Reflecting upon the previous semester that has gone all too quickly, it appears that we have learnt much as to what it takes to become an expert pedagogue. But really, it is simply the tip of the iceberg. We have covered many areas, such as the teacher as a performer, planning a program and even produsing resources (not a typo there, just a flash new term!) and even attempted to learn from the very best coaches in the world. It has been a great experience to learn all these things and attempt to weave them into a product that is complete and makes sense mentally.
For me, the next step is practically applying these concepts and practices to the real world of coaching that I am entering. I have a previous understanding of areas such as periodisation and the coach as a performer, so by focusing on these 'strengths' in my coaching repertoire I can develop the other newer concepts of mine through the experience of coaching.
I feel that this unit has been completely worthwhile. The presentation of the unit has been different from others, in that the information is not laid out clearly and directly in front of you. It is there, you can understand it, but it requires some immediate thought and reflection and I feel that this locks the information into the mind more securely. I plan to even use this in my coaching of athletes, trying to guide them to an answer without providing it easily.
The focus on technology throughout the unit has also opened my eyes further. There are many resources out there to both produce and produse. It's exciting to now that the technology encompassed in an iPhone would have been only available to elite athletes a handful of years ago. Apps and cameras as well as accelerometers that can be used provide a wide data base of data just waiting to be explored.
One topic that has truly stuck with me is the idea of mentorship. Too often have I seen mentor programs being forced upon people and being a rigid, square process progressing nowhere but backwards. If it were up to me, and hey this is my blog so no-one else is going to say it, mentorship can be a highly beneficial idea if it is developed fluidly. By allowing people to be drawn magnetically together, whether it be young to old, experienced to inexperienced, new recruits to experienced veterans, this will allow a deeper level of understanding as the authority has been taken away, making the system voluntary and thus removing the chore from it. Then, it is up to both the mentor and the mentoree to make the most of the situation that they have found themselves in. One wonders when this mentor - mentoree relationship is established? What makes it happen? A simple smile and piece of advice or is it more respect based. Does the mentoree see the actions of the mentor and ask for a slice of that cake?
Whilst there is much that my inexperienced self it still to learn, I feel I have learnt more from Keith Lyons than I could have anybody else in this unit. I have worked with two brilliant coaches now, the first being Keith and the second being Cal Bruton, the basketball premiership player and coach and NBL hall of famer. If these two coaches were to coach a single team, they would be the most skilful on and off the field, court or surface of any kind, and one of the most respected in their league.
A pedagogue understands. And therefore, I understand.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Monday, 30 April 2012
Expert Periodisation
I ask you to think through your previous coaching history, whether it be of you coaching yourself or being coached as an athlete. Think back deeply, seriously, try and envisage who was the very best coach you've had. What did they do that separated them from the others? Or you from the rest? It really is worth asking what made others better than you, it's a great form of self review, as is looking at the reasoning why you were better than them. Can you be the expert pedagogue?
The expert pedagogue, somehow, is seemingly achieved through largely being negative when relating to performance. Upon review of one of the most successful coaches of all time, John Wooden, it was shown that the vast majority of his comments were short, to the point and negative. If this were the model that all coaches were to follow, I fear I would be a failure as I struggle to see the bad in people. The bad in people's performance, that I can sport a tad more easily.
I feel that the expert pedagogue has a larger influence off the field than on. It may simply be that the coach that can in still the best work ethic and qualities off the court can consistently get the best out of his players on it. It needs to be understood that what happens off the court is far more important than what happens on it. The expert pedagogue understands this.
Periodisation is also a difficult issue to cover. Being able to read an athlete, see where they are at and adapt the training plan to still peak at the same time is a dark art that few coaches of individual athletes have successfully mastered, let alone those of team sports. By understanding the athlete, the feel and the mood of the team, reading between the lines of the results and succeeding in gathering all this down into a few manipulations of a training plan the coach can be the difference when medals are on the line, and the athlete simply has to do the physical work.
A pedagogue understands.
The expert pedagogue, somehow, is seemingly achieved through largely being negative when relating to performance. Upon review of one of the most successful coaches of all time, John Wooden, it was shown that the vast majority of his comments were short, to the point and negative. If this were the model that all coaches were to follow, I fear I would be a failure as I struggle to see the bad in people. The bad in people's performance, that I can sport a tad more easily.
I feel that the expert pedagogue has a larger influence off the field than on. It may simply be that the coach that can in still the best work ethic and qualities off the court can consistently get the best out of his players on it. It needs to be understood that what happens off the court is far more important than what happens on it. The expert pedagogue understands this.
