Gavin to receive Woodward's elite training

Carbo · Post by **Carbo** » 08 Nov 2007, 00:38

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/london2012/ ... 08,00.html

Poncey · Post by **Poncey** » 08 Nov 2007, 05:05

I'm unsure whether this is good, or bad.

Old bones Ian · Post by **Old bones Ian** » 08 Nov 2007, 12:21

He was hardly a success at Southampton when he was there.
Can't see it being any different with boxers.

As a rugby coach you can't really fault him, but he has a very high opinion of his skills transfering to all other sports.

Captain Hook · Post by **Captain Hook** » 08 Nov 2007, 12:46

It's a bad thing, he'll teach them to box with no style then decide they are not good enough and want Amir, Audley and past amateur stars to come back and try and rescue him from the shite.... a la England rugby :)

J · Post by J » 08 Nov 2007, 13:17

dont think his input will be boxing related as such more on left of field training techniques.

Matt W · Post by **Matt W** » 08 Nov 2007, 13:27

Old bones Ian wrote:He was hardly a success at Southampton when he was there.
Can't see it being any different with boxers.

As a rugby coach you can't really fault him, but he has a very high opinion of his skills transfering to all other sports.

There seems to be a bit of a misconception about what coaching entails at this level. Without getting too anal about it Woodward managed the whole coaching setup with England, leaving nothing to chance (his autobiography gives a great insight into this). He therefore wasn't the hands-on 'coach'.

It takes a long time to get a successful system in place and my guess with Southampton is that a) they were looking for him to instantly prove himself and b) this will have been compounded by the fact that there will have been those that would have been looking to pounce on any mistake because 'what does he know about football?'

There are so many things that go into making a successful athlete that no one person can be a specialist at everything. I've no doubt that Woodward's expertise, coupled with the boxing expertise he's working with, can bear great dividends if egos, tradition etc don't get in the way.

Matt W · Post by **Matt W** » 08 Nov 2007, 13:31

On a related point Woodward never read rugby coaching manuals and in fact a lot of hhis methods were influenced by his experiences in business. Too many people in sport are scared to try anything different and stick to the same old same old. I think boxing has been guilty of this, for example in the attitude of some towards sports science.

SticknMove · Post by **SticknMove** » 08 Nov 2007, 13:37

That is all well and good Matt, but Gavin has just come away with a gold medal at the World Champs without him. So the team around him must already be doing something right that doesn't need fixing.

A different story if the lad wasn't achieving what might be expected of him. Then a fresh approach may well be in order in that instance. A gold and 2 bronzes is the best haul for team England ever. I fail to see what he could possibly add at this stage.

Matt W · Post by **Matt W** » 08 Nov 2007, 15:02

In sport you must constantly look to improve. What was good enough this year may not be good enough in the Olympics. His opponents will be looking to improve and he has to do the same.

It's very doubtful that they would look to take apart a formula that works. Rather they would be looking to build upon it.

TerribleTerry · Post by **TerribleTerry** » 08 Nov 2007, 15:14

Matt W wrote:In sport you must constantly look to improve. What was good enough this year may not be good enough in the Olympics. His opponents will be looking to improve and he has to do the same.

It's very doubtful that they would look to take apart a formula that works. Rather they would be looking to build upon it.

I understand the need to constantly improve in sport but Woodward is going to bring very little to what Frankie has achieved with long, long years of hard work with his coaches Tom and Steve at Hall Green ABC.

Many on here wouldnt have heard of Gavin prior to the recent world championship success and I am sure Woodward is no different.

As the saying goes, Frankie Gavin is an overnight success story that has been years in the making..

SticknMove · Post by **SticknMove** » 08 Nov 2007, 15:45

TerribleTerry wrote:
Matt W wrote:In sport you must constantly look to improve. What was good enough this year may not be good enough in the Olympics. His opponents will be looking to improve and he has to do the same.

It's very doubtful that they would look to take apart a formula that works. Rather they would be looking to build upon it.
I understand the need to constantly improve in sport but Woodward is going to bring very little to what Frankie has achieved with long, long years of hard work with his coaches Tom and Steve at Hall Green ABC.

Many on here wouldnt have heard of Gavin prior to the recent world championship success and I am sure Woodward is no different.

As the saying goes, Frankie Gavin is an overnight success story that has been years in the making..

Exactly TT.

Gavin has obviously evolved into very smart operator at this level within the international amateur format. It doesn't happen overnight for most boxers. I remember him getting comprehensively beaten by the seasoned Kindelan when he was just virtually out of the juniors. He has used that experience and learned how to build on it by listening and implementing a style that his team at club/squad level have instilled.

I just can not see what Woodward offers or how he can be utilised.

scouseheavy · Post by **scouseheavy** » 09 Nov 2007, 05:51

i wouldnt read into this too much. do you really think terry edwards would let somebody else take over at this point? he doesnt even let the lads' original club coaches stay involved. too much glory to be grabbed next year for this to happen IMO

Matt W · Post by **Matt W** » 09 Nov 2007, 06:23

I understand the cynicism towards this, but I just happen to think that within sport in this country we are far too afraid to embrace new and different ideas.

How can we presume he can't help when we don't know what support is being offered? It may be sports psychology, which is vastly underused here and tends not to be understood well by many coaches. Support could be in relation to weight making, and we know that the way many fighters make weight can be very detrimentall to performance.

I just think that this could help him. If not, fine, bin it. But that doesn't mean new things shouldn't be tried.

Captain Hook · Post by **Captain Hook** » 10 Nov 2007, 11:45

I don't see what Woodward could bring to him.....he won a world cup with England but they were dull and lifeless, I can imagine him turning Gavin into a robot....

Matt W · Post by **Matt W** » 10 Nov 2007, 18:46

Captain Hook wrote:I don't see what Woodward could bring to him.....he won a world cup with England but they were dull and lifeless, I can imagine him turning Gavin into a robot....

Twat.

You're only jealous cos you're Welsh.