Delivering Value to All you teach: Passive Progression

A young fool to think I’m wise enough to talk about things I’ve only been doing for 7 years, but growth comes from experience, and education comes from those with said experience.

I may be new to the scene of strength and conditioning in the scheme of all things, but in my young life I have had the beautiful opportunity to be immersed in 7 years of coaching responsibilities . From a rugby coach for young men at the high school level in both Canada and New Zealand to hockey strength coach and a Men’s university strength coach, I’ve had the very fortunate opportunity to live and learn a lot through the teaching of sport. Along the way I’ve learnt a many lessons on how to approach providing value to the ones I’m coaching. From learning how to conduct myself, when to use tone and how to apply it, to catering to the audience i’m conveying information to. All of which has been learnt through trial and failure, a lot of failure I must add. Lets not overlook the long road I have ahead. I am beyond young in the light of coaching experience and have quite the way to go. One thing however I feel is amply important in this day and age is taking insight from young coaches and athletes. In an age where information is easily transmissible from source to sink, those possessing the most information are actually the youth. The days of old dogs and their old tricks should be celebrated, but the new generation possess the information that will be handed down, so it’s important to listen in on what us young bucks have to say.

Here‘s how I see providing value to those we teach. Whether it be in academics or sport, I have found the best way to instil lasting change is through what I refer to as passive progression. The idea of building fundamental skills and developing athletes and students via the appropriate mechanics or pathways regardless of their intention in the field of study or sport. Passive progresion is essentially a take on reinventing conventional teaching. Conventionally we aim to provide the appropriate information our students need to succeed in their future. Teaching them the mechanics of sport and the fundamentals of reading. All useful components of strategized learning. However, in our lifetime a sharp shift has occurred towards two detrimental pathways. One being complacency, in the form of teaching generic movements/teachings. The second being lack of specificity, similar to point one but has its own value in this discussion.

Complacency has seeped Into our sport/educational teaching environment. Without keeping up with current themes and advances in sport, our students of this generation are failing to learn necessary information inportant to their current global climate. In school, being too many old principles or basic, non challenging components reduces the plasticity of our young students minds. On the Playing Field teaching athletes basic “old school” principles is damaging to their progress in a world where every competitive sport is constantly evolving. Being complacent in our teaching approach leads to lack of progress in our students on and off the field.

Specificity should be the root of all teaching. Know what you are teaching and focus on all it’s components. In sport particularly this plays a significant role in athletic development. Too often trainers and coaches approach a sport holistically. Teaching it from a game standpoint, whereas the fundamentals and micro-components of the sport should be prioritized and used as the foundation of each practice. This occurs in school as well. Say in an English class where readings are prescribed once a week but without the practice of the fundamentals of syntax and grammar. Why do we stop teaching that in grade 4 when it has compounding necessity as we get older? Back to sport, the need for specificity is massive, and at ALL LEVELS! Specificity leads to building upon their strengths, determining and limiting their weaknesses, and providing better Insight into the demands of the sport for each athlete.

So how do we approach this whole passive progression deal? It’s simple. We as educators must educate ourselves. Stay in touch with the norm and be active in our personal learning of new information. When and only when this occurs will we be able to accurately apply passive progression.

Passive progression is built on the idea of developing every member of a group irregardless of their intentions in the field of study or sport with the same material/technique/intention. Just because a student doesn’t want to be a professional calligrapher or tennis player leaves no reason for them not to benefit from the proper practice of it. The benefits of learning a skill, once again irregardless of intention to learn it, is immense in the development of young athletes/students. Furthermore, the continued practice and attention to the specificity of said practice compounds the effectiveness of its benefits and will carry through to all aspects of an individual‘s life.

Build each foundation with the intention of each house being filled, not being foreclosed.

Teach yourself to know all there is to know. Then apply this to every member of the group. Then and only then will you be able to provide ample value to all those you teach.

From a young gun with little experience but a few words of wisdom I implore you to take the time to reevaluate your approach, understand the undertaking of improving your methods, and apply the principle of passive progression to better suit the audience in front of you.

I hope this helps! let me know if it did!

“Progression is built through consistency and tested by Passion“

JB