MELBOURNE coaching and performance personnel have met with world leaders in the high performance industry as staff prepare to attack the 2022 pre-season period.
Lessons learned at a Swimming Australia Performance Hub on the Gold Coast and meetings with industry leaders at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre in Casuarina will pave the way for Goodwin and his team to approach the gruelling months of pre-season training ahead.
Coaches compared notes with Australian Swimming coach Michael Bohl who has coached numerous individual Olympic medallists including Australia’s most decorated Olympian Emma McKeon.
“Michael interacted with the coaches for almost 90 minutes prior to training sharing many stories and anecdotes along with lessons learned and advice from a career in coaching,” GM of AFL Football Performance Alan Richardson said.
“His energy and enthusiasm were obvious and infectious along with his deep commitment to learning and unparalleled ability to connect with each and every athlete to build a strong relationship.
“We were fortunate to see this in action across the afternoon, up close and personal watching Australian Dolphins preparing for the upcoming World Short Course Championships in Melbourne.
“It was amazing to see the commitment and discipline displayed by these athletes and their attention to detail with respect to their personal preparation. We experienced a high intensity set with speed suits at race pace,” Richardson says.
The learning and development program was curated and facilitated by Darren Holder from Coaching Better who has supported the ongoing learning of our coaching group for some time and regarded as a leader of his field.
Melbourne staff also met with world leader in elite sport and performance psychology Jonah Oliver and skill acquisition specialist Adam Gorman in a week-long development program.
Oliver currently works alongside Australia’s highest ranked golfer Cameron Smith, while Gorman formerly plied his trade at the AIS and now works from the Queensland University of Technology.
“Oliver stimulated the group with his insights on high performing teams and coaching mental performance.” Richardson says.
“Gorman facilitated a workshop exploring the topic of Pressure Training and how the coaches can better design training that induces responses that are representative of high-pressure moments in matches.
“This is a key area to win the tight contests and big matches across the season especially in September.”
Goodwin’s staff remains largely unchanged heading into the 2023 campaign with all assistant coaches returning to their roles for the upcoming season.
Adem Yze will again take the reins as midfield coach, Troy Chaplin will head up the backline, Greg Stafford is leading the forwards while Mark Williams is again Melbourne’s head of development.
VFL Senior Coach Mark Corrigan has headed to Geelong and been replaced by his Senior Assistant Taylor Whitford.
