The Power of Silly in Sports
Why do we not have more quality coaches and teachers in the world? People who are willing to let down their guard and make learning fun, and play the part kids need them to play. Why? Because factoring out what other adults would think of them if they acted, for a few brief moments, like a kid again is hard to do. Winning at teaching young child sports, as I have found, cannot be done without being silly. Some kids hate sports and others love them and often the difference between the two is related to how likeable, and engaging the coach is. What coaching success ends up looking like is an adult courageous enough to embarrass him or herself in front of other adults (e.g. parents) committed to helping young children more easily learn sports by making it more about them and less about him.
The Internet is a wonderful place that keeps me socially connected to things and interesting works from people I, otherwise, would be completely oblivious to. Today, I was inspired by a link to an article I found from the Kids Marketing group I belong to on LinkedIn written by toy expert Richard Gottlieb; he wrote about the power of silly in books. Specifically, I couldn't stop thinking of about the message I found about halfway through his article; it said:
"In an age in which so much of our interaction with children seems from birth to be consumed with getting them ready for a great career; its important to remember that silly has something going for it. It makes the world a little less scary; provides sweet memories and if you insist on a practical output; it also helps develop out of the box thinking."
Well said Mr. Gottlieb. Here is a link to his article: The Power of Silly Thank You Huck the Cat Lowly Worm and Hilda Hippo
What is interesting about being silly is it requires you to also be very smart. Every adult knows, usually by an experience gone bad from a crazy uncle; you can't expect quality results if silly constantly turns into uncontrollable chaos. Smart coaches, and parents instinctually know where the line of "ridiculous" falls and shouldn't choose to cross it; or if they do, they should know how to pause the silliness in order to restore order. Finding the balance in being silly does not have to be hard, but it does take effort and require being smart about it.
The message here is if all else fails, as a parent, teacher or coach, consider the power of silly. It is a valuable approach to keep in your arsenal when used wisely. At least two people in the world, Mr. Gottlieb and I, are believers that it works and feel silly definitely has something going for it in more than one arena.
See you in class!
~Coach Pickles
So true! I've learned how to be silly when working with kids by watching someone else who seemed to have it mastered. It helps to be inspired by adults who know how to let their guard down and "embarass themselves," as you put it. So many parents are missing the mark, or just don't have the time to be silly with their kids. It's refreshing to think that kids are getting what they need most from someone - like a coach!
ReplyDeleteMo2,
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point for why sometimes it is so hard for parents to let go and be silly.
As parents, we lead very busy lives. As coaches, unless they are out own; we don't go home with the kids. These two facts are what make parents happy someone else is in charge and coaches able to tolerate being in charge of groups of kids week-after-week.
As much of a break as it is for parents, to have their children participating in sports, it also should be considered an opportunity to later talk about the experience. Sports can create worthwhile and meaningful conversations if we create availabilities in our thinking to promote them.
As parents, we must unglue the cell phones from our ears and turn off the texting. These distractions are things our children can see, and it does matter to them when we are not watching them perform. Children's purpose are about making good impressions, and when we don't recognize their efforts it breaks their hearts, and quite frankly it breaks my heart, as a coach, to watch too.
Mo2, thanks again for your comments and allowing me to further elaborate how we can start to find the light-hearted nature inside of us.
Completely agree about the silly factor. I am a tennis instructor. Silly does not come naturally to me like it does to some, but I make sure to work on it and look for good opportunities to use it with my younger students. I am often surprised at how the smallest things are such a hit. For the older kids silly evolves into humor but the point is still to look for opportunities to make their on court experience fun.
ReplyDeleteHi Lissa,
ReplyDeleteYour comment is a clear example of the power behind silly. Even when it doesn't come naturally, just by thinking about it, you are already doing more than most to tailor learning to children and I, as a parent of toddlers, admire that when watching other coaches work with young children.
As you already know, a lot of achieving the best results working with children is trial and error, or about sometimes following kids' lead. Being open to what kids bring to the process might just be the most important difference-maker in all of education. From my experiences, when we, as coaches, are open to the idea of letting kids be kids; we can learn so much about what it takes to teach them in the ways they learns best.
Lissa, thanks for your feedback.