If a child left an athletic development program after a limited time, for arguments sake let's say only one year, what is the one thing you would like them to demonstrate?
For some coaches it might be a well developed hinge pattern, others it might be co-ordinated sprint mechanics.
Perhaps I have gone soft to say that mine would be for a child to say please, thank you and be kind and considerate to others?
In Simon Sinek's book, Start with Why he emphasises that people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
p2p coaching, aka Platform to Perform, was born out of my desire to give people what the Powerlifting platform has given me...the ONE thing that makes everything else easier or unnecessary.
By signing up to powerlifting competitions, it forces me to dial in my training, eating and sleeping habits because I am now accountable to something other than myself.
The 'platform' metaphorically (or in my case literally) represents the manifestation and accumulation of the necessary tools and resources to provide someone the opportunity to perform.
For younger 'athletes' (aka children), they might be given this platform in the form of them being taught how to appropriately interact with their peers...
1. because social skills aren't typically or explicitly taught by their curriculum (and in some cases their parents)
2. it's more likely that they'll become employees than elite athletes...so elements of respect, and being able to socially interact in a positive manner are more likely to be difference makers than whether they can squat, hinge, push and pull.
So if manners are the foundation of our performance pyramid, do this mean we abandon any plans on improving movement efficiency and sporting skill until we've got them nailed down?
Of course not!
As Kelvin Giles illustrated during episode 35 of the Platform to Perform Podcast, the pillars of performance support each other.
When it comes to the planning of sessions, I am also reminded of Kelvin Giles’ quote
“Where are your sets and reps for attitude?”
Often times (and I have definitely been guilty of this myself) it’s easy to think what you want to get out of a session from a technical, physical or tactical perspective… and totally neglect or plan for the opportunities for psychosocial development.
Are We Measuring the Wrong Metrics?
In the strength and conditioning, it’s easy to default to metrics such as jump height, sprint speed as key performance indicators, whilst in schools, where physical education is concerned, majority of the time grades are done on the basis of how good a child is at sport.
I am certainly not suggesting we get away from physical metrics, nor am I insinuating that overworked teachers and coaches should be given yet another initiative to blindly follow…what I am saying is when you take a reductionist approach to assessing, don’t be surprised when all the children you coach care about is a number.
Here are some other things I believe are worth keeping a marker on:
How does the child interact with others in the session/lesson (in particular, children who the child in question perceives to be of lesser ability, not in that child’s social circle, or just ‘different’ to them)?
How does the child cope with responsibility (do they lament any requests to help collect the equipment? Can they step into a leadership role (naturally or when asked)?
Are you actively planning for how to teach the attitudes and behaviours you wish to see…or will you deal with incidents as they arise?
Manners Over Mechanics: The 80:20 Rule
In my Platform to Perform Podcast with Dan John, he struck upon two thoughts which I believe are golden to behaviour management, session reflection and coaching children.
Firstly:
Write down everything that went wrong
Make a plan to actively avoid the things that went wrong
If the above 2 instructions are too time consuming, revert back to Gary Keller’s focusing question, in The ONE Thing, “what is the ONE thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else becomes easier or unnecessary?”
In Dan John’s 40 Year’s with a Whistle, Dan provides his unique critique of one of the many things that go wrong when kids specialise in their sport too early, whilst also neatly summing up one of my ‘high frequency’, high levels of disruption incidents that occurs when coaching kids:
“The problem with early specialisation is that adults make all the decisions…I worry that kids will never learn the art of negotiation”-Dan John, 40 Years with a Whistle
One of the biggest time savers as a coach is teaching kids’ negotiation skills for when they feel a rule has been broken. Without explicitly teaching this, you run the risk of
Children disengaging from the game
Children taking rules into their own hands (if this person is allowed to break that rule, I’m going to break this one)
Kid temporarily abandoning the game to seek the coach out to confirm the rules (and if any of you reading this have had the joys of selecting teams for drills, games or activities, if there’s one thing that *reeks of injustice…it is one team having to play with fewer players than the other team
*Well done to those of you who realised this was me being sarcastic and hyperbolic in the same sentence.
