Thanks Griff. We share a lot of the same influences both inside and outside the MTB world. I'm a huge fan of what GMB is delivering in terms of quality of movement and mobility.
Is using different bikes in a skills work session a legitimate way to add randomness the session? I've never tried it. I always use the same bike for the entire session.
Hey Butch, you're welcome. And I'm glad to hear that you're a fan of GMB Fitness. I like what I've seen so far. Have you taken any of their courses?
As for adding randomness by practicing with another bike in the same session, yes, it's legit. I did it when I was learning to fakie. And I've done it recently with my boulder upright problem. Example here: https://www.strava.com/activities/8009035995
And I plan to do it when I return to practicing wheelies this spring.
Whoa dude, this is wild. I’m gonna have to roll this around my processor a bit and consider how to incorporate this in both my coaching and my own learning techniques.
Thoughts I’ve had:
- performing video review on maybe a 10 minute interval instead of ever attempt or two
- providing clients with more time to “play” between feedback
- providing feedback via open-ended questions rather than direct instructional feedback
- in group lessons, letting riders pass through the training scenario multiple times and then taking a little longer with feedback, rather than trying to provide feedback on every pass for everyone
Michael, I like every item on your bulleted list of thoughts. Really excellent.
Some thoughts that your thoughts triggered for me:
- video review: a student at a face-to-face lesson/clinic could be sent home with a video from their session, with the instructions to email you back what they noticed/felt/wondered about, etc
- play: Gallwey describes how he would instruct his skiing students to sing a song as they went down a slope as a way to help them get out of their overthinking so they could be more playful
- open-ended questions: Gallwey's questions were often designed to increase sensation awareness, for example, "notice the amount of pressure on (hand, foot, etc) when you do X. No pressure is a zero, a lot of pressure is a 3." And then later, "what do you notice happens when the pressure is X?"
- group lessons: Gallwey would ask similar 'sensation' awareness questions in a group setting so that everyone could benefit from each other's observations, insights, etc. And these types of questions leveled the field so that students who excelled in the technique were no different than those who were struggling, ie, no stars, no slugs.
Do any of those thoughts trigger any insights for you?
video: this is certainly time efficient for the coach! It would work best if coach and client were both on iOS so the video could be airdropped - otherwise, it could be a brutal upload depending on how much video was captured for review. The coach would have to be on the ball to ensure the video captured was succinct. Worth trying, for sure. This would definitely be a strong coaching flex in an ongoing coaching/instruction relationship rather than a one-and-done lesson.
play: I love this idea. maybe a short jingle or something, since a lot of MTB practice scenarios are quite quick. I can see this being really useful to get clients out of their heads on a pump track, for example, where there are so many things they could be thinking about.
Open-ended and group: yeah, this is super interesting. Some thought required by the coach to have gauges ready to go and patience while clients get used to thinking this way.
Michael, there are online services that make video analysis and feedback to students easier. I use the Dartfish app for my own personal use, but they have various other levels for coaches:
I used to teach rollerblading (no sniggering at the back) and we were told to emphasise the feeling of a move. Not 'lean forward' but 'shift your weight so you can feel your bodyweight pushing down into the sole of your foot - remember that feeling'. It's funny how we all think we're doing something when in reality we're not!
Dogtank, that difference in a coaching directive (focusing a student's attention on a sensation) is straight from the Inner Games philosophy. It typically is followed by "what do you notice about the difference it makes?" or somesuch question.
Interesting post, and one that I think favours the RLC method of breaking down steps of any move into small discrete chunks. So instead of trying to figure out multiple moves & balance points whilst peering at a youtube video it means you can go out with a single clear & predefined goal (bring the wheel up, hit the balance point, break it down etc) and just repeat that move with intention and subsequent reflection.
Re the GMB video - I'm also a member (albeit I don't use it as much as I should) and I thoroughly respect their approach to the online fitness space. But it's worth bearing in mind that their business model includes post-session reflection / expert video review and they are in direct competition with 'real life' gyms that offer immediate feedback.
Finally one thing on the overnight transfer to long term memory - watched a podcast the other day that suggested that this is primarily driven by delta sleep and that delta sleep is heavily disrupted by alcohol. So not sure if it's true (and as a keen homebrewer I don't want it to be!) but that may be something to think about when picking your reward paths.
Dogtank, for a sobering (hah!) update on the science of alcohol, see this recent Huberman Lab episode titled "What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health"
I've since cut back on my usual wine or beer before-dinner habit, and it's greatly improved my sleep.
Thanks Griff. We share a lot of the same influences both inside and outside the MTB world. I'm a huge fan of what GMB is delivering in terms of quality of movement and mobility.
Is using different bikes in a skills work session a legitimate way to add randomness the session? I've never tried it. I always use the same bike for the entire session.
