1. Coaching Skills ART Training Scheme
Module 2C – From Rounds to Change Ringing
© ART Charity No

2. What is coaching?
In the sporting world coaching is now seen as TEACHING WITH TRAINING BOLTED ON This is an excellent description of the role of a ringing teacher!
Coaching is 'developing a person's skills and knowledge so that their performance improves, hopefully leading to the achievement of objectives’.
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3. A good coach
“Coaches need to have expansive technical knowledge, the skills of a teacher, the counselling wisdom of the psychologist and the administrative skills of the business leader!”
Cassidy et al 2004
Not much then!!!
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4. Why is good coaching so important?
Without good coaching:
Progress has shown to be inhibited by not so much bad teaching but non-thinking or mindless teaching
Some coaches are guilty of giving little or any attention to the understanding of the learning process, what shapes it and subsequently how it can be done better
As ringing teachers and coaches we will get the best results -
If we attempt to understand how the learning process works
If we know about different factors which affect it
If we learn to be reflective in our teaching and learn from our experiences
If we learn to adapt to the individual ringers needs
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5. Steve Peters – British cycling team Special Olympics code of conduct
Good teaching
“Coaches play the part of expert advisors rather than dictatorial father figures”
Steve Peters – British cycling team
“The laws of physics may not change but the way the tutor presents the basic skill will change from minute to minute and learner to learner”
Special Olympics code of conduct
“The right atmosphere can change a person with underdeveloped ability into a talented one”
Shinichi Suzuki
These are a few quotes from top level coaches which give a little insight into the flexible approach to coaching to obtain the best results for each individual learner.
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6. Qualities of a good coach
Results of study of 200 undergraduates’ opinions
Patient
Experienced
A good communicator
Sense of humour
A people manager
Flexible
Organised
Not a dictator
Open minded
Has the ability to teach
Adventurous
Uses time wisely
You may care to ask delegates for their views before showing this slide.
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7. Knowledge It is important to know your subject matter
Ringers will feel confident and positive if they can see you are experienced
Thoroughly understanding the subject matter will make you a more confident coach
The more knowledge you have the broader your options will be when teaching
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8. Coaching skills Vision Knowledge Organisation/planning
Creating the right atmosphere
Communication
Use your coaching skills to help to progress to where you want to get your band.
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9. What is your coaching philosophy?
Why do I teach ringers?
What are my guiding principles when I am teaching ringers?
How should I teach?
What is my attitude to Sunday Service ringing?
What is my attitude to young ringers?
What is my attitude to ringers progress?
What is my attitude to health and safety issues?
Who do I want to recruit?
How do I feel about visiting ringers?
Your beliefs and attitudes will shape the way you run your teaching sessions.
The experiences you gain when teaching can be used to modify your attitudes to your future teaching.
YOUR PERSONALITY WILL EFFECT YOUR COACHING PHILOSOPHY
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10. What is your coaching style?
Co-operative?
Ringer-centred
Decisions are guided by the teacher, but shared
Communications are telling, asking, listening
Genuine communication is high
Trust is placed in the ringer by the teacher
Success is judged by ringer and teacher
Flexible
Motivates all
The Co-operative teaching style has been shown to motivate all.
That is because it is not a one size fits all way of teaching but is flexible and takes into account the fact that all the people being taught are different and adapts to suit each one.
When you are teaching you should always be questioning your own rationale for following a certain pathway with a certain learner or ringer.
Becoming a flexible teacher is a skill which individual teachers will have to work on to become good at.
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11. What is your coaching style?
Authoritarian?
Achievement centred
Teacher makes all decisions
Communication style is telling
Genuine communication is little or none
Little or no trust is placed in the ringer
Success judged only by the teacher
Inflexible
Sometimes motivates
As teachers we need to think about our own teaching style and how it affects the people we are teaching.
The way we approach our learners can motivate or de -motivate them.
The Authoritarian approach needs less thinking about. The Teacher just expects the learner to do what the teacher decides. But this approach leads to motivation in only some people.
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12. Coaching the individual ringer
Incremental Learning
Steps tailored to the needs of each individual
Every learner will be different. The Teacher should understand the implications of this and adapt his or her teaching to the individual
Individual ringers will learn more quickly at some times than at others. The Teacher should adapt to this too.
The steps should be carefully graded to suit the learner each new skill taught built on the one before.
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13. Centre your teaching on the ringer’s needs
Skills should be built in small steps suited to the individual ringer
The faster learner can sometimes zoom on through several steps in a very short time
It is frustrating for someone with natural flair to be taught at the pace of the slowest learner
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14. How fast to move people on
As people will progress at different speeds – a teacher needs to be flexible
Ensuring that ringers are competent at each skill before moving on will not hold them back
Without the right skills you condemn your ringers to failure
Create variety at a similar level to maintain interest & provide mental stimulation
A simulator will be useful to develop skills
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15. Learner-centred teaching
Flexible teaching style
Decisions guided by the teacher but shared with the ringer where possible
Close communications, asking and listening as well as telling
Criteria for success judged by teacher and ringer
Has been shown to motivate all!
Rather than take a learner through a fixed path, a learner centred or co-operative approach adapts and modifies the tasks appropriate to each learner.
Some learners will go through the system more quickly and others more slowly. This is to be expected.
Certain learners need more time to practise handling skills and bell control, others will need a longer time to practise listening skills.
Ropesight will develop at a different pace, those with good ropesight will be able to go ahead more quickly at a certain point, while others may need a lot more practise to develop the skill.
With others more emphasis may have to be placed on cognitive skills such as learning methods, calling and conducting.
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16. Using personal goals “That felt great!”
Why do goals enhance performance?
Focus attention towards relevant actions
Foster perseverance
Elicit effort and commitment
Help to breakdown problems into smaller sub-goals which are easier to deal with
When achieved, goals boost self-confidence
A goal is an objective plan to achieve.
Goal setting is one of the strongest motivational tools that a teacher or coach can use to improve performance.
Attempting to improve performance without goal setting has been likened to getting into a car with no steering wheel!
“That felt great!”
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17. Goal setting Should be mutual between teacher and ringer
If goals are imposed or established without significant input from the ringer, they are unlikely to be effective
Need to vary in difficulty from easily attainable to challenging
Should be challenging but never threatening
Should be framed in a positive way
“I will try to do X” rather than “I will try not to do Y”
There are various factors which make using goals or objectives as a tool to improve performance more successful.
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18. Effective goal setting
Factors which moderate the effectiveness of goal setting
The quality of the teaching
The extent to which the learner is committed to the goal
The quality of feedback from the teacher
Goals will not improve performance in those already motivated to do their best  THE CEILING EFFECT
There are various factors which make using goals or objectives as a tool to improve performance less successful.
The 3 factors on this slide place heavy responsibility on the coach to:
Give high quality training
Ensure that when setting goals the learner is involved with the decision.
To spend time thinking about the feedback we are giving;
Timing .
The manner in which it is given.
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19. A prime ring
During each practice every ringer should have at least one piece of ringing specifically to suit their needs
Putting several learners in a touch together will not allow them to hear their own bell; they will be unable to learn from the experience
When all the other ringers are ringing well the learner can hear his own bell more easily
Sometimes it seems easier to run a practice if you can put a few learners in together.
However, if this means more than one bell is striking out of place it will be difficult for the learner to hear his bell.
This will deprive him of the feedback he will receive from hearing his bell.
It is this feedback from hearing and listening to his own bell which will help him to improve his striking.
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20. LOOK – LISTEN – CORRECT NEXT TIME
Standing behind
Opportunity to observe:
Look
Listen
Opportunity to give feedback:
Positive feedback to encourage
Corrective feedback
Advice on how to improve
Use the feedback loop
LOOK – LISTEN – CORRECT NEXT TIME
Remember - no one goes wrong on purpose!
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21. Giving advice on how to improve
Instructions need to be given early enough for the brain to process and act on the information
Advice needs to be given on the previous stroke e.g. when hunting on 5 bells
If you want the ringer get up into fifths place the instruction to put more power into the rope needs to be given to affect the previous handstroke
If you want the ringer to open the handstroke lead the ringer needs to think about the lead when ringing in seconds place at the previous backstroke and ensure there is sufficient power in the swing of the bell to prevent it dropping
Timing is critical

