Encouraging the learner
Trying to have a thorough understanding of the mechanical principles and the visual evaluation skills involved so that your help can be specific and keyed to a particular skill or problem will help you see relationships, make wise choices and decisions, and increase the possibility of a transfer of learning from one activity or situation to another.
Here are some tips that you should keep in mind when helping players learn skills:
- Remember that feelings are important to learning and changing habits.
- Encourage players to try not to invest their identity in instant success. Mistakes are also a vital part of learning.
- Try to recognize improvement—even when it may seem minimal.
- Use a visual model. A visual model gives learners an idea of what they are supposed to be doing. This can be a demonstration, a picture, or observation of a live or recorded performance. I have noted that learners tend to focus on the results rather than concentrate on the three phases of the motion; therefore, I no longer demonstrate by hitting a ball over the net or shooting a ball into the basket. Learners retain more of the relevant aspects of the demonstration when the result becomes irrelevant. So I demonstrate only the motion that I want the learners to focus on and retain. No ball or goal is involved.
- Remember that young children may not be the best listeners. Try to help them understand and begin to use the mechanical principles of movement through experiencing. Games and movement activities can be selected that will enable them to practice specific foundation skills that incorporate the mechanical principles. These foundation skills (balance, visual tracking, absorbing force, changing directions, stopping and starting, spatial [space] awareness, and reading movement) are vital because they underlie many activity skills. (See the games in chapter 10.)
- Try to have a thorough understanding of the mechanical principles and the visual evaluation skills involved so that your help can be specific and keyed to a particular skill or problem. This understanding will help you see relationships, make wise choices and decisions, and increase the possibility of a transfer of learning from one activity or situation to another.
- Avoid giving too much information at once. Solve only one problem at a time. Focus on what is most relevant and will give the players the most to build on. Problem areas will be discussed throughout the chapters that follow.
- Try to develop special key words and phrases that seem to be helpful and are understood by as many players as possible. The “gorilla” technique discussed in chapter 3 (page 24) is an example.
- Be patient. The tension created by stress is both an emotional and a physical deterrent to learning. Players need time and lots of repetition in order to compute what works; to get the “feeling” for moving (kinesthetic sense); to recognize flight and rebound patterns; to learn to know what to attend to; to time their moves; and to let extraneous, ineffective, or overflow movements be extinguished.
- Try to determine “progressions” for growth. Consider reducing the complexity or the number of problems to be solved at any one time. Try to simplify, perhaps breaking the skill down or using a lead-up activity. Try to reduce the number of things in motion. Use a tee, tether, or trough (figure 1.1). Use balloons, beach balls, or other slow-moving objects. Toss slowly and accurately to the beginner. Increase the size of the object or striking implements without increasing the weight. And try to make initial experiences consistent, simple, and successful.
- Help the players establish obtainable goals, and help them see and feel their successes. Positive feelings about growth and improvement increase motivation and challenge, and they reduce threat, another deterrent to learning.
- Make sure that each participant has many trials, is challenged at her level, and has some success.
- Create an environment that supports trying and allows for the errors that normally occur during learning.
- Try to reduce the fears of failure and of injury. Sometimes equipment can be effectively modified. Be creative.
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Tips & techniques to improve your balance
Everyone can improve their balance and save themselves from possible injuries and embarrassment. Following these simple tips just might help.
Everyone can improve their balance and save themselves from possible injuries and embarrassment. The following tips may help:
- Understand and apply the mechanical principles of balance. Consider these in varied and real situations.
- Explore and practice a variety of static and dynamic balance positions. Remember that games and other movement activities can be an excellent source of balance practice (see Skates, Frantic Ball, Freeze, Rag or Rug Hockey, and Super Sox in chapter 10). Also remember that people can learn at any age to adapt more effectively to messages received from visual input, the semicircular canals in the ears, pressures on the body, and the proprioceptors (a sensory system found within the muscles and tendons).
- Learn to relax. Being able to relax improves your reception of and responses to the messages sent by body mechanisms. People who need to improve their balance must learn to relax, and the environment in which they move must initially be as emotionally supportive as possible. They can then learn to remain relaxed under progressively more stressful conditions.
- Develop sufficient muscular strength and endurance in the muscles of the abdomen and lower limbs. This enables a person to make necessary balance adjustments.
If you want to improve balance while standing, landing, moving, or stopping suddenly, you should keep the following tips in mind:
1. Bend the knees instead of keeping them straight. (Can you see the important role that the knees play in both lowering the center of gravity and allowing the body weight to be adjusted over the base of support?) Assuming a bent-knee stride position with a lean into the oncoming force will allow you to absorb the force gradually in a rocking motion, shifting your weight toward the oncoming force and then rocking backward to absorb this force to maintain your balance. Rocking backward may also be useful as a preparatory movement for your next action (see Super Sox in chapter 10).
2. Increase the size of the base of support in the direction in which you may need to adjust your balance. A base of support that is wide but not in the direction of the oncoming force can actually reduce your adaptive ability to maintain your balance.
