Coaching the next generation

This evening I coached the Beacon's youth team - what a great bunch of teenagers!  I spent a bit of time thinking about how I could adapt what I do with adults and what might be most useful to them, and they were great in being honest about what things they struggled with and asked some really pertinent questions.

We spent the evening in falling practice mainly, with some discussion about how our thoughts affect our behaviour and how this in turn affects and is affected by our physical state.  I will be going back in a few weeks time with some more individualised stuff to psyche up those who need to get motivated for competition, and psyche 'down' those who have a tendency to get too tense pre-comp and choke.

The great thing about teenagers is they are more honest and less polite than adults, so you soon know if you have hit the spot with them!  and they are also much better than adults at following instructions!  They were great at putting into practice a graded approach to falling practice, and some were brave enough to say they didnt feel ready to move on to above clip lead falls - so much more resistant to peer pressure than some adults I have worked with.  

An enjoyable session - I hope they thought so too (but I am sure they would have let me know if it wasnt!!)