Where you're at....?
Before I launch into lots of thought about principles, psychology etc, it's useful to talk about learning. I do a lot of training and coaching both at work and during my off duty time and I've found that lots of the business orientated training material also works in fencing. I'd like to share the principles of levels of learning.
The first level of learning is unconscious incompetence. i.e. We don't know what we don't know. As a coach I've often seen people pick up a foil for the first time ever and actually demonstrate a pretty good level of skill. This is because they are simply enjoying it and having a go without any inhibitions. Unfortunately this stage doesn't last as it is followed by...
Conscious incompetence. This is the point where a beginner is suddenly brought into reality by the nasty coach who starts to point out all the things they should be doing right (and all the things they are doing wrong). The student is immediately plunged into self doubt and becomes aware of their faults. Performance will drop as they struggle to assimilate all this new information. Depending on the complexity of the task and the student this stage can last between weeks and in some cases years.
Eventually the student reaches a stage of conscious competence. This is the point where they can start to feel confident in their own abilities and will begin to realise there are other facets to the task that they hadn't seen before. Once a fencer is confident in their own technique for instance, they will start be able to to observe their opponent's behaviour and be able to react to that with the correct strategies. It is easy to reach a plateau at this point and it is the coaches job to take the athlete to the next stage of...
Unconscious competence. This is the stage that all elite athletes are trying to attain and represents the point when the mind and body react instinctively to their opponent, producing the correct response without the athlete having to think about it. Most of us have experienced these monents at some stage and it is variously referred to as "being in the zone", "on top of the game" etc. In most of us it tends to provoke the reaction "What happened there?" or "how did that happen?!" but it is what we should strive for in our approach to the sport.
It is a common misconception that once an athlete has reached the stage of unconscious competence there is nowhere for them to progress too. This is wrong and it is the job of a coach, even if he is coaching students who are beyond him in terms of ability, to jog the learning process in small incremental steps. It is at this point that the psychology, strategy and personal development of the sport really kick in. Sometimes an elite level athlete will find themselves back at the beginning after a small revelation from a coach that will further improve their performance. It is never too late to stop learning.
Most people attain a state of conscious competence in their chosen sport or past-time but it is the next step that really holds all the fun and stimulation and provides a continuous challenge for as long as the athlete cares to continue....
The first level of learning is unconscious incompetence. i.e. We don't know what we don't know. As a coach I've often seen people pick up a foil for the first time ever and actually demonstrate a pretty good level of skill. This is because they are simply enjoying it and having a go without any inhibitions. Unfortunately this stage doesn't last as it is followed by...
Conscious incompetence. This is the point where a beginner is suddenly brought into reality by the nasty coach who starts to point out all the things they should be doing right (and all the things they are doing wrong). The student is immediately plunged into self doubt and becomes aware of their faults. Performance will drop as they struggle to assimilate all this new information. Depending on the complexity of the task and the student this stage can last between weeks and in some cases years.
Eventually the student reaches a stage of conscious competence. This is the point where they can start to feel confident in their own abilities and will begin to realise there are other facets to the task that they hadn't seen before. Once a fencer is confident in their own technique for instance, they will start be able to to observe their opponent's behaviour and be able to react to that with the correct strategies. It is easy to reach a plateau at this point and it is the coaches job to take the athlete to the next stage of...
Unconscious competence. This is the stage that all elite athletes are trying to attain and represents the point when the mind and body react instinctively to their opponent, producing the correct response without the athlete having to think about it. Most of us have experienced these monents at some stage and it is variously referred to as "being in the zone", "on top of the game" etc. In most of us it tends to provoke the reaction "What happened there?" or "how did that happen?!" but it is what we should strive for in our approach to the sport.
It is a common misconception that once an athlete has reached the stage of unconscious competence there is nowhere for them to progress too. This is wrong and it is the job of a coach, even if he is coaching students who are beyond him in terms of ability, to jog the learning process in small incremental steps. It is at this point that the psychology, strategy and personal development of the sport really kick in. Sometimes an elite level athlete will find themselves back at the beginning after a small revelation from a coach that will further improve their performance. It is never too late to stop learning.
Most people attain a state of conscious competence in their chosen sport or past-time but it is the next step that really holds all the fun and stimulation and provides a continuous challenge for as long as the athlete cares to continue....
posted by Dave at
9:47 AM
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