c:eativity - Handball Goalkeeper Coaching
Transcription
c:eativity - Handball Goalkeeper Coaching
LEARNING c:eativity IN SPORT OR (COACH V CHILDREN?) HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 2 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 Original title: Učenje kreativnosti u sportu Authors: Marija Papić, Robert Papić Photography: Nikola Šerventić Reviewer: Vinko Tomljanović, prof. English translation: Nina Šebečić Crnolatac Self published - Marija i Robert Papić Publishing place and date: Zagreb, Croatia, 15. 06. 2013. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the National and University Library in Zagreb under 844618 ISBN 978-953-57229-2-2 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means without the written permission of the publisher. ALWAYS WITH HANDBALL!!! Globesport is one of the leading Croatian sports travel agencies. Operating since 1993, we organized numerous training camps for handball, football, basketball, and volleyball national and club teams. Since 2003 we have organized International Youth Handball Camp for young players in Rovinj. It is unique handball event where Croatian handball school has been introduced to the participants from different countries by some of the best Croatian trainers for young players. Mr. Papić is one of the trainers in our camp since the very first years and we feel very happy and proud of it. www.globesport.hr 3 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 Marija and Robert Papić LEARNING CREATIVITY IN SPORT ZAGREB, 2012. 4 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 CONTENT OPERATIONAL MANUAL 7 INTRODUCTION 8 TOPIC 0: BEFORE START 13 Beginning and the end are the same 15 What is obvious and what is hidden? 16 Talents and traps They are easy to train, they do not resist 19 21 TOPIC 1: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS 24 TOPIC 2: TECHNICAL TACTICAL CREATIVITY What we learn and what we forget? 33 36 Missing data, neurons or pathway? 47 Creativity is (not) learnt in a creative way? 48 Where are we stuck? Where are you leading me? 49 58 Coach’s job is to stay out of the job 59 Discipline is not equal to drill 60 What are the rules – shackles or foundations of trust? 61 We play how we live Authoritative leadership 63 66 Democratic “leadership“ 74 Competent leadership 80 5 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 TOPIC 3: TOPIC 4: TOPIC 5: BIOMECHANICS OF MOVEMENT 85 Traditional approach 88 Handball education 91 How to create exercises? 100 PSYCHOMOTOR SPEED Traditional methods 109 118 Children need wasting time? 120 Handball education 122 Peripheral vision = genetic gift to chosen ones 1 speed of receiving information 127 131 2 creating filters 136 MATCHES 139 More is less It is more fun in a group 141 142 For whom do we play? 142 Could wins be defeats? 144 Opportunity? What is the key of leadership? 144 145 Repeating the obvious or searching for the directions? 146 Coaches, fans, drivers or something else? 147 Alternative ways of playing 152 The match is a manifestation of cooperation 153 INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION 155 6 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 Foreword: Vinko Tomljanović I have been following young handball experts Marija and Robert Papić for a long time. I know Marija first as a top handball player playing for the national team but also as an upand-coming handball expert. She has graduated from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Kinesiology. She has played for 15 years in the premier league in Croatia, for several teams: HC “Lokomotiva”, Zagreb; HC “Zamet”, Rijeka; HC “Zaprešić” and has played for the Croatian national team around 30 times. She started her work as a coach right after finishing her professional career as a player and lead the Handball School for HC “Lokomotiva” with great success. Robert is bachelor of sports coaching, graduated from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Kinesiology. He has played handball for HC “Trnje”. Very early in his career he started working as a handball coach for Handball Schools HC ”Zagreb” and HC “Medveščak”. It was even then obvious that Robert was talented and very promising young handball expert. He has trained senior teams of several clubs in Croatia: HC “Medveščak”, HC “Arena“ and HC “Našice“, as well as youth and senior teams CH “Peniscola“ and C. E. “Tortosa”, in Spain. I have been actively engaged in education and specialisation of handball coaches for long time now, therefore I can competently confirm that “Robi” is one of the young experts, whom I greatly respect. I divide coaches into “thinkers” and “practitioners”. Robert is a quiet type, modest, speaks his mind, he is good in thinking and explaining, has a clear vision of the handball game and knows what he is doing. Title of the book itself draws special curiosity of those who are seriously engaged in handball as a profession. This book is specific, written in a “out of the box” way. One should thoroughly study it, in order to evaluate it. To quote authors, this