#325 Development Coaching Means Cultivating Intuition

In my previous article, I wrote about the meaning of dribbling practice.

The value of dribbling practice is not simply about becoming better at dribbling.
It lies in enhancing the ability to handle the ball with your hands, in other words, your ball-handling skills.

And I talked about how that handling must ultimately be
“sublimated to the level of intuition.”
It is not just about understanding it in your head,

but being able to handle it naturally without thinking.
Only after refining it to that point does it become a true skill.

And within that discussion, there was one more thing I touched upon.

That is,

“Isn't the job of a development coach to sublimate children's skills to the level of intuition?”
However, here we encounter a problem unique to the developmental generation.
That is,

“the level of intuition differs from person to person.”

Children grow up in different environments and have different experiences.
How much have they touched a ball until now?
What kind of practice have they done?

How have they used their bodies?

Naturally, their current level of intuition changes based on these factors.
Furthermore, the way they learn also differs from person to person.
Some children learn by watching, while others learn by trying it out.

Some children find it easier to understand when explained in words,

while others understand better while moving their bodies.

Considering this,

their starting points are different.
Their learning styles are different.

As a result, it is natural that the speed of acquisition and the depth of understanding will also vary.

That is precisely why a question arises in the field of development.
That is the question,

“Is it really okay to just pass on the ‘method I learned’ as it is?”

Coaches also have their own experiences.

“This is how I learned.”

“I got better with this practice.”
Such experiences are very important.
However, it does not necessarily mean that they will work the same way for every child.

A method that is easy to understand for one child

may be difficult for another to grasp.
If coaching is limited to only one method, the child who fits that method might improve.

However, the child who does not fit might have trouble understanding.

As a result, the gap between children who can internalize it to the level of intuition and those who cannot may widen.

This is where the perspective of
“coaching reproducibility”

becomes important.
Coaching is not just about talking about your own experience.

Children understand,

actually become able to do it,
and ultimately become able to handle it as intuition.
I believe that coaching only has meaning when you can guide them to that point.

In other words,

“helping them internalize it to the level of intuition”
is this not one of the important roles of a development coach?
To do that, fine-tuning and adjustments are necessary.

Even if the general direction is the same, you adjust the way you explain things and the practice according to each individual's state.

Through that accumulation, their intuition is gradually refined.
That is why at STEP, we value small-group coaching.
When coaching many people at once, instructions inevitably become centered on the group as a whole.

But with just that, it is hard to see what stage that child is at right now.

What they can do, and what they cannot yet do.

It becomes difficult to look at those things in detail.

At STEP, we conduct small-group coaching specialized in individual skills.

While watching each person's movements,

where is the challenge right now?
Where should they correct?

We check those parts in detail.

Are they at the stage of understanding it as knowledge?

Are they at the stage where they can actually do it?
Or are they at the stage where they can handle it as intuition?
While observing that stage, we make small corrections.

And within that, we refine skills that can be handled as intuition.

Individual skills acquired in this way become a great strength in team practice.
In team practice, there are different things to learn, such as
tactics,

coordination,

and decision-making.

However, having individual skills in a state where they can be handled as intuition as a foundation for participating in that has great significance.

This is because they will no longer be preoccupied with handling the ball,

and will be able to focus on making decisions during play.
By doing so, they will be able to absorb more things even during team practice.
And as a result, they should be able to acquire a different level of basketball.

In the field of development, people tend to focus on

“what to teach.”

But just as important as that is the perspective of
“is it truly internalized as intuition?”

Do they only know it as knowledge?

Can they actually do it?

Or can they do it even unconsciously?
Facing children while observing these stages.
And cultivating skills that can be handled as intuition.

That is what it means to nurture a child's intuition,
and I believe it is one of the important jobs of a development coach.