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.