book is about using coaches in education of children who train handball. This book is not about coaches who use children and handball to fulfil their personal goals of different kinds. In this book the theory and the methodology of technique are presented in a specific way, adapted to characteristics and basic needs of children from 6-8 years of age. The book describes how to make possible for children to naturally develop their talents, how to learn some technical elements without the use of traditional methods, how to develop psychomotor speed, creativity and so on. Because the children of today are different 7 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 from those of 20 years ago, coaching children is based on the integrated approach. It is neither a military drill nor senseless over-exercising; it is a well-designed process of practice. Discipline is necessary; however, it does not mean strictness. Discipline means a learning process. In this book authors explain in a very good way the status of coaches, relationships and interactions in their work with children. They have also conducted a small research on samples of children from two schools; where one group was trained by traditional methods while other group by methods of “handball upbringing”, presented in this book. The book „Handball Education ¼“, is a very valuable text in the field of handball, which will be seen in very near future. Vinko Tomljanović, prof. Senior Sport Coach, Expert Consultant to the Croatian Olympic Academy 8 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 PERATI NAL MANUAL or: how not to waste your time reading this book This book is about children. This book is about handball. This book is about using coaches in upbringing of children who play handball. Reverse logic is not applicable: This book is not about coaches who use children and handball to fulfil their personal goals (money, employment, massaging someone’s ego, hobby after career as player, achieving fame, ensuring status in the society,…). his book is about children which decided to train and play handball in the age between 6-8. It is adjusted to their characteristics and essential needs. Described processes cover about 2 years of training, just before when children move up to the next development stage. If you coach children of 9-10 years, reduce period of training from 2 to 1 year and for older we recommend to cut training period to 6 months. Next stages of “handball education” are based on full understanding of this book and after using methods described in this book for proper period. Do not jump over development stages nor rush up children in learning, because if you are consistent and hardworking person, you should have plenty of time to do your job. If you are concerned about wins or defeats, especially in guiding children, please stop reading this book. There are neither shortcuts here nor recipes on how to quickly develop your career as a coach. T RUSH IS THE WORST. WHERE THE RUSH IS THERE ARE NEITHER FRUITS NOR FLOWERS. FEAR IS TYPICAL FOR IT, HUMAN BEHAVES LIKE A MACHINE, HE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE ANYMORE, HE IS NOT FREE, HE DOES NOT RECOGNIZE OTHERS. ERNESTO SABATO Expiry date of the book indicated on the cover. 9 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 PREFACE or: what questions are important MANY PEOPLE ARE RIGHT WHEN THEY CLAIM THEY NEVER CHANGE THEIR OPINIONS, BUT THEY DO WRONG WHEN THEY BRAG ABOUT IT. IT ONLY SHOWS THAT THEY HAVE LEARNT NOTHING SINCE THE DAY THEIR OPINION WAS FORMED. SUCH OBVIOUS 10 IGNORANCE AND SPREAD AROUND. PROOF STUPIDITY OF ONE’S OWN SHOULD NOT BE GUSTAVE LE BON HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 JABBERWOCKY Twas brilling, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. Lewis Carroll 11 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 What were the slithy toves doing in the wabe? How would you describe the state of the borogroves? Let us say that for past 10-15 years we have been finding answers to questions like those in the literature, about teaching young players handball skills. When we started to ask following questions: (this sign will appear very often in this book) Were the borogroves right to feel mimsey? How effective was the mome raths strategy? It became more and more difficult to find not good, but at least somewhat satisfying answers. 