Periodisation is also a difficult issue to cover. Being able to read an athlete, see where they are at and adapt the training plan to still peak at the same time is a dark art that few coaches of individual athletes have successfully mastered, let alone those of team sports. By understanding the athlete, the feel and the mood of the team, reading between the lines of the results and succeeding in gathering all this down into a few manipulations of a training plan the coach can be the difference when medals are on the line, and the athlete simply has to do the physical work.
A pedagogue understands.
Friday, 13 April 2012
Reflection
Well, with many a week gone of SCP, Richmond currently just leading Melbourne on the telly and cloud and cold looming outside, I thought if those ingredients were placed in an oven they'd cook me a delicious reflection tart. So lets eat it, shall we?
One of the topics that we've covered is that of mentorship. My personal experience is that mentorship has been much more the titanic than Captain Jack Sparrow, that is, it's cold and it sank rather than fluid and fun. Upon reflection of why, it seems to be due to the way that experienced person A is told to match up with inexperienced person A. They are being directed to do so, and this removes half the reason of having a mentor doesn't it? The way I see it, a mentor relationship would be much more progressive and successful when people are drawn magnetically to each other either through personality, actions or experiences. These people have much more a bond than simply being directed by a coach or manager to pair up and get on with it. I do feel that mentor programs can be beneficial, the theory makes sense, but why not apply it in a more fluid program and let the mentor provide the answers the way he best believes he can.
Another I remember is the 'coach as a performer'. This is not in the sense of the coach providing a physical demonstration of what he would like his athletes to do, more that the coach has the ability to set an example and make the decisions that they feel are best for the team or individual. Sometimes, as is unfortunate in life and sport, what may be best for the team is not best for an individual. This may be one of the most difficult parts of coaching, as such passion surrounds sport and spirits can be broken easily. I had this happen to me, when in the grand final of a interstate basketball tournament I received zero minutes of court time. I had played in all the previous games, travelled around the state with the team and trained when required, as well as when not. I never returned to state level basketball after this, and this was due to a preference to play my basketball for fun rather than to push a career with a coach who wasn't aiding me. It was a strong experience, showing a young and inexperienced me just how a person in control can manipulate a situation.
A third to reflect on is the feed forward and feed back approach that Keith covered in lecture a few weeks back. It provided the idea that a coach can encourage focus in an athlete by preparing them for what was coming, that is, feed forward. Feed forward is best used when the athlete is required to focus on what is coming up, not what has been. Prior to an event, by encouraging the athlete to focus on their strengths and put a previous negative performance behind them, further focus and confidence can be developed. Feedback does definitely still have it's place in the sporting world, but lets save it for training and review sessions. That is where there is no immediate pressure to perform on the athlete, and they can consider what has happened and why without fear of it happening in the next half. Focus on the strengths, leave the negatives for the mid week sessions and watch performance improve. Well, here's hoping anyway.
The topic of this weeks lecture was Produser. Not the easiest word to get through Apple's autocorrect, but the idea behind it makes sense and there are many apple products involved with it. Produce. To create, build. develop something. Make it. Let others enjoy it. User. Using a product, whether it be a football or cocaine. Produser. Producing something by using a product at the same time. Past tense is produsage. Where produsing is most prevalent is through social media. Through producing a tweet, you are using twitter. By updating (read: producing) a status, you're using facebook. Who could forget Instagram, the new billion dollar app that facebook has just purchased. Think of this happening millions of times a day, and everybody's digital self is definitely a produser. What a concept!
A pedagogic understands.
One of the topics that we've covered is that of mentorship. My personal experience is that mentorship has been much more the titanic than Captain Jack Sparrow, that is, it's cold and it sank rather than fluid and fun. Upon reflection of why, it seems to be due to the way that experienced person A is told to match up with inexperienced person A. They are being directed to do so, and this removes half the reason of having a mentor doesn't it? The way I see it, a mentor relationship would be much more progressive and successful when people are drawn magnetically to each other either through personality, actions or experiences. These people have much more a bond than simply being directed by a coach or manager to pair up and get on with it. I do feel that mentor programs can be beneficial, the theory makes sense, but why not apply it in a more fluid program and let the mentor provide the answers the way he best believes he can.
Another I remember is the 'coach as a performer'. This is not in the sense of the coach providing a physical demonstration of what he would like his athletes to do, more that the coach has the ability to set an example and make the decisions that they feel are best for the team or individual. Sometimes, as is unfortunate in life and sport, what may be best for the team is not best for an individual. This may be one of the most difficult parts of coaching, as such passion surrounds sport and spirits can be broken easily. I had this happen to me, when in the grand final of a interstate basketball tournament I received zero minutes of court time. I had played in all the previous games, travelled around the state with the team and trained when required, as well as when not. I never returned to state level basketball after this, and this was due to a preference to play my basketball for fun rather than to push a career with a coach who wasn't aiding me. It was a strong experience, showing a young and inexperienced me just how a person in control can manipulate a situation.
