Philosophy of Sport and Coaching
A new Metaphysical Foundation for Sports Coaching
From Space and Time to Space and Motion
"You can discover more about a person
in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
(Plato, 427 - 347 BC)
I grew up in a sporting family, my brother Peter Haselhurst played Field Hockey for Australia in the 1980s (he was a beautiful player with fantastic stick skills), I played Field Hockey for Western Australia and Indoor Hockey for Australia. I also coached at club and state level for several years. It was only in the 1990s (after retiring from hockey) that I became more interested in Philosophy (the study of Truth, Reality and Wisdom). My sport is now limited to watching Soccer, Football (Australian Rules) and playing games with my children. I have though, always had a passion for the art of coaching, and this is now blended with a desire to introduce a more philosophical approach to sports coaching.
Below you will find some ideas that are hopefully usefully. I am currently busy building this philosophy / physics website - so this page is on hold for a few years - but I look forward to writing on the evolutionary philosophy of Sport and and the art of coaching.
On this page you will find links to the Metaphysics
of Space and Motion and the Wave Structure of Matter (from Space and Time
to Space and Motion) and Science Articles which explain and solve various
problems of human knowledge that have been caused by the incorrect 'particle'
conception of matter. With some thought you will realise its relevance to
the Philosophy of Sport Coaching - as it is pretty obvious to anyone who
has played / coached / watched Sport that both Space and Motion are fundamental
to ALL Sports!
Geoff Haselhurst
On Philosophy of Sport / Coaching / Training
Here are a few ideas for coaching, training and playing sport. While they are written based on my knowledge of playing and coaching field hockey (and watching a bit of soccer, ice hockey and Australian football) they really apply to most sports.
1. Training should be predominately fun, but also combined with hard work
which builds self discipline.
2. Most coaches get too fancy setting up drills that require too many diverse
skills that players do not have - so the exercises keep failing because
of errors by players. This leads to a lack of tempo in training and no precise
measure of what is causing the errors.
My view is that half of training should practice very specific 'basic' skills,
half of training in putting those skills into practice by playing small
games. e.g. 4 on 4 so players are constantly involved. (And playing little
games really helps people keep their vision up - very important - and often
lacking in training drills!).
3. Training is often done at 3/4 pace. It is better to rest more and then
always do things at 100% (else we learn to drift in games).
4. It is important to be precise, careful, diligent, thoughtful, alert in
the things we do (this applies to life, sport and study / philosophy). For
example, I notice when most people train they tend to pass the ball more
slowly, which requires less precision / accuracy. So there should always
be this emphasis in training to pass the ball at high speed which requires
greater precision / accuracy (obviously this does not apply to 'waited'
passes into spaces).
5. Humans have certain evolved instincts that effect how we play games.
One is the relationship between reason and emotion, and that emotion tends
to dominate reason (which is one big reason why the world faces so many
problems!). Learning to get the right balance of emotion and reason is very
important! Sport helps this process.
6. We have an instinct to attack too often / too early. You see this in
football a lot where once players run through the middle of the field handballing
to one another and get close to 50 meter line then they tend to kick long
at goals / forward contest, instead of continuing to run and pass (handball)
until they get to 40 meters from goal then kicking precisely at goals (Geelong
are best at this).
7. Sport has an important role to play in human development (this is why
we, and many animals, have evolved to play - and sport is just formalised
play). For exercise, social harmony, and developing the connection between
mind, body and matter in the space around us. Thus sport should be one of
the central subjects / activities of school (which it no longer is). Clearly
obesity is endemic to our western world - sport is an important remedy.
8. Morality. The rules of a game are similar to the rules of society. We
try to work out the best way to play the game (live our life) based upon
the rules. The umpire is like the police / legal system. So sport can teach
us several important things;
i) How to be moral by abiding by the rules of the game (so for example in cricket, I think that the batsman should walk when they know they are caught behind, even if the umpire does not give them out). Modern sport is no longer like this (driven by market economics / profit), so the expression "It's not cricket" has lost its moral meaning.
ii) What is the best way to play (live) based upon the existing rules. One thing philosophy teaches us is that we are very programmed by existing ways of doing things, so the innovative coach will revolutionise the way a game is played by creatively imaging new ways of playing within the rules. Again this can be applied to life too.
iii) The rules of both sport and society are evolving - it is always important
to be thinking how we can create better rules to make the game better (and
likewise, better laws for society).
