Most people intuitively understand that the path to attaining competence in movement is a long and winding road.
While there will always be naturally gifted and talented individuals that seem to make it look easy, it’s important to not let those outliers distract or discourage you from the lifelong development of your physical, mental and emotional capabilities.
The same concept applies to any skill or craft that can be pursued, be it pottery, singing, woodworking, marketing, programming… there will always be more to learn and new ways to cultivate new skills in whatever your passion or profession may be.
Coaching is no exception.
Many of us who take up the mantle of coach, teacher, instructor, trainer, etc… do so because we have an intrinsic passion for the thing we teach. When we decide to share our experience and insight with other people, one of the first things we often run into is the difficulty of communicating effectively to the many different students we encounter.
This is especially difficult when a student/client has a learning style that is fundamentally different from how we personally learn and communicate.
The harsh truth is that we coaches and teachers, well intentioned as we may be, can do a lot of damage to our students through our inability to effectively communicate. It’s so easy to distract, misdirect, overwhelm or confuse a person who’s looking to us for guidance, and very often they will end up blaming themselves for being unable to progress, rather than holding us accountable.
So what does it mean to coach someone effectively? How can deepening our understanding of the human mind and body vastly improve our own success and that of our students and athletes?
We’ve asked our good friend Nick Winkelman, the head of athletic performance & science for the Irish Rugby Football Union, to come on the podcast to share his incredible insights around coaching, communication, psychology, and motor learning.
By closely examining the quality and timing of WHAT we say to our athletes, adapting to their personal communication and learning styles, and directing their attention to the right things at the right time, we can drastically reduce the confusion, frustration and overwhelm that is experienced by us and our students alike.
So check out the episode and share your thoughts in the comments below. If you know of any teachers, coaches, trainers or facilitators who could benefit from what Nick has to share, feel free to send them this way!
You can also check out Nick’s book that is referenced throughout this episode: The Language of Coaching
Best of all, Nick will be joining us as a guest speaker for the Embodied Movement Summit starting this week July 16th through the 20th. If you want to join in on lectures from him and other experts in movement, mindfulness, community and nature connection practices, hit the link below to register for free!
[Reconnect to the Joy of Movement | Embodied Movement Summit 2020]
