Performance Coaching in the Martial Arts

Introduction

Just like a lot of you reading this article, I both instruct and practice the martial arts and thoroughly enjoy these activities.
Whenever I am teaching, I like to give my students the best instruction and enjoyment I possibly can. I want them to enjoy their training sessions, leaving the dojo with a smile on their faces, looking forward to the next class with eager excitement, enthusiasm and anticipation. Because any learning activity should be challenging, rewarding and, above all, Fun!

Keeping our students motivated is absolutely vital to the survival of any martial arts club as it not only helps them to learn and ourselves to teach, but also plays a big part in both the retention and recruitment process, thus helping to keep our classes full and all of those nasty bills paid!

Getting Started

Keeping our students levels of motivation up is no easy task. However, there is a certain strategy we can employ to help us with this undertaking. It is an educational performance coaching method that, if implemented correctly, will help you enhance their performance and achieve their full potential: The "Goal Setting Process"

Students will tend to learn faster and more efficiently if they are provided with clear targets of achievement at which to aim, and that is precisely where goal setting enters into the equation. Goal setting is the process of developing, negotiating and formalising the aims and objectives that both instructor and students agree they are responsible for accomplishing. It is extremely efficient in enabling our students to realise levels of performance which might otherwise have never been reached, had they simply been left to their own devices.

At its most basic, elementary level, the goal setting process allows both our students and ourselves to identify the direction we wish to travel, what our destination is, and how we are going to get there: A method of planning a journey from one place (from one technique/grade etc) to another (more advanced technique/grade etc)

By positively identifying exactly what it is they wish to achieve, and what we, as their instructors, can reasonably expect of them, the students perceptions become far more focused. This enables them to differentiate between what they need to concentrate and improve upon, and what is distracting and superficial.

The long and the short of it

Positive, efficient goal setting can readily supply us with both long-term visions ("Aims") and short-term motivators ("Objectives").
For example, a beginner will harbour the aspiration of one day earning the coveted "black belt" which would be their long-term goal. They must then understand and accept that the only way they are eventually to realise this goal is by working steadily towards it by achieving several other smaller, easier objectives such as being able to execute a newly learned technique correctly or managing to pass their next grading examination, etc.

Both long and short-term goals are of equal importance as each compliments the other and they both have their part to play in motivating and inspiring the student. We all need a "dream" we can work towards, and "need to know" realities that will help make them come true.

SMART Goal Setting

A good formula to use in short-term goal setting is

S. M. A. R. T.

Action Plan using SMART Goals:

Specific: So that the students have a clear understanding of what is expected of them

Measurable: They must be constantly monitored and progress regularly evaluated

Achievable: They must be within easy reach

Realistic: They must fall well within the individual students capabilities

Timed: Deadlines must be set for the goal to be realised

As well as the above, we need to ensure that any targets we set our students are "Challenging". That means they must be exciting, stimulating and desirable. They must also be very flexible, as it is more than possible that you will need to modify them slightly as time passes and the students needs, expectations and abilities change. Sometimes, these modifications will be so tiny as to be almost imperceptible, whilst at others they might be quite large and dramatic. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, providing that:

- The modifications are made with the good of the student in mind (Be careful that you are not setting them up for failure by being to "pushy" or ambitious)

-The modifications are made with the full consent of the student, after a fair evaluation of progress has been made.

Assessments

Goals should be set and their achievement measured by individual performance rather than outcomes or results. This means that you should concentrate upon the "Quality" of the achievement rather that the "Quantity". Outcome centred goals are more to do with protecting the integrity of learning/qualifications in a particular subject rather than the improved performance of an individual student.

Outcome centred goals ARE important, but they deserve their very own article and so will not be examined here.

Rewards

Whenever a goal has been achieved, then the occasion should be marked by congratulating your student(s) (and, if your as childish as me, yourself!) with some type of reward. Rewards are important incentives in that they serve in formally marking progress.

Rewards can take many forms:

A celebratory meal, a trophy or medal, etc are all acceptable, as long as no one loses sight of the fact that, in the end, improved performance really is its own reward. A goal should never be worked toward for what it will give you, but for what it will actually do for you.

Again: PERFORMANCE rather than OUTCOME!

Evaluation

After the negotiation, planning, setting, modification, achievement and rewarding of a goal, it is time for the final evaluation to take place. This should include such aspects as:
- How long has a particular goal taken to achieve?
- How much effort was required
- Was it easy or difficult to accomplish?
- Etc.

This evaluation is a vital part of the process as it provides us with the opportunity to see just how accurately we have set our targets, and so modify and improve our own coaching performance. For example: If you made your goals to easily attainable, then there is the danger of your student (s) becoming bored and/or irritated because they think that you don't have enough faith in their ability and are treating them in a condescending manner, failing to appreciate what they already know. On the other hand, if you set difficult targets, they can end up feeling completely incompetent and inadequate! So a great deal of care must be taken to ensure balance and appropriateness.

Conclusion

The primary purpose of any "activity" is "productivity".

By implementing this process of goal setting we can help our students to improve their performance and enhance their learning. Indeed, setting clearly defined, achievable goals aids in reducing levels of stress and anxiety among the students while at the same time boosting their confidence and self esteem. This, in turn, tends to produce a healthy "Group dynamic" which is at once both self-motivating and supportive.

As martial arts instructors, we all share a common burden of responsibility in trying to be good teachers to our students, and setting them good examples. T his is a very positive, achievable goal that we will accomplish far more easily if we, in turn, set goals for our students.

By doing so, we can turn dreamers into believers, and believers into achievers.

The Institute of Martial Arts and Sciences
Homepage of IMAS