9. Health and Fitness. Yoga is important - as it improves both strength
and flexibility, while helping people relax (and requires no equipment,
just the body and gravity). I think a lot of injuries would be prevented
with Yoga (I am lazy but try and go to Yoga once a week - my partner Karene
is very committed, practices 3 times a week - and she is 7 months pregnant).
On Space and Time Vs Space and Motion
On an 'apparently' more radical level (as it relates to metaphysics, physics
and physical reality) - though obviously physical reality underpins all
things including sport (we just rarely think about it).
There is no such thing as time, just the wave motion of space that causes
both time and matter (everything is connected in space by waves in space
- an electron is just a spherical standing wave in space, the wave-center
forms the discrete particle effect we see, the spherical in and out waves
explain how matter is connected to other matter around it).
Thus there is just the eternal now of matter in space, but matter is dynamic
/ changing as it is vibrating space. We call this change time.
Basically modern physics evolved from Newton's particles moving around in
space and time, so then you had to add forces to connect these matter 'particles'.
In reality motion applies to space (as a wave motion) not to matter. Thus
we can now simplify the motion of matter in space and time to the wave motion
of space that causes matter and time (everything is interconnected
- which is obviously true when we think about it - but most people don't).
While the wave structure of matter is not well known, the connection between
time and motion (and matter) has been known since the ancient Greeks, as
Aristotle wrote;
"Movement, then, is also continuous in the way in which time is - indeed
time is either identical to movement or is some affection of it."
See: https://www.spaceandmotion.com/Physics-Time.htm
So when you say a player has space and time what you really mean is that
due to the motion of the players in that space of the field and the motion
of the ball, this has the effect of giving the player more 'time' - but
it is due to space and motion. (You need to read site and study physics
/ philosophy / metaphysics to understand why this is correct).
The importance of this is to get players to think more about their motion in space, and the motion of the ball in space - thus how to create space and 'time' around them.
Different Types of Motion
i) Repeating vs Non-Repeating Motion. A clock is basically
any form of repeating motion, e.g. a pendulum, a vibrating crystal, circular
motion like the orbit of the earth about the sun (what we call a year).
This opens up ways of timing moves in set plays by using the motion of players.
e.g. a player could run around in a circle as a timing signal to begin a
certain set play.
ii) Changing Velocity of Motion (Acceleration). This change
in velocity can either be a change in direction, or a change in speed (or
both). Generally in leading we use this to move into space where we DO NOT
want the ball as a way of creating space (by moving the defender with us),
then change our velocity to move into the open space. And my years in sport
tell me that most people are hopeless at leading, which requires the correct
timing such that the final lead is made when the player with the ball is
ready to pass it. Good vision, and thinking ahead are critical in this process.
This requires both intelligence and practice!
I will add more to this over time - hopefully this gives you a few things to ponder!
Geoff Haselhurst
Help Humanity
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
(Mohandas Gandhi)
"When forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence:
Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter. ... Physical objects are not in space, but these objects are spatially extended. In this way the concept 'empty space' loses its meaning. ... The particle can only appear as a limited region in space in which
the field strength or the energy density are particularly high. ...
The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres
of cultural life. ... We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without
a severe struggle; for the handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm
and the misguided. ...
Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive!" (Albert Einstein)
Our world is in great trouble due to human behaviour founded on myths and customs that are causing the destruction of Nature and climate change. We can now deduce the most simple science theory of reality - the wave structure of matter in space. By understanding how we and everything around us are interconnected
in Space we can then deduce solutions to the fundamental problems of human knowledge in physics, philosophy, metaphysics, theology, education, health, evolution and ecology, politics and society.
This is the profound new way of thinking that Einstein
realised, that we exist as spatially extended structures of the universe - the discrete and separate body an illusion. This simply confirms the
intuitions of the ancient philosophers and mystics.
Given the current censorship in physics / philosophy of science journals (based on the standard model of particle physics / big bang cosmology) the internet is the best hope for getting new knowledge
known to the world. But that depends on you, the people who care about science and society, realise the importance of truth and reality.
It is Easy to Help!
Just click on the Social Network links below, or copy a nice image or quote you like and share it. We have a wonderful collection of knowledge from the greatest minds in human history, so people will appreciate your contributions. In doing this you will help a new generation of scientists see that there is a simple sensible explanation of physical reality - the source of truth and wisdom, the only cure for the madness of man! Thanks! Geoff Haselhurst (Updated September, 2018)
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. (Max Planck, 1920)
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