In all 3 scenarios, the level of disruption to the session is high, and kids soon become easily influenced by how the more dominant personality of the group behave.
The Holy Grail of Teaching and Coaching
Unfortunately, if you think it is sufficient to simply explain the rules and what happens when they are broken, you are probably mistaken.
Something I was shown during my teacher training year is what I will refer to as the holy grail of coaching…but for the few times this is not possible (again, more sarcasm from me, I do apologise), it is helps to have a system in place to deal with misdemeanours
Let the System Take the Strain
In transitioning from coaching to teaching, one thing that struck me as a turning of the tide, was that most kids didn’t already know:
The boundaries of the game (what is out of bounds)
How is play resumed after an infringement
What constitutes a foul
Enter what the P.E Specialist, aka Ben Landers, calls the Conflict Corner.
This can easily be adapted to suit the age of the athletes you work with.
If you would prefer to see a video of this see then skip this section and watch this video here.
The athlete/pupil who has an issue with the ‘offending’ person calls them to the conflict corner (this can be a poster stuck on a gym wall)
If the person who has been asked does not go then the teacher/coach may intervene
Once both kids are in the conflict the corner, both children will have their hands facing palms up in in front of them (when things get heated our natural reaction is to ball up our fists, so keeping our palms facing up can help mitigate any rising levels of frustration. This in itself is a life lesson I believe is worth sharing with kids)
Crucially, the person who has called the offending party over will calmly explain their issue to this person whilst looking at them. During this time the offending party will listen respectfully, and resist the urge to interrupt or ‘counter’ (when the counters happen prematurely it is a clear sign a child is listening to talk, rather than respecting the other child’s opinion)
Side note, often when I have used this technique with children their instinct is to explain the issue whilst looking at me, rather than the person who has broken the rule. As the coach you are not judge and jury here (at least not yet anyway)
When introducing this to kids for the first time, I typically explain that the ‘accuser’ will explain all of their grievances first, and then announce to the accused that they have said all they need/want to say. This tends to minimise the chances of the disagreement getting hijacked
If pupils cannot agree on the recommended course of action, then …and only then, will the issue be ‘escalated’ to warrant your attention as a teacher/coach
In Conclusion
Although values can often conjure up images of buzzwords, cliches, and vague words that mean different things to different people, coming up with an agreed set of acceptable and expected behaviours is a fantastic foundation for holistic athletic development.
Whether it’s schools or sports clubs, all successful organisations, have one clear voice and one message of ‘this is how we do things here.’ Bringing any mediation type conversation back to core values, and how behaviours represent (or indeed misrepresent) those values can go a long way to ensuring consistency of one clear voice and message between adults in the coaching set up and young kids benefiting from said set up.
Whether it’s sport, P.E or strength and conditioning, every lesson and session provides an opportunity to develop the Jimmy’s and Joes not the Xs and Os. Whether it’s technique, test scores, or vertical jump tests, before you focus on improving your cohorts’ numbers…let’s not forget to also develop the people behind those numbers.
Key Take Homes
Successful athletic development should be holistic in nature, with each session having a focus on physical, psychosocial, technical and tactical
Explicitly teaching and reteaching conflict resolution will be one your most valuable investments when it comes to teaching youth athletes and children to respect the rules of the game and each other
Every lesson or session will offer unique moments to help the kids you work with develop their people skills. Consistently teaching, implementing,and re-teaching conflict resolution strategies, such as the conflict corner, will help develop negotiation and communication in youth athletes that will benefit them far beyond the time frame of your sessions.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Todd Davidson is a UKSCA accredited strength and conditioning coach who has gained experience with Olympic, Paralympic and professional athletes. Todd's passion for improving the physical literacy of the next generation, and athleticism within adults, comes from his belief that strength and conditioning should not be a service that is solely reserved for the sporting elite. If you would like discuss anything in the content presented, or have any questions relating to your own performance goals, please get in touch.