12 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 Dear reader, If you are looking to find answers to following questions: How to move by foot-over-foot steps What is a basic training structure for children of age of 7 Importance of learning athletic and gymnastic elements in handball training Or you are searching to find 10 good new exercises to enrich your exercise collection we have to disappoint you, this book is not for you. There are enough books on the market covering those topics, no need to write another one. If you are looking to find answers to following questions: How to help children to develop their talents in natural way Why are some children the best at the practice session but feeling lost during the match How to teach (some) technical elements without persistent repetition by coach: “Not this way, but that way.” How to help for children develop psychomotor speed from the day one Why are there so many discussions about creativity in pedagogy and could we transfer some of that in our sport We are on a quest for those answers. Join us on this journey. We do not have recipes, which you will follow and win all matches. We want to stimulate you to start thinking about different approach to handball and education, to create more efficient methods of learning technical elements, about training and developing relationship 13 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 with children based on mutual respect, (re)forming coach into a real leader that players are not afraid off. We do not want to dismiss one dogma and impose a new one. We want to point out that there is a different route to the same goal, and that is good handball players - perhaps good people too. We use and have used traditional methods in our work from mini handball to first team players. For that reason we will try to indicate and rate at least those basic ones in each chapter. Our goal is to help coaches in finding ways to train and to develop relationship with children, in order for children to function at the best possible way at the present and to feel ready for the future and handball that will be played in 20 years from now. CHILDREN OF TODAY ARE DIFFERENT OF THE ONES FROM 20 YEARS AGO. HANDBALL PLAYED IN THE SENIOR LEAGUE TODAY IS AS WELL DIFFERENT FROM THE HANDBALL PLAYED 20 YEARS AGO. IN 20 YEARS TODAY’S CHILDREN WILL BE DIFFERENT THAN TODAY’S GROWNUPS. HANDBALL THEY WILL PLAY WILL AS WELL BE DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE PLAYED TODAY. 14 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 Topic 0: BEF RE START 15 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 L et us assume that a child came to a first training at the age between 6 and 11 years. The goal of its development process is to play good in the age of 19 and 35 years (or older). Hence, handball education lasts between 8 to 12 years. In this age there are often discrepancies in WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF NEUROTIC RUSH, chronological and biological age. There are EVERYDAY ROUTINE WHICH DESTROYS children of 7 years with biological characte- HUMAN CREATIVITY AND WILL. ristics of those aged 9 or 6. For that reason it is ERNESTO SABATO not advisable to take age element for granted. Age is just an orientation and in contest of personal development it is just a stage of growing up, more than an age frame. Should we try to fit players into this program, it would be much easier to fit them good if we look at described characteristics and capabilities, than solely at their age. The route from the first training to the first senior match is divided into 4 parts: STAGE 1 (6 - 9 years) – „HANDBALL EDUCATION ¼“ Children enrol in a handball section at their school or to nearby handball club, they learn basic technical elements and coexisting in the group, they get to know their coach, play first matches… STAGE 2 (10 - 12 years) - „HANDBALL EDUCATION 2/4“ Children left their entry stage of adjustment to the new world and they play mini handball, the first match is behind them so are the first victory and the first defeat, a New Coach is now just a Coach, some new kids became teammates… STAGE 3 (13 – 15 years) - „HANDBALL EDUCATION ¾“ Children have been playing mini handball for 2-3 years and are moving into real handball, they become familiar with shallow and deep defences, rival teams already demonstrate 2-3 attacking combinations, they move from elementary to high school, puberty just around the corner… STAGE 4 (16 - ...) - „HANDBALL EDUCATION 4/4“ Children become adults, a lot is expected from them, they need to be responsible and they decide their future in professional career. At the same time they need to fit handball into all that, asking themselves if one could live out of playing handball, what are their ambitions and what are their parents’ plans for them... 16 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 E HOW ARE BOOKS WRITTEN? or: beginning and the end are the same very player is an integral human being consisting of numerous characteristics and capabilities, which are present in different proportions and linked in different ways for each individual player. For better understanding of the human race, the Western culture is dividing us into physical, psychological and spiritual parts, and each of those splitting down to smaller parts – characteristics and capabilities. IF WE TEACH CHILDREN TO UNCOVER Using the same logic we could divide a handball THEMSELVES WITHOUT THE BALL BY player into (white petals): psychological CRITICISING THEM WHEN THEY FAIL TO characteristics and capabilities, motor skills and DO IT, WITH TIME THEY WILL LEARN technical-tactical (te-ta) preparedness. We could HOW TO DO IT RIGHT, BUT THEY WILL HAVE