22. When using feedback Be flexible everyone is different
Visual feedback and spoken feedback are processed by different parts of the brain
Use pointing and speaking (visual and auditory prompts) - until you know which the ringer finds most useful
Some ringers like lots of words whilst others prefer few – you need to discuss with your ringer which is more useful to them
Be succinct and specific – give them the information they require to change an action

23. Help your ringers really understand
When teaching use EDR:
Explanation will be particularly useful for auditory learner
Demonstration will be particularly useful for visual learners
Ringing will be particularly useful for kinaesthetic learners
Explain Demonstrate Ring

24. Coachable moments
Getting the ringer in the right frame of mind is important
The ringer will not be always be receptive to the message you are attempting to convey
You may need to wait for a “coachable moment!”
Sometimes a coach has to be patient. A ringer is not always ready to receive the message you want to give them.
Some ringers are overambitious and want to move on before they are ready
Some ringers don’t want to do any studying out of the tower
Some ringers won’t try anything new.
There may come a time when you can influence them and help them “get the point”.
Coachable moments are particularly relevant when working with adolescents and children
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25. Happy Coaching!
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26. Coaching Philosophy
Everyone will develop their own coaching philosophy
Giving thought to this will make your coaching and teaching more effective
There is recent relevant research which has been completed.
A coach’s philosophy will be determined by their attitudes and beliefs and developing a formal coaching philosophy can potentially increase their effectiveness. [Thibert,Nash, Sproule and Horton 2008]
Together with a coaches experience, their philosophy of the way they approach teaching and coaching can have a significant impact on the success of their team. [Jones, Armour and Protac 2002; Cushion 2007]
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27. Practise in virtual reality ...
A tied bell, screen and standard ringing software can provide an answer and can be particularly useful for developing ropesight, rhythm, leading and listening skills.
For methods you can ring any method with or without calls and on any bell or numbers of bells to perfect your method before trying out for real!
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28. So much to think about!
The more coaching you undertake ... The more reflective you make your coaching … The better your coaching will become!
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