Last Updated31 May 2022

Effective Communication explores the building of relationships and interacting with guests, a variety of different styles in which you can teach your students, and some important considerations for the feedback process. We will also look at the more advanced technique of Question-based learning.

Judgers vs Learners

The Judger vs Learner concept brings consideration and thought to the way in which we deliver feedback and seek further information from students.

Simply telling an athlete that their attempt at a task was “much better” or “not as good as the last run”, places judgement on their performance and lacks substance. This is often unintentional; however, it happens far too easily in many coaching sessions. To explore this concept further, we can consider the Judger and Learner as two different mindsets, from which to deliver all verbal feedback.

The Judger Mindset

Left to run on auto-pilot, this focuses on the problem at hand and can lead the coach into the dominant role of critic. Finding fault in performance and rarely asking questions are results of this mindset. When we judge, our judgement locks us into a particular point of view that is often narrow-minded, and from which self reflection becomes much harder. The Judger mindset is often created as a coping mechanism that distances us from involvement where we would face criticism from other judgers.

The Learner Mindset

When consciously utilised, this focuses on options and possibilities, and uses inquiry frequently. This mindset promotes progress and adaptability, and will often lead to discovery of other techniques and solutions. Coaches who use this mindset effectively understand that there are things they don’t know yet and they stay open to a variety of possibilities. Put simply, they are more open and curious.

Example

A young rider is working on their carving and struggling to establish a strong position (angulation) on their toeside… A coach with a Judger Mindset sees the problem as lack of flex in the ankle joints and relates it directly to their stiff boots. The solution the Judger Mindset coach provides is to get new boots. A coach with a Learner Mindset looks for possibilities and alternative solutions. They explore loosening the top zone lacing in the rider’s boots a little. This helps to a point, but the rider is still over-flexing at the hips a lot. The Learner Mindset coach continues by asking more questions and comes to understanding that the rider has a serious lack of flexibility in their ankles. They decide to change tact and explore a variation on the high-performance stance, allowing the rider’s over-flex in the hips to be more beneficial.

– Closed-minded
– Protective and judgmental
– Cynical and critical
– Know-it-all
– Blame oriented
– View mistakes as “bad”

– Open-minded
– Understanding and question-orientated
– Curious and creative
– Promote progress and possibilities
– Solution-focused
– Comfortable with not knowing
– Looking for possibilities

Hot Tip

A useful exercise here is to self-observe your own thoughts and feelings, that are not communicated verbally, over a number of lessons or sessions, and notice what portion of the time you are in judgement of your athlete. Is it 50% of the time? Is it more? This will provide a baseline for how much time we are looking at things from a Judger or Learner perspective. We can then further observe what is (or is not) being communicated verbally to the athlete, and consider when and what type of questions we are using throughout the feedback process.

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