LESS SELF-ESTEEM. have influence on each of those characteristics. Direct or indirect. Positive or negative. Insufficient IF WE TEACH CHILDREN TO UNCOVER or excessive. By influencing, we permanently affect THEMSELVES WITHOUT THE BALL BY the quality of performance – of playing handball. In EXPLAINING THEM HOW TO DO IT, WITH our books a development of those characteristics TIME THEY WILL LEARN HOW TO DO IT RIGHT, BUT WE DIMINISH THEIR NEED will be the goal, but not the mean. FOR THEIR OWN INITIATIVE. Our main interests are areas presented in grey petals, those that are, according to our opinion, the IF WE CREATE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT key to successful playing. They are often wrongly WITHOUT OUR INSTRUCTIONS, THEY interpreted, insufficiently trained, superficially WILL LEARN HOW TO UNCOVER THEMSELVES RIGHT AND AT THE SAME studied or they are considered as being facts that TIME THEIR SELF-ESTEEM WILL GROW could not be influenced on. A player has it or not. AS WELL AS THEIR INTERNAL GUIDANCE. The talent is the key to success in sport and makes qualitative difference. We want to point out that IF WE SUCCEED IN LATER, OUR PLAYERS WILL BE BETTER HANDBALL PLAYERS SO there is a way to develop or to destroy the talent WE WILL BE BETTER HANDBALL COACHES. that is being realised or destroyed during children’s IT ALSO MEANS WE WILL NEED TO FIGHT development. Although it may seem that the goal OUR EGO DURING THE WHOLE PROCESS. of our books are related to socially pedagogic matters, the true is just the opposite: the goal is to positively influence on characteristics and capabilities which were, till very recently, considered a genetic gift. Nowadays we know this 17 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 is not the case. We could expect following consequences: so-called “average” will enjoy more than before and so-called “talented” will further develop their talents. Each of the books has similar structure: 3 key chapters (te-ta creativity, biomechanics of movement and psychomotor speed) in which we will talk about training methods, characteristics of the game appropriate for each age, theory and practical tips. In some parts, and for better understanding, we will explain one petal, refer to another and merge them together. Assuming children are integral human beings we conclude that training has to be designed in an integral way. It is not possible to write 3 chapters at the same time, we have to start with the beginning and finish with the end, although we think that the end is the foundation of what our beginning is. We see the game and the competition as key elements in players’ development and main reasons for children, later adults, to join the handball club. We will try to put the game into the centre of all, or at least most of the contents and the competition will be used as the key training element in the development of characteristics and capabilities needed for handball playing. This will be the case when we talk about recreational playing for fun or the highest level of professional handball playing. We have started from the goal which assumed a healthy grown up person, personally and socially responsible, with developed sense of their own value and self-esteem, satisfied with her/his life. Our goal is a handball player playing quality handball determined by his talent and developed in a stimulating environment. ON THE WAY TO BECOME SENIOR HANDBALL PLAYER KEY PERSONS IN THE PROCESS ARE PARENTS AND THE COACH. THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE CHILDREN HAPPY CHILDHOOD AND HAPPY SPORT LIFE. WHITE AND GREY PETALS or: what is obvious and what is hidden? Usual splits of prepardness for successful handball playing consist of: 1. Technical preparedness 2. Tactical preparedness 3. Physical preparedness 18 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 4. Psychological preparedness We asked ourselves: What is the link between them? What is of key importance? What could be influenced? If it seems that above questions are not important to answer or that there are obvious answers to them, let us try to answer following three questions: Why are some players very smart and understand all what is explained to them, they use very good technique, but during the match they are not creative at all. We called that „grey petal” a technical-tactical creativity. This is a combination of conscious– intellectual processes and handball technique. It can be trained from the moment children learn 3 basics technical elements and understand the point of having rules. In this book we will explain what foundation is best to achieve that creativity. Why are some players extraordinary fast, handy with the ball and coordinating their body, but during the match, in the fight for a ball, in the moment of the shooting in one-on-one/two-on-two situations, they are not as efficient and as successful as those which are slower and bit clumsy. Some call it the anticipation. We joined the group calling it the psychomotor speed – a combination of unconscious