Monday, January 5, 2009
Adult Hockey Lessons near Boston, Massachusetts
Learning how to skate better will help make the game of hockey more fun for you. Sign up today for a semiprivate lesson or a clinic where you can learn to use your edges, work on your crossovers and develop proper hockey posture. Contact Strong Dynamics for a hockey lesson!
The Next Step for Learning Hockey
The next step for a child to learn is for HIM to realize that he needs to take in more information in order to execute correctly... and he will. He wants to improve and that motivation will drive him to develop cognitively and help him learn how to attend to key elements of the instruction and help him in his attempts to imitate complex maneuvers. Also, he will soon begin to see that he can perform maneuvers that many of his peers continue to struggle with. That will motivate him.
I have the picture in my mind of a boy who came to our clinic who plays prep school hockey at a very high level. He is a very accomplished skater. We demonstrated some maneuvers that even he, at his level, could not do. His face lit up with a big grin as if to say, "Cool, something new and challenging!" Without prompting he became the coach's "shadow" as he followed awkwardly behind, attempting to copy every move and establish in his head the key features that he needed to attend to in order to master the complex maneuvers. He didn't wait for someone to yell at him and correct him. He jumped into the lesson like a hungry wolf thirsty for the knowledge. And in very short order he mastered a complex maneuver he had never done before.
I have the picture in my mind of a boy who came to our clinic who plays prep school hockey at a very high level. He is a very accomplished skater. We demonstrated some maneuvers that even he, at his level, could not do. His face lit up with a big grin as if to say, "Cool, something new and challenging!" Without prompting he became the coach's "shadow" as he followed awkwardly behind, attempting to copy every move and establish in his head the key features that he needed to attend to in order to master the complex maneuvers. He didn't wait for someone to yell at him and correct him. He jumped into the lesson like a hungry wolf thirsty for the knowledge. And in very short order he mastered a complex maneuver he had never done before.
Learning How to Learn, Coaching Children in Ice Hockey
I worry that some parents may feel frustrated to see the children struggle with learning. I feel frustrated too. It is hard for me to hold back from jumping in to rescue the students and correct every little movement. I purposely watch, give very few corrections and spend some of my time on the ice studying the children to understand more about how they learn. This is great information for me to carry forward to private lessons.
I want the children to be challenged and develop cognitively in the clinics. A huge part of that is for the children to learn to attend to the coaches in a way that they learn to see for themselves what they have to do and to take the responsibility of being independent learners. I feel in our culture we love our kids so much and do so much for that that we inadvertently sabotage their learning by doing their homework for them. Watching our children struggle requires a ton of patience on the part of the coaches and parents but I am 100% convinced that this educational learning model is better for the children than the "professional hockey coaching" model that attempts to cram skills into kids who are not quite ready or not receptive to the learning at a particular moment.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. It is interesting to see how the children of various developmental levels interpret our instruction as they take their first stabs at trying something they have never done before. I set the bar high but I don't expect perfection, ever... only effort and moving in the right direction. It is critical for parents to understand that these very fundamental first awkward steps, done on their own, are the building blocks to creating a strong, reliable student of hockey who will later reach a much higher level for having worked through the struggle at the start.
Once they have learned to learn, learned to deal with frustration, learned to be brave and attempt new things and learned that failure is not a dirty word, they will learn to skate well and play hockey.
My family used to take karate lessons and one instructor told us that it was when we were struggling and feeling the most frustrated and could see the least gain, that we were actually learning the most. I learned I had to persevere through those frustrating times to come out the other side and be able to appreciate the gains.
I hope you will come to see that your child is learning when he struggles with drills that challenge his body and his mind. All of the homework is of his own creation. All of the work is his. He can and should feel very proud of that.
I want the children to be challenged and develop cognitively in the clinics. A huge part of that is for the children to learn to attend to the coaches in a way that they learn to see for themselves what they have to do and to take the responsibility of being independent learners. I feel in our culture we love our kids so much and do so much for that that we inadvertently sabotage their learning by doing their homework for them. Watching our children struggle requires a ton of patience on the part of the coaches and parents but I am 100% convinced that this educational learning model is better for the children than the "professional hockey coaching" model that attempts to cram skills into kids who are not quite ready or not receptive to the learning at a particular moment.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. It is interesting to see how the children of various developmental levels interpret our instruction as they take their first stabs at trying something they have never done before. I set the bar high but I don't expect perfection, ever... only effort and moving in the right direction. It is critical for parents to understand that these very fundamental first awkward steps, done on their own, are the building blocks to creating a strong, reliable student of hockey who will later reach a much higher level for having worked through the struggle at the start.
Once they have learned to learn, learned to deal with frustration, learned to be brave and attempt new things and learned that failure is not a dirty word, they will learn to skate well and play hockey.
My family used to take karate lessons and one instructor told us that it was when we were struggling and feeling the most frustrated and could see the least gain, that we were actually learning the most. I learned I had to persevere through those frustrating times to come out the other side and be able to appreciate the gains.
I hope you will come to see that your child is learning when he struggles with drills that challenge his body and his mind. All of the homework is of his own creation. All of the work is his. He can and should feel very proud of that.
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