A Candid Casual Conversation with our coaches

Days of consumerism at its very best. We are in an era where the consumer is the King of Kings and therefore is spoilt for choice. Internet has bought the world right to the doorstep of the consumer and thus has enabled the customer to pick from an array of merchandise be it in the from of physical products or services. A customer walks into a retail store, he not only looks at the product but checks if they are backed by authenticated standards of quality.  Example in India ISI is a benchmark for quality for all kinds of consumer Durables.

The Customer is asking more questions before settling down to a buy whether it is a product or service. It has therefore become very pertinent that when it boils down to coaching we offer to our wards world class facilities, infrastructure and training. Coaching has changed by leaps and bounds over the last few years. We at Gennext have always felt the need to keep ourselves abreast with the latest coaching practices and standards being followed the world over.

Several of our coaches have attended coaching clinics conducted by ICC in countries like Dubai and Australia. In this blog of ours we will share the views of our coaches who flew in to Dubai to attend a certification course conducted by ICC.

TBK decided to prod on further and have a small tete-a-tete with Kaushik .

TBK: Kaushik, This was a first time experience for you in Dubai. How was the experience?

Kaushik: Being the first time, I really did not know what to expect out of the programme, but they set the expectations right in the initial stages itself. They said that for me it was a Level 1 programme, since its the entry level, I would need to pick up the coaching methods for young cricketers who are 5-6 years old.

TBK: What was the one big point of differentiation that you picked up from Dubai:

Kaushik: It made a huge amount of difference, the way I used to approach coaching before and the way I am going to approach it now will be drastically different. They use a lot of unique and innovative methods in coaching which I am looking forward to implement over here. They assigned a coach to our group and treated us as learners of the game. I liked that approach a lot.

TBK: Thanks Kaushik for your inputs, moving on to Coach Aravind, Can you please throw light on the Coaching practices being followed in Australia?

Coach Aravind: A World of difference TBK. Just to give you a small example, In Australia they train a batsman to bat with both the hands, right and left.

TBK: Do you impart here to your wards what you have picked up in Australia?

Coach Aravind: Coaching has now gone global. With the improvement in technology and the availability of internet there are no gaps in what we treat as coaching here in India and what is being doled out as coaching in other parts of the world, I focus more on Physical Fitness and Diet. There is no big difference other than the fact that they have a proper planning of how to organise the nets, how the use of technology aids players, these are some of the unique practices you can say are being followed internationally. I focus more and more on quality rather than quantity which is something that I picked up during my stint in Australia.

Quickly Moving on to Coach Rama:

TBK: Coach Rama, How was your experience in Dubai?

Coach Rama: I had a wonderful time in Dubai. The most important thing that I picked up and was stressed upon there was that we need to make the children to love and enjoy the game cricket, rest all will follow. This shall remain my focus area going forward.

TBK: You handle the junior most group in the academy. What is the difference that you notice in yourselves after attending the camp in Dubai?

Coach Rama: As I said earlier the kids have to love and enjoy the game. Earlier I would come, decide on the drills and implement it. Now I go a step further. I come to the academy, plan out the various drills for the day, and at the end of the drill, I incentivise the children, with a small token of appreciation like a chocolate or a candy bar. This will make a big difference in the way the children approach the game.

TBK: The soft spoken Santosh is up next. He may look very soft by appearance but when it comes to cracking the whip, there is none better who can do it, Typical Butter in one hand and a Cane in the other style, not quite literally. :) Santosh, you have complete Level 1 now, Could it have come earlier?

Coach Sanch: I entered the game as a cricketer, not as a coach. As a player you think differently, primarily about your game and the cause of the team. As a coach you need to think in another manner. you are not wearing the players cap any more but that of a coach. When i started off as a coach I thought I will bring in my skills and experience as a player. But when it comes to coaching it does not really work like that. You have to think about a set of individuals and not just a single player. As Aravind pointed coaching is now global, no longer localised. Since I have had playing experience Level 1 came off much easier to me, Now whether it was a bit late or early, it best for the individual to judge.

TBK: The one thing that I have noticed about your coaching style is that you almost don the role of a school teacher the moment the session starts, Every Coach has his own style. Is this your style of coaching?

