Learning

I believe it was a lyric by the Indie band Dodgy that goes "no-one ever showed me how to learn" and it seems an interesting juxtaposition that not many athletes ever study in detail how the brain assimilates information. This is a vital piece of knowledge for anyone trying to improve themselves in whatever field so I'll touch on it now. One of the most well known models for learning is that devised by David Kolb, which is used widely in business training across the world. Kolb explains that learning takes place in stages, all of which are inter-related and that whilst the learner can enter the cycle at any point, they need to complete the cycle to truly assimilate the new information. The cycle runs like this (this paricular order is not significant as mentioned before).
Theory/general principles - the learner begins to understand the theory of what they are attempting
Planning/Experiment - the learner plans/derives experiments with the technique
Action/experience - the learner actually practices the technique
Reflection/making sense - the learner considers what has been learnt and rationalises further development
It is essential that a person goes through the entire learning cycle or they will not gain maximum benefit from the experience. When the learner is working with a coach the experience can be discussed and a good coach will look to help the student with the right sort of questions after the initial explanation. Typical questions would be "how could you employ this technique/tactic?", "When will this be appropriate?", "How did that feel?", "What happened when you did that?", "Could it have been more effective?"
By asking these questions both the student and the teacher will learn in tandem. I felt it necessary to include this brief summary of learning in order for the student to learn more about themselves and appreciate some of my later postings. Much more can be learnt about Kolb via the internet but a particularly good summary can be found at http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm