So the end of season is upon us and for most practitioners working in domestic football it is time to rest and relax. Except we all know that will last for a day or two and then we will get itchy feet! So I thought I would put together a collection of resources for Continued Professional Development. Whilst CPD for Sport Scientists is not necessarily required legally as of yet, unlike other occupations around us, it is of course best practice for us all.

Sometimes CPD can be a used as somewhat of a fundraiser, which can make it particularly tough for students and graduates but there are plenty of free (or inexpensive) resources out there. This is by no means an exhaustive list and so please feel free to add other suggestions in the comments box, it would be great to develop this as an index of ongoing CPD sources!

Twitter

If you are reading this article there is a strong chance you found it on Twitter! Twitter is a brilliant source for discussions, articles and the latest research and if asked for advice I always recommend Sport Science students get themselves on Twitter (from a professional aspect, not just to tweet about what they’re watching on TV!)

However, it can be a doubled edged sword as there is also a lot of rubbish, self-professed gurus and people proclaiming their opinions as facts. So it must be viewed with a critical eye, much in the same way as a piece of research.

Most, if not all, of the following resources and people are available on Twitter so let’s get onto some examples.

Blogs

http://sportsscientists.com/

One of the original Sport Science blogs, the incredibly in-depth website from South African physiologists Dr Ross Tucker and Dr Jonathan Dugas. Some of their focus includes endurance events (e.g. marathons and Tour De France), controversies in the news, fatigue, hydration and early specialization. The various ‘featured series’ of blogs are particularly informative.

http://undergroundathletics.co.uk/

Simon Nainby puts together an awesome monthly summary of the latest articles from around the web in his ‘Coaching Matters’ blog. These include links across general coaching, skill acquisition, physical preparation, sport science and his monthly ‘Top 10’. Much like this article you can find some excellent sources of readily available CPD on there. Recently he also added an RSS feed of a ‘blog round up’ so you can follow the latest articles as they are posted.

http://ylmsportscience.blogspot.co.uk/ 

If you are on Twitter it is likely that you have already come across the little white men! Yann Le Meur turns some of the latest research into infographics with the help of his little white men to illustrate the findings. A great way to see an overview of new articles but as was recently pointed out, you should use Yann’s posters as a summary and for article alerts but do not forget to read the articles themselves for the full story.

http://complementarytraining.net/blog/

Probably one of the first blogs I came across and definitely an inspiration for my own writing. S&C Coach Mladen Jovanovic, now working at the Aspire Academy, has been releasing articles on a range of Sport Science and S&C topics since 2010. He has also developed an Annual Planner and Strength Card Builder.

http://www.mysportscience.com/

This new website from the renowned physiologist and nutritionist Asker Jeukendrup contains articles, the latest research, interviews and his own version of infographics. This site has only been up and running for a few months but already contains loads of information.

http://propelperform.com/top-10-articles-2014/

Propel Perform is led by Grant Jenkins and supported by a whole team of contributors. Interestingly not only do they provide articles for coaches and athletes, but also for parents. The link above is to a specific article which I think is a great place to start; their top ten articles for 2014 as ranked by Google .

http://www.mcmillanspeed.com/2015/05/a-coaches-guide-to-strength-development.html

Only an ‘occasional’ blogger by his own admission but recently Stuart McMillan has published an in-depth series on ‘a coaches’ guide to strength development’. He also provides a link to the World Athletics Centre website (http://worldathleticscenter.com/) which I am reliable informed by Gareth Sandford provides CPD ‘gold’ via Twitter and their blogs.

http://www.freelapusa.com/category/articles/

Although this website is ultimately selling the Freelap Timing System, it also contains a number of articles for CPD. Most recently there was a very popular roundtable discussion regarding Velocity Based Training with contributions from Carl Valle, Dan Baker, Mike Tuchsherer, Mladen Jovanovic and Bryan Mann.

http://www.oldbullfitness.com/blogs/old-bull-training

Aussie S&C Coach Jason Weber is currently Sport Science (High Performance) Manager at the Fremantle Football Club (AFL) and still finds time to write a blog! He aims to share some of his experiences from working in sport for over 20 years.

… And of course hopefully you would include our very own Sports Discovery blog on this list!

Podcasts

Podcasts have definitely taken off in the past year or two. They are free and you can subscribe so that any new releases are automatically downloaded to your computer. For me they provide a distraction on my commute to and from work and make this time actually useful! (Some of them also come with a blog too so could quite easily have ended up in the previous list)

Pacey Performance Podcast (Rob Pacey): http://www.paceyperformance.co.uk/category/podcast/

Rob’s most recent podcast featured Ian McKeown, Head of Athletic Development at Port Adelaide, who has also previously been interviewed on our Sports Discovery blog. You can read our article (http://sportsdiscovery.net/journal/2014/03/16/interview-ian-mckeown-phd/) and listen to the podcast here:

 

Guru Performance: We Do Science! (Laurent Bannock): http://guruperformance.com/institute/podcasts/

British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) Podcast & Blog: http://bjsm.bmj.com/site/podcasts/

EIS Podcasts (in particular the special podcast on Careers in Sport Science with Dr Steve Ingham and Dr Kevin Currell): http://www.eis2win.co.uk/Pages/inthezone_podcasts.aspx

Rugby Strength Coach Podcast (Keir Wenham-Flatt): http://rugbystrengthcoach.com/blog/

Science of Running (Steve Magness & Jon Marcus): http://www.scienceofrunning.com/search/label/podcast

Well Traveled Wellness: http://welltraveledwellness.com/

Ron McKeefery: http://ronmckeefery.com/category/episodes/

 

Video Sources

YouTube is obviously the number one place for video sources and contains a wealth of information for professional development. It often hosts videos from conferences or workshops, such as the recent Leicester City FC Hamstring and Nordboard workshop:

Or the MIT Sloan Square Sports Conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZaCcg20TuY

[On a side note another way to view/read highlights from conferences if you cannot attend is to use their hashtags on Twitter to search the tweets of those who are there, such as #ACSM15, #WCSF2015, #ISSNDiploma]

There are also YouTube channels that might be of use such as one of my favourites ‘Excel Tricks for Sports’, which was previously shared in David’s SD post (http://sportsdiscovery.net/journal/2015/03/13/sport-informatics-and--ucsia15/):

https://www.youtube.com/user/ExcelTricksforSports

Another source for video resources is TED Talks. In their own words: ‘TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less)’. On here you can find talks specific to relevant subjects within our roles such as sleep:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one_more_reason_to_get_a_good_night_s_sleep

Or you can find more general and inspiring topics related to the softer skills in your personal development, such as body language, leadership and motivation. Perhaps the 20 most popular TED Talks of all time is a good place to start:

http://www.ted.com/playlists/171/the_most_popular_talks_of_all

 

Finally, as I said this is just a starting point and without doubt there are valuable resources still out there and please feel free to add any suggestions in the comments below. Whilst conferences, workshops and other paid ventures without doubt have their worth, in today’s world of social media we have accessibility to an endless array of resources at our fingertips. Just remember to read it with a critical eye and form your own opinions and philosophies.

Jo Clubb