The second age of coaching
13-Sep-2013
Is cricket becoming more like golf in the micro-managing of various aspects of the game and the proliferation of specialist coaches and managers? Jon Hotten would have you believe so. Writing for The Guardian, Hotten argues that cricket has become increasingly technical and complicated in how it is analysed and consumed, and with pay cheques going higher and higher, this will become an even more common practice in the years to come.
We are about to enter the second age of the coach. The professional game is reaching an apex of analysis as science reveals more of the physical realities of batting and bowling. It's not quite golf - yet - but it will be one day. As players become highly priced freelance contractors, why wouldn't they employ a personal coach to micro-manage each aspect of their game? And why would those coaches not become high-earning mini-celebs in their own right? Golf after all has its swing gurus and its putting specialists, its mind-managers and its conditioning champions.