph that was just drawn on a flipchart during the day and very simply gets the message across.
The day was enhanced by a visit from Caroline Moore later in the afternoon where she kindly shared her coaching ethos and spoke about her training of Ros Canter. It all came down to things close to my heart:- good basics, attention to detail and improving feel so helping prevent mistakes from happening.
Education is key as is confidence and competence and I endeavour to train riders to produce horses that love to do the job wether that be hacking down the road or competing in a chosen discipline, or indeed anywhere in between.
I feel there is a lot of pressure on riders to compete, as if they have to ‘prove’ something, many of my riders enjoy the day to day training of their horses and enjoy their company.
If anyone would like any more information about off the horse coaching sessions or want to explore neurodiversity and neurodivergence in more detail please feel free to contact me.
I am in no way an expert on the subject, however I can certainly help you to develop the right mindset in a way which suits you. As always, if I am unable to help you I can suggest different possibilities.