A third to reflect on is the feed forward and feed back approach that Keith covered in lecture a few weeks back. It provided the idea that a coach can encourage focus in an athlete by preparing them for what was coming, that is, feed forward. Feed forward is best used when the athlete is required to focus on what is coming up, not what has been. Prior to an event, by encouraging the athlete to focus on their strengths and put a previous negative performance behind them, further focus and confidence can be developed. Feedback does definitely still have it's place in the sporting world, but lets save it for training and review sessions. That is where there is no immediate pressure to perform on the athlete, and they can consider what has happened and why without fear of it happening in the next half. Focus on the strengths, leave the negatives for the mid week sessions and watch performance improve. Well, here's hoping anyway.
The topic of this weeks lecture was Produser. Not the easiest word to get through Apple's autocorrect, but the idea behind it makes sense and there are many apple products involved with it. Produce. To create, build. develop something. Make it. Let others enjoy it. User. Using a product, whether it be a football or cocaine. Produser. Producing something by using a product at the same time. Past tense is produsage. Where produsing is most prevalent is through social media. Through producing a tweet, you are using twitter. By updating (read: producing) a status, you're using facebook. Who could forget Instagram, the new billion dollar app that facebook has just purchased. Think of this happening millions of times a day, and everybody's digital self is definitely a produser. What a concept!
A pedagogic understands.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Figuring You Out
Throughout many sporting travels, I have encountered hundreds if not thousands of team mates, competitors, coaches and officials. These people are all involved in sport, and for me that is a great thing. Sport is beautiful in the way that it combines people of all creeds and cultures together to be (at least for the period of the game) friends or enemies depending on the colour of their jersey, not that of their skin.
But what is their reason for being there? Why do they compete, train, hurt and sweat simply to do it all again next week?
In sport, one obvious reason is to win. People love to win as much as people love a winner. The competitive spirit almost bred into Australians is highly prevalent when any sporting contest is involved. Robbie McEwen, the Australian cyclist who has won the Green Jersey at the Tour de France displays this in his biography perfectly. If he was beaten in a classic race, such as the Paris Roubaix, he would stew for weeks as to why that happened. He was so confident in his own ability, he knew he was the fastest, and if he didn't win he wanted answers. He didn't care where he got them from, but most of the time it was from within himself.
But not everyone is there to win. How can an official win? A coach and a team or athlete can win, but what about the person who rakes the sand pit after the long jump? Why are they there? As an umpire, a win for me is to go completely unnoticed. I want the crowd to glance completely past me and focus on the players, as that is who they are there to see. They are the stars of the game, I'm there to help them do their job.
How does this relate to coaching? It's clear that not everyone cares to win, and some people may not have the competitive spirit of Robbie. As a coach, with up to 30 or more different personalities in your team, how do you figure out how to best reach them at a mental level to get the most out of them. For me, they key is to figure out what motivates them to be there. What desire are people fulfilling by partaking in their sport? For some it's fitness, others its social, others its to win and for others it's the pay packet at the end of it. If you can discover this nugget of wisdom and use it as a carrot at the front of the donkey, you may be able to take the athlete to the next level. Whatever type of level that is.
This not only applies to sport, but life in general. People's motivation to work is to make money to allow them to do things. It's a pretty simple concept which isn't difficult to apply. Give it a go, you may even coach yourself.
A pedagogic understands.
But what is their reason for being there? Why do they compete, train, hurt and sweat simply to do it all again next week?
In sport, one obvious reason is to win. People love to win as much as people love a winner. The competitive spirit almost bred into Australians is highly prevalent when any sporting contest is involved. Robbie McEwen, the Australian cyclist who has won the Green Jersey at the Tour de France displays this in his biography perfectly. If he was beaten in a classic race, such as the Paris Roubaix, he would stew for weeks as to why that happened. He was so confident in his own ability, he knew he was the fastest, and if he didn't win he wanted answers. He didn't care where he got them from, but most of the time it was from within himself.
But not everyone is there to win. How can an official win? A coach and a team or athlete can win, but what about the person who rakes the sand pit after the long jump? Why are they there? As an umpire, a win for me is to go completely unnoticed. I want the crowd to glance completely past me and focus on the players, as that is who they are there to see. They are the stars of the game, I'm there to help them do their job.
