The Poison of Skipping Class
Just wanted to get a quick note out on that bane of all coaches of everything, everywhere: people skipping class. After a long absence, it's recently been rearing it's ugly head again. Of course, as coaches - particularly martial arts coaches - we dream that our students will feel this internal obligation to attend their classes. In my experience, that happens for the rare few, but honestly, we can't expect that from most of our students. It's on us as coaches to make our classes engaging and interesting. I certainly try, and I can certainly do better...
But it seems like there are times when a chunk of folks suddenly stop showing up. This then causes a bit of a death spiral - the fewer people that show up to class, the less enjoyable classes are for the folks that do show up... so maybe they stop showing up, too. And when you don't have many people in your class to start with, it can be harder to attract new students. Never mind how frustrating it is when you plan your class to help out brown belt X or yellow belt Y, and they don't show up...
So: Coaches - how do you deal with this? Any tips on heading it off (other than "be better")?
Students - What causes you to skip class? How can we keep you engaged?
My students - Any specific feedback you have?
Labels:
Coaching,
Missing Class
4 comments:
Kano's secret to leraning judo was "never miss class".
I've heard that the first step in the path to power is, "show up."
This applies to students and teachers. If one guy shows up, you've both got to do your best to improve the other guys judo. If no one shows up, spend that time making yourself better. Persistance is how I approach that dilemma
I'd rather have small class so I get more instruction but repetition is so important and unlike other sports you have have uke too
Ward, whenever you come to class and there are few other students, then take advantage of the more specialized training.
If a large number of students show up for class, then take advantage of having multiple training partners.
In other words, you make the best of what you have got to work with.:)
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