Hey Butch, you're welcome. And I'm glad to hear that you're a fan of GMB Fitness. I like what I've seen so far. Have you taken any of their courses?
As for adding randomness by practicing with another bike in the same session, yes, it's legit. I did it when I was learning to fakie. And I've done it recently with my boulder upright problem. Example here: https://www.strava.com/activities/8009035995
And I plan to do it when I return to practicing wheelies this spring.
Whoa dude, this is wild. I’m gonna have to roll this around my processor a bit and consider how to incorporate this in both my coaching and my own learning techniques.
Thoughts I’ve had:
- performing video review on maybe a 10 minute interval instead of ever attempt or two
- providing clients with more time to “play” between feedback
- providing feedback via open-ended questions rather than direct instructional feedback
- in group lessons, letting riders pass through the training scenario multiple times and then taking a little longer with feedback, rather than trying to provide feedback on every pass for everyone
Michael, I like every item on your bulleted list of thoughts. Really excellent.
Some thoughts that your thoughts triggered for me:
- video review: a student at a face-to-face lesson/clinic could be sent home with a video from their session, with the instructions to email you back what they noticed/felt/wondered about, etc
- play: Gallwey describes how he would instruct his skiing students to sing a song as they went down a slope as a way to help them get out of their overthinking so they could be more playful
- open-ended questions: Gallwey's questions were often designed to increase sensation awareness, for example, "notice the amount of pressure on (hand, foot, etc) when you do X. No pressure is a zero, a lot of pressure is a 3." And then later, "what do you notice happens when the pressure is X?"
- group lessons: Gallwey would ask similar 'sensation' awareness questions in a group setting so that everyone could benefit from each other's observations, insights, etc. And these types of questions leveled the field so that students who excelled in the technique were no different than those who were struggling, ie, no stars, no slugs.
Do any of those thoughts trigger any insights for you?
video: this is certainly time efficient for the coach! It would work best if coach and client were both on iOS so the video could be airdropped - otherwise, it could be a brutal upload depending on how much video was captured for review. The coach would have to be on the ball to ensure the video captured was succinct. Worth trying, for sure. This would definitely be a strong coaching flex in an ongoing coaching/instruction relationship rather than a one-and-done lesson.
play: I love this idea. maybe a short jingle or something, since a lot of MTB practice scenarios are quite quick. I can see this being really useful to get clients out of their heads on a pump track, for example, where there are so many things they could be thinking about.
Open-ended and group: yeah, this is super interesting. Some thought required by the coach to have gauges ready to go and patience while clients get used to thinking this way.
As always, Griff, you've gone deep on this.
Michael, there are online services that make video analysis and feedback to students easier. I use the Dartfish app for my own personal use, but they have various other levels for coaches:
https://www.dartfish.com/
I used to teach rollerblading (no sniggering at the back) and we were told to emphasise the feeling of a move. Not 'lean forward' but 'shift your weight so you can feel your bodyweight pushing down into the sole of your foot - remember that feeling'. It's funny how we all think we're doing something when in reality we're not!
Dogtank, that difference in a coaching directive (focusing a student's attention on a sensation) is straight from the Inner Games philosophy. It typically is followed by "what do you notice about the difference it makes?" or somesuch question.
Interesting post, and one that I think favours the RLC method of breaking down steps of any move into small discrete chunks. So instead of trying to figure out multiple moves & balance points whilst peering at a youtube video it means you can go out with a single clear & predefined goal (bring the wheel up, hit the balance point, break it down etc) and just repeat that move with intention and subsequent reflection.
Re the GMB video - I'm also a member (albeit I don't use it as much as I should) and I thoroughly respect their approach to the online fitness space. But it's worth bearing in mind that their business model includes post-session reflection / expert video review and they are in direct competition with 'real life' gyms that offer immediate feedback.
Finally one thing on the overnight transfer to long term memory - watched a podcast the other day that suggested that this is primarily driven by delta sleep and that delta sleep is heavily disrupted by alcohol. So not sure if it's true (and as a keen homebrewer I don't want it to be!) but that may be something to think about when picking your reward paths.
Thanks, Dogtank. I'll get back to you ASAP!
Dogtank, for a sobering (hah!) update on the science of alcohol, see this recent Huberman Lab episode titled "What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health"
I've since cut back on my usual wine or beer before-dinner habit, and it's greatly improved my sleep.
https://hubermanlab.com/what-alcohol-does-to-your-body-brain-health/
I have seen that it is available, but I'm pretty sure it will not be good news so I'm putting it off!
Dogtank, good point about GMB and immediate feedback. However, I see that they did at least one live Elements event last year. Any idea how that went?
https://gmb.io/e-live/
No idea, sorry. Live events in the US often don't translate well to Aus timezones.
Yes, offering small chunks of a complex skill in a logical progression is indeed a strength of RLC. And delayed feedback from coaches, too.