Coaches – How Kids Learn

Posted On: 06-18-2024

As an educator across my career and like many of you, knowing how kids learn is so important.  We accept that some kids are tactile hands-on learners and others are visual and auditory.  As I mentioned many of you are educators, but for those that are not, how do we cross into a learned environment.

As an example, one might say to a youth shooter, “keep your head down.”  Ok, really what does that mean?  As a reference maybe a coach might have had a practice session with an emphasis on gun mounts.  In that practice they worked through placing the gun in the shoulder pocket as the gun rises to the cheek.  Understanding that the cheek must be solidly in contact with the stock partially addresses the mount, but aligning the eyes down the barrel in concert with the cheek completes the mount.  So, is that what you meant when you said, “keep your head down”? 

In other words, did the youth shooter fully understand what you want them to do?  Had the above been done first I have to assume that youth shooter knows what they mean, but if not, the instruction might be lost in translation.  The spectrum of what and how a youth shooter accomplishes what they are taught (if taught) goes like this:

1. If you taught them, do they remember what you taught?  I see it often and that is talking to kids about what we want them to do, but when watching them later we see them doing what they did before being taught.  Simply put when you say, “keep you head down” ask them if they remember you teaching this skill (if you did)? 
2. Next up is to simply ask them to explain to you what you meant by asking them to keep their head down.  Can they explain it and maybe even show you?
3. Follow this up with them showing you how they learned the skill and asking them to walk you, the coach, through the proper and correct skill application.
4. Now let’s take it one step further and ask the youth shooter to explain to you each step and why each step is important.  Have them both show and audibly explain to you what they are showing you. 
5. Finally, when they shoot the next time do you see what you taught them?  If yes you can feel good that the learning has been synthesized and they are advancing based on your teachings.  Be mindful, you may not see the changes immediately, but over time and reinforced teaching those changes, or adaptations will stick.

Bottom line here is just saying what you want a youth shooter to do does not get them through the five steps above and to a point of actively understanding and being able to apply your teaching/coaching. 

Bottom line here is just saying what you want a youth shooter to do does not get them through the five steps above and to a point of actively understanding and being able to apply your teaching/coaching.