7 minute read
USOPC Presentation #2: 9-14 Years Old
By Teri Milner Tarquini
Developing an athlete that lives in the growth mindset zone is paramount to their future – and coaches can have a massive amount of influence on that.
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At the 2019 PSA Conference in Palm Springs, coaches were presented with on-ice skating concepts, off-ice strength and conditioning, mental training and the success structure during what is considered the second stage of a skater’s time on the ice, titled “USOPC Presentation #2 – 9–14 years of age,” available now on PSA TV.
“There are a bunch of different ways you can influence how your athletes are thinking,” said Nadine Dubina, USOPC Manager of Coach Development. “During this stage, getting them ready to go to the next level is really, really important.”
Dubina opened her portion of the presentation with an exercise for the coaches: Holding their breath as long as they could, while being timed.
Following exhale, she challenged coaches to do it again – but this time to hold their breath for a few seconds longer, asking the difference between what their brain told them the first time they held their breath versus the second go-around.
“The first time, you let out your breath when your body told you to breathe,” Dubina said. “The second time, you were able to change that dialogue by your brain shouting, ‘You can do it!’ Your brain told you that you could go longer.”
A simple exercise that can begin to nurture the growth of your skaters during this next stage of their learning.
“You can easily do this with your athletes and can then have conversations about how to change the dialogue (in their brain),” Dubina said. “Everyone has the power to tell their brain what to do. The brain talks all day, but it can be controlled.”
Imparting the idea of brain control needs to be an important part of a coach’s teaching structure.
“Kids are kids – and we’re here to teach them something, so if we’re not teaching them personal choice and personal responsibility for their actions, then we (are part of the problem),” Dubina said. “Helping them to realize they have the choice to change their inner dialogue has to be part of our job.”
Dubina believes the path to an athlete discovering their ability to control their brain lies in questions… But not just any questions.
For her second group exercise, Dubina challenged the coaches to NOT answer the following questions verbally or mentally: What color is the sky? What is the name of your best friend? What was the color of your first car? Where do you live? What did you have for breakfast?
“Could you not answer the questions? Or did your brain immediately find the answer?” she asked. “The way brains work is they are hardwired to answer questions, so the more questions you ask, the more you’re going to be engaging your athletes in trying to find solutions because they can’t help but try to find the answer.”
“These make you want to explain further,” Dubina said.
The question-starters to avoid: is/are, do/did, would/will, could/can, who, when and where.
“These usually result in one-word answers, and the athletes don’t usually have to think very hard,” Dubina said.
Thoughtful answers won’t necessarily flow from the get-go, however.
“Do not get discouraged in the beginning,” Dubina said. “When athletes are not used to being asked questions, the response you’ll get is, ‘I don’t know.’ That is not an answer. You have to actually teach them how to answer and how to respond to you. That is part of the skater-coach trust-building.”
As with skating skills, where the building blocks of grassroots skating is key to a skater’s future, so, then, is expanding on the foundation of being in charge of one’s brain. When the athlete is in this second stage of their skating, they have the capacity to expand those mental skills.
“What does all of this lead into?” Dubina asked. “That what we say to ourselves has influence on our potential and our future. That’s what we’re trying to do – we’re trying to craft and build the potential of our athletes.”
Where does all this potential lie?
In the fixed versus growth mindset. In shorthand: Fixed = bad; Growth = good.
“The fixed mindset basically says that you believe that you’re born with certain skills and abilities,” Dubina said. “You have things you’re good at and things you’re bad at and that’s that. You have no control over it.
However, with work, coaches can guide their athletes to get into a growth mindset.
“In the growth mindset, you believe that your skills and abilities can be developed; it’s not just ‘born with this or not born with this or talented or not,’” Dubina said. “It’s about growing and developing and getting better. With the growth mindset, you work through challenges and show grit.”
Simply put, “We want the athletes that are going to persevere and push through,” she said.
This is where the building blocks of asking better questions really ramps up.
For example: What did you learn from today’s practice? How did you keep going when things get tough today?
“The way you are able to find out if your athlete is in a growth or fixed mindset is by listening to the words they are saying so that you can influence them in another way if necessary,” Dubina said.
Dubina put forth a scenario that every coach has been in: when your athlete says, “This was a horrible practice. I can’t do anything right.”
This is where the practice on the coach’s part comes in so they are conditioned to say the better response to get the result that will be more beneficial to the athlete.
“The way you could respond is by saying, ‘Yeah, this was a tough practice, but you kept going when things got tough and I really appreciate your effort today,’” Dubina said. “If you emphasize effort instead of outcome, that will help them see that it’s ok that they’re not perfect.”
An alternate approach might be to ask even more questions.
“How did you prepare? Did you prepare properly? Did you give your all out there? If so, this is a win,” Dubina said. “If not, let’s come up with a plan so you can continue to get better and this doesn’t happen again.”
“When you have big fish in little ponds, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but, when you get to the next level and everyone physically and talent-wise is on more of a level playing field, that’s when you have to have the athletes who are willing to work through challenges,” Dubina said. “This is when you need a growth mindset because those are the athletes who are going to reach their potential and not give up when it gets hard.”
The rest of presentation #2, focusing on the second stage of a skater’s development, included Audrey Weisiger, two-time Olympic coach, discussing the on-ice skills at this point in the athlete’s career for skaters and parents; Brandon Siakel, USOPC Strength and Conditioning, presenting next-level off-ice training; and Scott Riewald, USOPC Senior Director of High Performance Projects, outlining what the progression of success looks like at this stage and ideas for how to communicate effectively with the skater and the parent.
To learn more about the concepts of on-ice and off-ice skating, the body, the mind and successful progression during the time when a skater is now in the second age-group of their time as a skater, go to the PSA TV tab at www.skatepsa.com and watch the event in its entirety.
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