reactions and motoric capabilities of humans. This could be trained as from 6 years of the age. Why are some players strong with good playing technique, but others are more efficient in shooting and feinting. We call it the biomechanics of movement. This is because we see a “technique” as partial movement of individual body parts and body could be efficient only if movements are harmonised with motoric capabilities. The biomechanics of the movement has to be trained since the day one. 19 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 D vd materials are created by working with random group. We deliberately did not choose talented players, there are unsuccessful trials, in some cases the progress from unsuccessful to successful performance is purposely presented and the scenes showing children with ADHD syndrome were not hidden. We did that because we were generally bit tired of seeing perfect cases in the literature, which are not possible to replicate unless one is a coach to the national team. As a result, the frustration of us “regular coaches” and “regular players” was growing. On DVD you will see authentic pupils from several elementary schools in Tortosa on the south of Cataluña- Spain. They were not chosen by us to join handball school, they came from school groups from several schools and only few of them joined the handball club of the Centre d“Esports Tortosa. We asked their parents why their children were there. The answers were: : he stays one hour longer at school, convenient for me to pick him up after work : in the football group I really do not like when some parents of youngest players offend judges : this is free, comparing to costly babysitting : he followed his best friend who also joined : he runs a lot on the training and at home he is then calm : she is quiet girl, to herself; during training she opens up and make new friends. : he is bit clumsy so on the football training nobody passes him the ball : he likes it and I think he is happy there W riting of this first book took us around 15 years, although actual recording, drawings and typing took three months. All examples in this book are authentic, we only changed names. So, dear reader, read slowly, watch what we have recorded, compare to your own experience, give yourself a time to evaluate what we offer, criticise us, we are available on following places: rukometniodgoj.blogspot.com.es [email protected] we consider critics a free advice 20 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 SHOULD A CHILD START TRAINING HANDBALL AT THE AGE OF 6? gifts and traps Story No 1: Story No 2: All parents wish all the best for their children. Given that there is 4,5 million inhabitants in Croatia, the key is: none of the children with even slight talent should not be omitted. I think that general system of values should be such to enable environment where children of pre-school age, when they are formed for a future, could develop their talents. This is where prosperity of our country lies. We have generally neglected people. People are the most important, they move things. To me it all seems as fire extinguishing on the border of a fire. One should extinguish fire at its source. I think that at the age of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 year kids are being formed and established to become adults desirable for the society. I spent my childhood in Gajnice, a quarter in Zagreb. I practiced sport from 3 - 13 years of age, 3 to 4 hours per day. Content of trainings were different and well planned. My coach for physical development made me fit to climb most of the trees in the neighbourhood and to run away from an adult (later I realised some adults were letting me run away, they thought it was enough to scare me away from their cherry trees). Sociology expert, whose expertise came from many years of studying interactions among players, prepared me to cooperate in the sport group. Through interactions with older teammates I learnt logic of hierarchy. Through wide spectra of different sports an expert in biomechanics gave me a base for later specialisation in sport. I learnt that one who owns the ball, always plays, no matter how bad player he is. This is all hidden in kids. We have to recognise in time those talents and encourage kids to develop them and therefore become healthy, successful people and consequently the nation with perspective. I am not saying we should focus only on one specific skill, instead we should teach them to enjoy walking, camping, to love nature, to move around, to have pleasure in all they do. Consequence: I have never been seriously engaged in sport as a player. Today I am a proud father of three and again observing what is going on on the courts. 