Allen Evans

Talking too much.

, 12-14-2011 at 10:02 AM (399 Views)

I used to talk too much during lessons. This caused two problems: it broke up the flow of the actions in the lesson -- and fencing is just about feeling actions flow as it is about doing actions correctly -- and it kept me from connecting with my students on an emotional level.

Fencing operates in a lot of areas at once: technical, tactical, physical, and emotional. The fencing lesson should incorporate these elements as well. By talking too much, I kept my students from connecting and feeling the actions they needed to do. It wasn’t wrong for me to talk to them, and for them to hear what I was saying, but too many words kept them from focusing on how they felt and the feed back they needed to have.

This isn’t the “silent” lesson that many coaches speak about (though there is an element of this in it). “Silent lessons” are mostly exercises in cuing the student. Cueing the student may or may not be fencing. Franky, rather than spend time teaching a student to respond to specific cues to hit detailed targets (such as choosing between the foot and the thigh in épée) it makes more sense to just let the student hit what ever target they want, or tell the student to hit a specific target. It wastes less time, both in the lesson and in trying to teach the student what target is being “shown”.

Now, I use fewer words, and I try to use more powerful words. I still talk during the lesson, but my comments are much shorter: “Be ready!” “No”, “Yes!”, and short phrases to control the focus of the student.

I sound more like a coach, and my lessons are better.

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Comments

Peach - 12-14-2011 12:03 PM
Many coaches make the mistake of talking too much, and I would add to your discussion that it DOESN'T WORK. Period. People mostly don't take information in by listening, no matter how many seminars, lectures, and presentations we inflict on them. And many people (myself included) are not auditory learners. After about 30 seconds, it stops making any sense whatsoever.
Jason - 12-14-2011 12:51 PM
The idea that people are "auditory" or "visual learners" is suspect. Here's a link.

That aside, I've seen coaches who spend more of the lesson time talking than their students spend moving, and that's just crazy-town (for most lessons, anyway--there are, as always, exceptions).

Updated 12-14-2011 at 02:23 PM by Jason
Peach - 12-15-2011 01:05 PM
I checked Willingham's c.v., and have to say he doesn't have much in the way of substantive publications (lots of stuff, little of it fundamental), his areas of expertise seems diffuse, his focus is not specifically on learning style, and his publications are not in strong journals for the type of claim he's making in regard to learning styles. Otherwise, I guess he's okay But then I'm prejudiced, because I have a Ph.D. in education so I have a tendency to be suspicious about almost all educational research.

Updated 12-15-2011 at 01:10 PM by Peach
acarter - 12-20-2011 05:59 PM
This may be true, but I remember in my lessons with you that what you said helped a lot in my understanding what we were doing tactically. For me, I needed that tactical explanation to put the lesson into context and perform the actions in the right time and from the correct cue. That said you never talked more than 10% of the lesson. If we ever talked for more than 30 seconds straight it would have been a rarity.
Allen Evans - 12-21-2011 10:34 AM
I had already started to talk less when you were working with me. I'm trying to talk even less now.

If I had my way, my next club would have a twenty minute theory class at the start of every practice, and the rest of the time would be spent actually executing actions in lessons and drills.

A