How does this relate to coaching? It's clear that not everyone cares to win, and some people may not have the competitive spirit of Robbie. As a coach, with up to 30 or more different personalities in your team, how do you figure out how to best reach them at a mental level to get the most out of them. For me, they key is to figure out what motivates them to be there. What desire are people fulfilling by partaking in their sport? For some it's fitness, others its social, others its to win and for others it's the pay packet at the end of it. If you can discover this nugget of wisdom and use it as a carrot at the front of the donkey, you may be able to take the athlete to the next level. Whatever type of level that is.
This not only applies to sport, but life in general. People's motivation to work is to make money to allow them to do things. It's a pretty simple concept which isn't difficult to apply. Give it a go, you may even coach yourself.
A pedagogic understands.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Digging the position out of positive
This just may be the most reflective blog I'll ever write. It's about a male university student, aged 20, who has only just discovered the real benefits of self review. 15 odd years of improvement opportunity wasted, and it's left him thinking how much better could he be? He's played numerous sports, both team and individual, and whilst he's often thought about his previous performance, he's only ever truly considered the negative ones, the games or efforts where things just didn't happen for him. When considering this, lets imagine it's a 50-50 split of good games to bad games. Thats a lot of opportunity lost for this poor soul to make himself a little richer. He's only just considering his position surrounding positive performances.
Whilst he listened to his coaches and absorbed any praise and positive acclamation he had worked his ass off to deserve, he simply left it at that. No further thought, lets just go again next weekend. If this had been a poorly executed game, it would have been harsh consideration for the remainder of the week, with chats and emails to try and find the root of this performance. But, whilst he was happy to simply soak praise and smile after a positive game, he really should have been giving the same depth of thought to a positive one. There is just as much there to learn, just in a slightly more sun drenched light. What did I do right? What was the process of this? Where was I better? How else can I apply this good work?
The fish that really slapped him with this lightbulb thought occurred on Monday the 26th of March, 2012, at approximately 11:00am. He was driving home after a frustrating skills session, where things weren't going well for him. He thought, ok, what was I doing that made this work for me? And then it twigged. It had been there all along, he'd never just grasped it. A simple trick that made the skill work, consistently and under pressure. Whilst this did occur after a negative training session, it should have happened two weeks ago after a positive game. Two weeks can be the difference between participating in this 20 year olds dream, or missing out due to a singular skill not working week after week.
He also now realises that this concept can be applied to all of life. Further, he realises some of his similarly aged counterparts may have thought of this long ago, but there isn't much he can do. Apart from try and dig the positives out from it, as this is considered a 'positive' performance.
He also realises that this can also applied to coaching. By planting the seed of this thought in others, it may just grow into a seedling form of revision tree. As it matures, the athlete can coach themselves, just with some further observation from the coach to lay the revision into a more concrete form. Not stone, but at least something malleable and able to be developed.
The 20 year old was me. The skill was the 'throw in' that the Boundary Umpire must do to restart play in an AFL game. The dream is running throughout the finals series. Here's hoping that this small realisation may be one of the tools in the grey matter named the brain that can lead me to it.
A pedagogic understands.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Principal Skinner
Principle Skinner, a character from the TV show named "The Simpsons', is in principle, a principal. Even if it was not in his name, with a reasonable knowledge of the characters of the show, any person would be able to place that he is indeed the principle of the school, Springfield Elementary. There is no distinct need to intimately understand the show to develop this nugget of understanding.
In principle, this can be applied to coaching. Whilst we may not know everything there is to know about the sport, with some knowledge of the key principals, we can apply the principals and become successful coaches. By understanding the roles of certain characters in the soap opera that is sport, we can understand what motivates them, and hence have a glimspe through the window of how to manipulate them. We are coaches, and surely we have a competitive streak, no?
How can this be applied to coaching then? Pick up a Sherrin, the official ball of Australian Rules Football, and quite an ingrained image of the sport itself. On no part of the ball does it say kick me here, or to pass me with your hands you have to punch me with one hand whilst cupping me with the other. But, with a reasonable understanding of the game, this knowledge has been achieved.
Further, the aim of the game is to kick the ball between two big sticks to achieve 6 points, and because AFL was created by such nice blokes even if you miss they'll still give you a singular point if you get it between the smaller sticks. By simply knowing this principle, and with some applied thought, a game plan can be developed Kick to W, leave X open, move through Y and lead to Z. Finish it off with A. Go. It may not be the strongest game plan such as the shifting zone the Geelong Cats played during 2009, but it is none the less a game plan and you, by instructing the team in the details of this, are indeed a coach.