3. When stopping suddenly, lean away from—not toward—the direction you were moving. This keeps the center of gravity over the base of support.
4. When landing or stopping suddenly, keep your head up and look forward. Don't look at the ground by dropping your head forward. (Can you see how dropping your head forward would shift your weight forward, possibly decreasing your stability?)
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Lengthening of the iliopsoas, and toe touching
Because connective tissue shortens if not periodically stretched, a heavily used muscle may actually shorten, causing tightness and a loss in range of motion.
Specific exercises for each of the alignment problems discussed in this chapter are readily available elsewhere. However, I have found that information on two areas seems to be limited or erroneously covered in popular sources. The first area is the lengthening of the iliopsoas, and the second is toe touching.
The stretching of the iliopsoas is probably the most neglected area of possible difficulty. Few people have ever heard of this muscle, although it contributes to countless backaches every year.
The iliopsoas is attached to the inside of the vertebral column in the region of the lower back (lumbar area), passes over the front of the bony pelvis, and then runs downward and attaches to the inside of the upper leg bone (femur). Therefore, the iliopsoas is somewhat like the tight strings of a cello (figure 5.7). When this muscle shortens, it pulls the small of the back forward and down, leading to a sway in the back and increasing the pressure on the vertebral column. (Because the vertebral column is such an important part of the body, a medical evaluation should be completed before a person performs exercise that involves this area.)
Here are three exercises that can be used to help keep the iliopsoas muscles lengthened:
- Flattening the small of your back while lying flat: Try to keep your thighs (iliopsoas attachment) on the floor while attempting to hold your lower back on the floor. The flattening of the back is accomplished by contracting the abdominal muscles (figure 5.8). The ability to execute this exercise with ease is used as an evaluation of the length of the iliopsoas.
- Bringing your knee to your chest while lying flat: While lying flat on your back, bring one knee to your chest (hugging it) while you keep your other leg and the small of your back touching the floor. Hold this position for 30 seconds and repeat 5 times. Then repeat the exercise with the other leg. Do this at least twice a day. Note that the leg that is down is on the side that you are actually stretching and should receive your attention.
- The fencer's stretch: Stand and place your feet in a stride position, both feet flat on the floor (figure 5.9). The position of the back foot holds the lower attachment of the stretched iliopsoas in place. The toes of the back foot should point straight ahead. Rotate the pelvis under you, pushing the upper pelvis (waist) backward while the lower pelvis rotates and presses against the iliopsoas. By pushing the upper attachment (small of the back) backward, you are further stretching the iliopsoas on the back-foot side. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds. Change your stride and repeat for the other side. Do this 5 times on each side. Try to perform this exercise at least twice a day if you tend to have tight iliopsoas.
Toe touching has long been a standard exercise for maintaining the length of the muscles in the back of the upper leg (hamstrings). Two recommendations have been made for this exercise: (1) Do not include a bounce (you do not want to evoke the stretch reflex or damage tissues). The toe touch should be done slowly and held at the point of full stretch. (2) Do not let the knees hyperextend when toe touching, because this position may increase the potential hazard to the structures of the knee. To prevent hyperextension and excessive pressure within the knee joint that can occur in the standing position, exercisers have been encouraged to do their toe touches from a straight-leg, sitting position or while lying on the back. When lying on the back, the person pulls one leg toward the ceiling while the other leg remains flat on the floor. All stretching should be done slowly and should be held for several seconds.
Remember that your body plays an important role in your involvement in life. Treat it well—in addition to exercise, make activities such as Skates and Rag or Rug Hockey (see chapter 10) a lifetime sport!
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Control their momentum in the quick stops in freeze
Balance is the keystone of all movement and of the ability to hold or control one’s position. Therefore, balance should be emphasized when helping a child or youth prepare to become “natural” or coordinated in his movements. We often assume that an individual will develop good balance. Many do not.
Body control is key to every sport and can be improved through play. The game Freeze will help players develop body control.
None
- Balance control when making quick stops and maintaining a challenging position
- Absorbing or controlling force
- Kinesthetic awareness of a loss of balance (this awareness can occur in time to avoid a fall by readjusting the center of gravity over the base of support)
The players begin to move, slowly at first. Each player challenges himself with different movements. As the game progresses, the players are encouraged to increase activity and the type of movements they are using. At the signal “freeze,” all players try to become immediately still and hold the frozen position until “melt” is called, at which time they begin to move
again.
- Have players do this activity in slow motion. This makes balance more difficult.
- Have players do the activity with partners; one moves in slow motion, while the other calls the signals of “freeze” and “melt.”
- Play music. When the music stops, the players freeze. “Melt” occurs when the music begins again.
- Call out the following challenge for any player who wishes to accept it: “Can you hold your position with one or both eyes closed?” This increases the balance challenge and kinesthetic awareness.
- Body control and balance are important skills in play, sports, and life.
- If the playing area is small, Freeze can be played without players moving from their spot or personal space. Encourage players to take difficult balance positions, including balancing on one foot. They should be sure not to favor one foot.
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