• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

Learning is a Cycle

You are here: Home / Coaching / Learning is a Cycle
1
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

February 4, 2015 by Barry Cook Leave a Comment

By Barry Cook.  Part 2 of a 6 part series.  Read Part 1 titled Personality-Based Winning first.

This article appeared in the Athletics Weekly March 28, 2013 printed edition, reprinted with permission. For more coaching advice, visit http://www.athleticsweekly.com

The value of trust between coach and athlete cannot be underestimated.

Steve Cram Laura Weightman Athletics Weekly Mag

Can excellence in performance be achieved by both coach and athlete without trust? Many factors in a relationship decide the amount of trust that develops and the quality of the communication can be one vital element that increases that trust. Previous articles on how psychometrics and understanding behaviour preferences may be helpful in coaching and coach-athlete communication. I introduced the type-dynamics indicator from the type-mapping system and how its use can help coaches to become more self-aware of their own behaviour and the impact it may have on their athletes and how by observation of their athletes they can gain an insight into the behaviours of the athlete. This can be helpful in deciding when and how you communicate information to the athlete.

[Tweet “The value of trust between coach and athlete cannot be underestimated”]

Kolb’s Learning Cycle

In the 1970’s David Kolb investigated the way in which humans learn and developed the model known as Kolb’s learning cycle.

Kolb said that the process we follow in order to learn is as follows:

  1. You have a concrete experience.
  2. You reflect on that experience (why did that happen?).
  3. You seek to understand the reason for it (the theory).
  4. You consider how that fits into what you are trying to achieve and ask if you need to change anything following that experience (next steps).
See also  Perception or Reality?

Consider for instance how you learned to ride a bicycle and you can see how this fits the process you went through to gradually develop the expertise. There may be another learning experience that you have had that illustrates the process.

Diagram 1

Diagram 1

Kolb originally stated that individuals have to go through all the stages of the learning cycle in order to learn. Peter Honey and Allan Mumford then developed the learning styles tool which could indicate if you had a preference in the way that you learned and attached a set of named behaviours to each part of the cycle.

  • If you learned by doing you were an “activist’:
  • If you learned by reviewing (reflecting) on the experience you were a “reflector”.
  • If you liked the theories underpinning actions you were a “theorist”.
  • If you liked understanding how it had a practical use in the world or you like the planning of next steps you were a “pragmatist”

Diagram 2

Diagram 2

The preferences that your athlete may have can be extremely useful to you as a coach in deciding your communication method. If the athlete has a strong preference toward being an activist they will probably like just doing the sessions and not be weighed down by any of the technicalities. If the athlete has a strong preference towards being a reflector then they will need time before you try to debrief with them a training session or a race as they need time to reflect. If the athlete has a strong preference toward being a theorist they will like to understand why they are doing that session, what are they developing physiologically that will help them improve and what are the theories underlying their efforts? If the athlete has a strong preference toward being a pragmatist they will like to understand how a session will help them develop as an athlete and how it may help them in a race.

See also  Say What You Mean

This theory has been misinterpreted by many educationalists to state that people have a particular preference in the way that they learn (their learning style), which is incorrect. However, it may indicate the preferred point at which you enter the cycle. You then have to go through the other stages in order to complete the learning cycle.

Try analysing if you as a coach have a preference and whether that influence has an effect on how you communicate with your athletes. If you do have a preference, ask yourself what is the preference of your athlete and if you need to change your behaviour in order to ensure your athlete gets maximum benefit from any communication you have with them.

Category iconCoaching,  Sport Psychology,  Success,  Track & Field Tag iconBarry Cook

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}