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.
Monday, 30 April 2012
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.
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