21 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 Because we function in a simple way: if something nice happens to us in childhood, we will support it in the future. For that reason childhood is very important. When kid starts to go to school, it is already late for many things to develop. They already know all, they have their own system of values, they already know what they want and what their priorities are. This is why I think focus of society should be on those young people. We have to invest into young generation. Now I am looking from the different angle. I usually see a fear in parents when kid is climbing, when they protect their kids from „big boys”. Neighbour’s cherry tree is not a question of speed but question of morality. From the “kingdom of games” a street turned into the worst place for growing up, there are more school hours to attend to, more obligatory after school activities – informatics, foreign languages, organised birthday parties… we follow scary stories in the media and we fear for our kids, so we put them under constant surveillance. I am not sure if a solution would be to enrol kids at the early stage to any sport because, in most of the cases, that means constant surveillance and ongoing advising by adults. This means preventing of natural development of above mentioned capabilities. Still, it feels that this is a better choice than opting for way of life where sitting dominates: too much studying, passive fun and too much of obligatory free time activities. Joško Vlašić, -“Nedjeljom U2”-, HRT, 2007. 22 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF 6 YEARS OLD CHILDREN or: they are easy to train, they do not resist A fter they grew in size very fast in their early childhood, their growth now is much slower: they grow in height about 5 cm, in weight 2-3 kg, per year. It is going to be like that until they will be 10-11 years old. Due to the fact that their physical development is not so fast MY FRIEND DID NOT EXPLAIN A THING. PERHAPS HE BELIEVED I they are capable to quickly RESEMBLE HIM. learn new moves, no BUT I UNFORTUNATELY CAN NOT SEE THE SHEEP THROUGH THE BOX. PERHAPS I AM SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO ADULTS. matter how complicated I PROBABLY GOT OLD. they may seem. Their joints ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY are flexible, their muscles elastic and for that reason they are capable of making high amplitude movements of all extremities. Considering their low average weight falls and collisions between themselves should not be a problem. It is, however, extremely important that demand in physical activities is in line with their physical strength, otherwise it could result in permanent negative effects on their body. They are very resistant; they can play, run and jump around couple of hours a day. Their heart is abundantly supplied with blood thanks to a good coronary artery flow and fast blood flow. High elasticity of blood vessels walls and lower blood pressure levels increase functionality of the whole cardiovascular system. This is possible only if children alternate periods of playing and relaxing. They are the best controllers of such alternation as they have natural inhibition (slowing down) mechanism which does not allow excessive physical activities. When they need a break, they will stop. M ost children, in their childhood are not sufficiently physically active. For healthy growth and development it is advisable to enrol them to handball or any other sport at the age of 6-7. However, each development stage has its specifics, so it is not good to train small kids as if they were older. If we make mistake and start too early with 23 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 specialised level of training, we will first see good results and then permanent break of talent development, at the level below real their potential. It is comparable to psychological characteristics: mistakes made at this age will not be obvious immediately, but will have permanent effect on the senior athlete. Most of the children have passed their major struggle for independence, when they were 2-3 years old. It is quiet period now, called latent period. As a result of developing social skills we see better control of the behaviour and interaction with others. They have growing need to satisfy criteria of peers. They still have difficulties to see difference between reality and imagination; most of them do not know how to use logic and to think in cause-effect terms. We should not forget that children aged 6 are not capable of critical thinking. There is pronounced need to please adults. Kids fit to our standards: some will misuse and others will lead them in accordance to their needs and THIS IS HOW THEY ARE. THEY SHOULD NOT BE BLAMED enjoy while doing that. As KIDS OUGHT TO BE VERY TOLERANT TOWARDS GROWN-UPS. toddlers, they will scream a lot, as LITTLE PRINCE 15 years old they will reject any communication, as 6 years old they will usually not openly protest. However, they will protest if we hurt them by our actions, because for them, it is most important to please us. Even when we disrupt their natural development with our behaviour and actions, direct consequences will not be seen before puberty, when they are mostly formed as persons and it is almost impossible to influence them. They are capable of keeping the attention only for a short time and often they wander off in their minds and then come back. This does not mean they do not care; on the contrary, it helps them to process and store huge amount of information that surrounds them. We have to help them by leaving them in peace – during the day we need to ensure enough time for them for careless play, when they are only relaxing and at the same time absorbing new facts they learnt. 