All you do to me is talk talk
Talk
talk talk talk
All you do to me is talk talk
Talk talk talk talk
All you do to me is talk talk
– Mark Hollis / E Hollis

Going through my pile of email this morning I came across a new “Kayak Essentials” class outline from one regional paddling group. The class runs 4 days of classes each are 3 hours. According to the description this Essentials class is about 50% class room and 50% water. 50% Classroom? That sure seems like a lot to me.

I know I’m not the only coach out there who’s run a bit of a crusade over the last couple years about cutting down on the “talk time”. Especially when it comes to these sorts of introductory classes. It’s my impression that the love of sharing what you know sometimes overtakes the primary goal of teaching others. Coaches simply witter on too much.

Now of course this criticism is subject dependant. There are advanced skills that are served well by a bit of focused classroom time. Navigation comes right to mind. But again, in kayaking these sorts of pencil and protractor ideas are few and far between. Most of what students need to know they will learn with a paddle rather than a pencil in their hands. Frankly you should know you talk too much when your students let out an audible sigh of relief when you say, “Let’s get our boats.”

Which takes me back to this outline. It’s winter and pool time is hard to come by. In fact some of us would rather sit around in a little room and talk about kayaking than sit home and watch re-runs of Desperate Housewives. I can see the temptation to create a lot of classroom time. For many reasons you could also be tempted to pad out the course. It’s easy to build a list of all things you could talk about. In fact it’s probably addictive as well. But I suggest if you feel the need to pad, it should be with in water experience, not more classroom.

I’m certainly no expert and yet I do recognize that a person’s ability to retain information is increased when that information is pertinent to what they are doing or experiencing at that moment. Sometimes students need to simply do it. You can lecture all day about bracing but why? You can’t lecture muscle memory. It won’t work. You can lecture and diagram T-rescues and yet you’ll start all over again once you are actually on the water. Students need to “feel” these things in a liquid environment. Once they have an experience to build on, then video and lectures can have value because they now understand in real terms what you’re on about. They can put it in context and not simply feel lost.

Students will have plenty of time for bookish learning. They will read, watch videos and browse the web on their own time in an atmosphere that is best for them. Having a real coach working with them is a special experience and to my mind should not be wasted on things they can do on their own time any more than necessary. While there are certainly things we need to talk about, the real benefits of having a coach right there with you is hands on.

Of course I’m tempted to witter on myself since this is a subject I feel fairly strongly about. Coaches myself included, need to fight the urge to lecture too much. We’ve learned so much and we want to share it. We are driven by good intentions. Still, we have to realize the urge to talk too much. We don’t want to put ourselves in the position of Moses reading out commandments to students who’d rather be dancing around the golden calves. When I think of coaching I’m always drawn back my experiences of teaching children to ride a bike. You place your hands lightly and are always ready to let go. You can tell them how to peddle, but you can’t teach them to ride.

Certainly go ahead and lecture where appropriate. I’m all for chalkboards, video clips and diagrams. Still though I think they can easily become traps as well. As coaches we can lean on them in a way that may limit our own growth. We need experience too. 50% classroom may be just fine, but if I put myself in the students place, I couldn’t help thinking I’d find myself spending too much time trying to get my pencil to stick in the ceiling tiles.

What do you think?

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