How can we keep children engaged in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
Mar
This is one of the most difficult things to get right. Our main focus of the club is pro-longed participation, not trying to make superstars. To keep children (and adults) in the sport for as long as possible if it’s positive and healthy, a lot of points are drawn from this perspective.
This is something you can’t always get right, so if someone does stop training don’t blame yourself!
Children are all different, so not all strategies or tools you will use will help everyone at your club. Likewise, coaches are all different, don’t feel the need to change your personality just to try and fit a narrative, as cracks will show down the line – but just be conscious of a few things we talk about today and hopefully, it will help in the long run.
Coaches
Get to know your players, this is the most important detail. This will help you recognise what they require from you as a coach. Make a conscious effort to speak to your students during the sessions, could be related to training could be about their day – this lets them know they can communicate with you.
An example that springs to my mind from a personal account is when I had one student (F9). Didn’t want to be there and was in a foul mood. During the session, I briefly spoke to her and asked how her day was, turns out she had the absolute day from hell and felt horrid. She communicated with this and for the rest of the session smashed it.
What does this do?
2 things, 1. She now doesn’t directly see Judo (in this case) as a negative experience. She arrived feeling crummy and left feeling okay. 2. Allows for more open communication in the future. So if she was to have another stinker of a day, I would not have to battle with her. As a coach, this makes sessions run much smoother, which plays into all coach’s goals to help learning. SO TALK TO YOU PLAYERS. I don’t want you to think that this makes me some god-like coach who can see through walls but this was an example of a win. Sometimes I haven’t got it right.
Recognising when your students are knackered is key to knowing how hard they can train, Ego depletion theory talks about this but basically, if they’ve had a day from hell they will not be able to perform and do tasks as well. So giving them more complicated tasks in this state may reduce confidence, which goes on to our next point.
Confidence
This is the hardest thing to get right; children rely heavily on confidence in themselves and their own ability compared with others – so yes, improving someone’s skills could make them stick at the sport longer. However, we also want to make it fun. This is where as a coach it’s our task to make fun drills which both challenge our kids, but not so much that they lose confidence. YES it’s borderline impossible to get right every time, but we can help the odds. Come up with creative flexible sessions. This is a trial and error process, sometimes I may let my creativity go a bit too crazy and the session I’ve prepped is a disaster, which is fine. Recognise the flaws and let them help with the next one.
Parents
This blog isn’t going to be designed to teach parents how to parent. But from my experience – let the coaches do the coaching and parents do the supporting. I get it, as a parent you want to help your kid. But sometimes the best thing you can do is let them get on with it and support them if they need it. As a coach, it’s important to create an environment where the parents feel at ease so making sure to be communicative with parents can help everyone with this process.
Expectations
All children learn differently, this could be directly linked to their understanding of how different age groups learn, and what motivates them to learn. This can massively help with session plans and also manage your expectations for the children.
Also, be conscious of the wording and terminology you use with students, you will have to alter this for age groups and the individual. A child who is inherently harsher on themselves will need their coaching sugar-coated. Often the students look up to you and so your critiques if worded incorrectly can be an absolute dagger through the heart!
Finally, enjoy it, I think kids pick up on enthusiasm better than anyone. If I’m having a tough day the kids are the first to pick it up. I like to think if you are enjoying 90% of the sessions you’re doing all right 👍👍
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