24 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 7 8 functions of psychomotor capacity and coordination other fitness capabilities coordination capabilities balance 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 o oo oo o motor agility o o o oo oo oo oo oo oo oo psychomotor coordination o o o oo oo oo o reaction to sound and visual stimuli o oo oo motoric rythm o o oo oo o o ability to orient in space o o o o o oo oo oo endurance o o o o o oo oo oo oo oo oo oo o o o oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo strenght o o o o o speed o o o motoric learning o o oo oo oo oo o o oo oo cognitive function o o oo oo oo oo o o o o emotional reaction o o o oo oo o o oo oo o o o o o oo oo oo o oo oo oo o o ability to form and combine movements ability to differentiate and control ability to balance ability to orient in space o o o o o o o o oo oo o oo oo oo oo reaction ability rhythm ability o o o…development; oo…max. development Sensible stages – the best age to develop characteristics and capabilities, (according to Martin, 1982.) 25 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 Topic 1: S CIAL DEVEL PMENTS or (r)evolution to progress There was one very stubborn child who had never obeyed his mother. For that reason the God did not like that child and made him sick so that no doctor could make him better. Soon child died. When put into his grave and covered by earth, his little hand came out. They put his hand back under the ground and covered it with more earth, but this did not help and hand kept coming out on the surface. Then his mother came to his grave and flogged his little hand. After that his hand stayed under ground, the child came to his peace in his grave. * This was considered obedience in 18th century, seen by brothers Grimm who were authors of books and stories for children. Luckily society develops. W e were children at the end of the 20th century, at that time grown ups believed that they could make us to be obedient only if they kept telling us often enough and with confidence how naughty we were. This was of course with the help of a “strong hand”. In line with that and to improve scores on matches coaches would yell, criticise, swear, and give long speeches on (not) making enough effort, on the responsibility and moral. Results would vary. If team won, that would be a guide on building the self-confidence. If team lost, that would be a clear evidence of lacking the real players in the team, of weak characters, of spoiled children – there is no real blood in them. Players would put their heads down and kept silent; few would dare to even think of what was coach shouting. This best describes the époque, grown-ups and children of that time. In more recent times we have been observing big changes in the society. People began to question the authorities of various kinds. Just being a medical doctor, a teacher, a priest, a coach, will not earn a respect from others nor the authority. How we are becomes more important than who we are. Keeping your mouth shut and standing still is no more prerequisite of a good behaviour. * Grimm, Jakob i Wilhelm: collected stories and tales transl. Bojana Zeljko-Lipovšćak, Mozaik knjiga, Zagreb, 2009. 26 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 C hildren of today are different. They are (over)protected from: bit of a wind and a cold, puddles and wet jeans, dirty shirt and untidiness, climbing the tree and falls, quarrels on the toboggan and sorrow. Parents provide them all the best things, the best money can buy: the best education, IT ONLY MAKES SENSE TO WORK WITH THE FACTS, the best clothes, the best coaches, the NOT ILLUSSIONS ON HOW IT USED TO BE newest mobile-phone model, and the OR HOW IT SHOULD BE, BUT IT IS NOT. best feelings. As often as possible they tell them that they are the smartest, the most beautiful and the most talented kids of all. Protection from the pain that comes with being average became the purpose of the upbringing. When overdoing, kids may begin to feel as objects that symbolises their daddies’ achievements. We often talk about too ambitious parents, but equal effect may come from too much emphasise on education, beauty or any other kind of success. hen kids come to train handball they deserve respect and they all have a right to play in the match. We need to appreciate the fact that they left their cosy home to come to practice. We give medals for all participants in the tournament, not only to the winners. How could any of this be wrong? Many have adopted the idea of building high level of self-esteem by protecting kids from the pain or sorrow. This is a