Thursday, December 28, 2006
@9:31 PM
Okay blog again! My senior coaches has observe my kayaking skill need to improved.
Heres abt my 2star coaching pre assesment!
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Hi Bernard,Take some time to digest this. Please get your Lesson Plan ready alright?
2 Star course debrief
Preparing the class -
course admin
Attendance - check who sign and head count Ensure there is no absentee, if there is, identify them. This arise due to a pax who claims he was present and did not sign on attendance. You raised up that he cancelled the absent and signed, but after we asked if he was present, you say he was. Since he was, then what's the issue? As long as you know what's going on, that's the important thing, especially if you take course alone.
Equipment preparation- Ensure participants do not obstruct other users.Ensure YOU don't obstruct others as well. You placed your kayak horizontally across one of the kayak racks, but do note that the tip of the bow and stern of your dancer actually pose an obstacle to your participants and others who are still in the process of carrying kayaks out. This is a not a major coaching issue, but rather consider a trainer's SOP.
Lauching
As mentioned there's a big space for launching, so don't have your participants launch all at the same time side by side. Especially during monsoon season! If a wave crashes down, you're asking for trouble. Tell them to either spread out or you assign a few to launch at a time. As 2 Star, they can control when they go, so if you're alone, just tell them to paddle slightly away from the beach and keep close to where the rest are launching. As long as they don't wander around, you can assist launching before gathering everyone later.
Expedition
Markers Briefing (for expedition)
You've assigned markers to assist you and briefed the participants that they are to paddle within the markers (diamond shape). However, you did not brief the markers what to do. This is important, if you want participants to help you, be sure what you want, tell them what you expect them to do and monitor if they can carry out the duties well. As a L2 coach-to-be, you must be able to guide participants into better kayakers before you can guide others to be a better trainer. It's not as simple as "I ask you to do this, you just do". The fact is that I saw a marker going further and further, therefore went to him and asked if he know what to do and he said: "I don't know". Imagine yourself in their shoe, if we ask you to do something without giving you guidance, you won't know how to do.
Rafting
Rafting after crossing of the mini channel may not be necessary if we are against the drift. What you can do is slow down and close up the expedition. It was not a bad idea to request your pax anchor the raft (normally I don't see a need to, should train to do without anchor so you won't rely on it), but do note the dangers that they expose their hands and shoulders to when they're lazy. Should need be, just let the anchor go. They won't die drifting. Should your distance be kept close, they can form a raft fast and take a short break before turning back. This short period would not have drifted them too far. Normally we rest longer after an hour of paddling, so for such short distances, just rest for a sip of water and go.
Distance of Expedition
I'm glad during the briefing you mentioned that the distance of the expe leader and last man should not be too far, but you have not made enough attempts to have a look if they are catching up well. Near the turning point at Commando, we have a kayak that is very far away, therefore, this led to alot of time wasted to wait for the last kayak to form raft and taking break. Learn to look back more often and slow down the group so that those at the back catch up. The further you go, the lower the morale of the last person, you'll have a problem continuing the expedition safely.
Route of travel (Changi Sailing Club)
There are many 'paths' to take, it all depends on the group size, situation and environment. Therefore, I've said that you need to work on your situation and environmental awareness. There isn't right or wrong, but as long as safety is not compromised.
Beaching
You told them to beach up, knowing they did not get the chance to practice on day 1 and you did not brief them on day 2 before they head for shore. This actually may become messy when you have so many kayaks beaching up without knowledge of how to manage their own kayaks and it's the monsoon season.
Afternoon lesson & Third day
We've decided to take over because you seem to still lack abit of things.
Here are a few things we hope you can work on:
Lesson Plan
Plan your lesson before hand. At least for the first few courses. It had been proven useful for most coaches and it's what gives you confidence to coach alone. Most assessors want to see this. Plan according to how you can make the lesson flow smoothly (ie. which skill should come first and which last will matter).
We stopped you on day 2 when your lesson was disrupted as it was planned to be taught at sea front, but due to the conditions, you made the right choice to go to the creek, however, your lesson was quite a mess. You're not sure where to proceed from there. Having a lesson plan is a guide, you have to adjust according to environment and weather conditions. Please, don't use 'feeling' to teach. Your pax will not benefit. However, try to stick to the plan as much as possible. The purpose of a lesson plan is for you to plan and follow, not plan to show us only.
Keywords used
As I mentioned, use general tems such as safety loop, trunk, blade, 3Bs, edging, knee lift, box shape, etc. Try not to use your own terms as it may confuse the participants when they go to 3 Star. Let them get use to the terms so when they go 3 Star, they won't be lost.
Keypoints
We have asked you what are the keypoints for a certain skill and you manage to tell us the simple keypoints you wish to see. It shows your improvement in identifying the keypoints and criterias for certain skills.
Therefore, work on these keypoints and tell the participants to look out for it. Remember, not more than 3 points of improvement at one time for each skill.
Observations & Time Management
You know what are the concerns for each skill, but you're not actively observing your participants and correcting them on the spot.
The three types of learning: Visual, Audio and Kinesthetic, have to be satisfied.
So perform without talking, talk without moving and to allow a short period to practice.
During the practice, correct them one by one. After seeing everyone's quite alright, gather, summarize and if there's a need to improve, break up and try again. Correct until they're able to give you what you want, then gather, final summary and move on to next skill.
If you're able to complete everything in 2 days, 3rd day is a bonus for revision. The above points are to help you manage your time. I realised the pace you're taking is abit slow, thus either you can't complete the syallbus or you'll rush through on 3rd day. Plan you lesson with timing for yourself.
Regards,
Wil-son
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I shall do it better next 2star coz.. Noticed that i still quite weak in certain component.
To be a good and experiece coach is not ez, but never give up i will improve as fast as i could.
Fortunate to meet a grp of my senior coach.
Frm Bernard
(Coz sign: Dancer!)