Coach Sanch: You are right . Every coach has his own style. I feel that a young player needs to be corrected the moment he makes a mistake. It comes off instinctively to me, almost a second nature. But there has been a drastic change in my coaching style post to attending the ICC Coaches Clinic in Dubai. Earlier the communication was one way primarily from my side, but now I ask the boys a lot of questions, depending on their skill sets and style. They come back to me with answers. Thats one big change I see in myself after attending the Clinic in Dubai.

TBK: Do you follow someone as a Role Model Coach?

Coach Sanch: I Do not have anyone as a Role Model Coach. But someone who I always look up to as a coach is Guru Kedarnath. His style of coaching is based on a simple two way communication. You go to him with any problem, he will give you a set of question within which you will come up with a solution. I would say that the day I start to follow that style on a regular basis, I can stake claim to being a good coach.

TBK:The next coach up front is someone exemplary, someone who fits the role of a coach to the Tee. Someone who Ashwin himself goes up to seek advice or to correct flaws in his technique, Coach Srinivasan. He is a coaching manual all by himself. I was dying to know what upgrades were made to the software of Coach Srinivasan post visiting Dubai.

Coach Srinivasan: When you meet the right person in life, it gives you to improve your own standard of living. Similarly when you go to ICC, it is the right place not only for me but for any aspiring coach. It is the best place to learn and become better, definitely for me as well, it was the right place to improve myself. I have done this level before in different academies, but since this comes from a world class body like the ICC, I have definitely picked up different flavours from the coaching perspective.

TBK: What are the plans going forward? I am sure you have picked up something in Dubai that you would want to implement out here in the academy in Chennai.

Coach Srinivasan: In India they have a sort of Guru-Sishya culture where the Guru teaches and the student picks up the teachings and adds it on to his skill base. There it is different. The International coaches interact a lot with the student. In the western world more emphasis is placed on going together,growing together. That is something that I already know but will lay more emphasis on going forward. There are unorthodox playing techniques as well, like that of a Malinga or a Ajantha Mendis. What they say is to work along with the players in their own styles and make them to feel comfortable. Thus interaction with the players becomes so very important.

TBK: Coach Subash is up next. He comes up with a very cheerful countenance, ever smiling and very helpful. He is always supportive and gives a patient hearing to each player.He encourages the players to make notes at the end of each and every session, to see where they are and where and how each player can improve. Tell me Subash, How was the Dubai Experience?

Coach Subash: First at the very outset I wish to thank Gen Next Cricket Academy for having given me this opportunity to attend this unique Coaches Cricket Clinic in Dubai. Coaches as you would know play a great role in a teams success or failure. You will be aware how Gary Kirsten propelled the teams fortunes in the 2011 World Cup or for that matter even John Wright. There were a lot of key takeaways from my trip to Dubai. There they laid a lot of emphasis of player interaction with the coaches. In the Junior level coaching due importance was given to how to make Cricket a fun game for the kids and allowing them to fall in love with the game. This is something that we follow here at the academy. The coaches in Dubai told us about the importance of planning each session. Another Point that I wish to add is that the coach is always in a position to give very valuable inputs, something that a player may not realize. For me, when I have any doubts as a player I approach Ashwin. For example I was always under the impression that to detect the arm bal, you have to notice and recognize it at the point of release. Ashwin made me to understand that the give away for a arm ball is the bowlers run up, a step prior to release of the ball. These are the kind of inputs that a coach can give.

For us at Gennext Cricket Academy it always about giving more to our wards, and ever being seen as giving the best in terms of value for money. In the words of our Founder Mr. Ravichandran "Allow the kids to have fun, give them maximum exposure, Let them play in the centre pitch for there is nothing like a real match situation." This blog is not about a Marketing pitch that we are making, its about telling the world the kind of international coaching standards that we follow and how we keep upgrading ourselves,year on year, season by season. We would like to conclude this blog with a quote from Team India Under 19 Coach Rahul Dravid "I think we judge talent wrong. What do we see as talent? I think I have made the same mistake myself. We judge talent by people's ability to strike a cricket ball. The sweetness, the timing. That's the only thing we see as talent. Things like determination, courage, discipline, temperament, these are also talent."