Sure, knowledge of the rules is also essential. but as an umpire myself I have read the AFL rule book many a time. It's not that hard of a read, and in fact would be very useful for many players and coaches to read. It's not very thick, and nor is it entirely theoretical. It's fact. Whilst there may be some meaning to what is being displayed out in front of you, it is largely black and white.
This shows that by simply knowing some simple principles, some rules, and some concepts of the game, you too can become the principal of your school.
A pedagogic understands.
In principle, this can be applied to coaching. Whilst we may not know everything there is to know about the sport, with some knowledge of the key principals, we can apply the principals and become successful coaches. By understanding the roles of certain characters in the soap opera that is sport, we can understand what motivates them, and hence have a glimspe through the window of how to manipulate them. We are coaches, and surely we have a competitive streak, no?
How can this be applied to coaching then? Pick up a Sherrin, the official ball of Australian Rules Football, and quite an ingrained image of the sport itself. On no part of the ball does it say kick me here, or to pass me with your hands you have to punch me with one hand whilst cupping me with the other. But, with a reasonable understanding of the game, this knowledge has been achieved.
Further, the aim of the game is to kick the ball between two big sticks to achieve 6 points, and because AFL was created by such nice blokes even if you miss they'll still give you a singular point if you get it between the smaller sticks. By simply knowing this principle, and with some applied thought, a game plan can be developed Kick to W, leave X open, move through Y and lead to Z. Finish it off with A. Go. It may not be the strongest game plan such as the shifting zone the Geelong Cats played during 2009, but it is none the less a game plan and you, by instructing the team in the details of this, are indeed a coach.
Sure, knowledge of the rules is also essential. but as an umpire myself I have read the AFL rule book many a time. It's not that hard of a read, and in fact would be very useful for many players and coaches to read. It's not very thick, and nor is it entirely theoretical. It's fact. Whilst there may be some meaning to what is being displayed out in front of you, it is largely black and white.
This shows that by simply knowing some simple principles, some rules, and some concepts of the game, you too can become the principal of your school.
A pedagogic understands.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Coachology
The iPhone, to the current generation and many more to come, has become much more a tool for achieving many other things than a simple phone call and SMS. Even the iPhone (and now the iPad with it's latest release) have poked fun at their own abilities with "Siri". Go on, ask Siri "What is the meaning of life". Aside the expected response of "42", the more pressing answer is "Isn't there an app for that?".
Indeed. Considering that the app store has just crossed over 25 billion downloads, one can only imagine how many apps are actually available. And in amongst all the brightness 25 billion downloads, surely there are some the shine brighter than others. Angry Birds is one that immediately springs to mind. Who would have thought that sling-shotting birds at pigs would lead to soft toy, clothing and other real life apparel lines.
The application (excuse the pun) of this to coaching is vast. Where coaches previously required thousands of dollars of software programs to analyse the biomechanical movements, angles and speeds of a certain movement, much of this can be done on a handheld device. By doing this in front of the athlete, feedback is immediate and accurate. Figures are hard to argue. Comparisons of one piece of footage to another can be made, and the changes can be shown immediately.
All of this leads to more accurate coaching, and with proper application this leads to better results. Thanks to a device with a 99 cent app installed on an iThing. Win-win I say.
And the next best thing about this technology how easily it is shared. Upload it to facebook, twitter, thousands of interweb forums and the whole coaching group can benefit. Care must be taken, as athlete care must take priority. The subject may not want to be uploaded to the harsh critics of the internets, and shouldn't be subjected to such.
A pedagogic understands.
Indeed. Considering that the app store has just crossed over 25 billion downloads, one can only imagine how many apps are actually available. And in amongst all the brightness 25 billion downloads, surely there are some the shine brighter than others. Angry Birds is one that immediately springs to mind. Who would have thought that sling-shotting birds at pigs would lead to soft toy, clothing and other real life apparel lines.
The application (excuse the pun) of this to coaching is vast. Where coaches previously required thousands of dollars of software programs to analyse the biomechanical movements, angles and speeds of a certain movement, much of this can be done on a handheld device. By doing this in front of the athlete, feedback is immediate and accurate. Figures are hard to argue. Comparisons of one piece of footage to another can be made, and the changes can be shown immediately.
All of this leads to more accurate coaching, and with proper application this leads to better results. Thanks to a device with a 99 cent app installed on an iThing. Win-win I say.
And the next best thing about this technology how easily it is shared. Upload it to facebook, twitter, thousands of interweb forums and the whole coaching group can benefit. Care must be taken, as athlete care must take priority. The subject may not want to be uploaded to the harsh critics of the internets, and shouldn't be subjected to such.
A pedagogic understands.
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