stepping-stone towards the excellence: if he grows up believing he is the best, a child will become the best. There are more and more evidence of just the WE LIVE IN TIME WHERE opposite. Instead of realising their full talent MORE AND MORE IT SEEMS potential many from new generation lack THAT NOT BEING THE BEST IS THE FAILURE. motivation, do not want to face the difficult tasks, do not want to learn from their mistakes, are afraid of disappointment and failures. Even small frustrations cause excessive reactions. They do not give rights to others, the same rights that they demand for themselves. After investing great effort and sacrifice many parents must admit that the expected reward is not there. Then we criticise kids and romantically look back to the good old days, which has nothing to do with the reality. Looking back in time is not much of a use. If coach delivers a pedagogical speech on how it used to be in the good old days, as soon as the day after there will be kids missing from the training and others will come with parents who want to have a word with the coach. Many parents can not persuade kids to come out of the bed or stop playing on the computer, to come to the practice. We have to generate players who will, W 27 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 in fifth teen or twenty years win medals, and will have enough self-confidence to make a difference in an important match. Do we have a right to feel helpless? In order to better illustrate what could a handball coach do while leading his small group, we will start by describing the society we live and work in. We will explain why is our society the way it is, why it is logical that kids and adults are exactly the way they are. EVOLUTION: THE EVOLUTION IS A CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIETY IN WHICH ONE NATION OR A STATE LIVES THEIR DAILY ROUTINE WITHOUT PARTICULAR STRESS. SOME INDIVIDUALS START BRINGING CHANGES INTO THEIR LIVES WHICH AFFECT OTHER PEOPLE, WHO START FOLLOWING OR IMITATING THEM. IF THIS CHANGE IS ACCEPTABLE FOR ENOUGH PEOPLE, THERE WILL BE A SMALL CHANGE IN THE WAY WHOLE SOCIETY LIVES. SOME OTHER INDIVIDUALS START ANOTHER CHANGE. BY THE METHOD OF NATURAL SELECTION AND WITH TIME SOME OF THE CHANGES WILL BECOME MORE IMPORTANT AND OTHERS WILL SIMPLY VANISH- SO LITTLE BY LITTLE THE LIFE OF THE WHOLE NATION WILL CHANGE. REVOLUTION: THE REVOLUTION IS A RESULT OF HIGH AMPLITUDE CHANGES THAT CAME FROM VERY STRESSFUL HISTORICAL EVENTS, LIK E WARS OR DICTATORSHIPS. IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE TAK ES LEADERSHIP OF THE COUNTRY AND IMPOSE THEIR OWN ATTITUDES AND RULES. THIS PROVOK ES REFUSAL AND AS SOON AS CONDITIONS ARE MET, THE REVOLUTION TAKES PLACE AND THE GOVERNMENT IS TAK EN BY ANOTHER GROUP. USUALLY NEW LEADING GROUP IS VINDICTIVE SO THEY IMPOSE SOME NEW NORMS AND MAKE SURE THAT IN JUST A MOMENT ALL BAD, BUT ALSO SOME GOOD THINGS, FROM THEIR PREDECESSORS ARE WIPED OFF. CHANGES IN A LIFE OF THE WHOLE NATION HAPPEN “OVERNIGHT”. WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT FOR THIS BOOK BECAUSE OUR K IDS ARE THE WAY THEY ARE , EXACTLY FOR THAT REASON 28 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 THE PENDULUM OF THE SOCIAL CHANGES DICTATORSHIP CONSEQUENCE OF DICTATORSHIP We have gained the experience in working with kids (and adults) in two countries – in Croatia and in Spain. The important detail is that in Spain we have trained people speaking Catalan language (Cataluña and Comunidad Valenciana). Histories of Catalonia and Croatia, especially last 100 years, are quite similar which helped the fact that people from two nations function in a similar way. 29 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 T hose who have successfully submitted themselves to the totalitarian system enjoyed a special feeling of security. If they did not disturb a ruling party by their acts and behaviours, they were good and safe. The very same logic was applied to the kids’ upbringing and education: be obedient, submit to the one who has a power and you will be welloff. Today Catalan leaders are people who belong to the other side of the pendulum. They are also parents of kids we have trained. The way they felt about traditional methods of upbringing at home and at school is best seen in their own view on upbringing today. Most of them want to raise their kids in an exactly opposite way of what they experienced in their childhood. Sometimes it seems there is an issue with kids respecting authorities, but it seems to be an issue with adults too. Officially, there is no more fear, everybody is free to think and do what they want, until they reach the point of being offensive. However, many do not know what to do with that freedom: Maya is 7 years old. Her father is ready to argue with her teacher to achieve better but not deserved grades for her. If necessary, he would quarrel with the teacher or go to the principal. From his point of view, he is protecting her from the authority and Maya can clearly see that. He is taking Maya to the clinic to do a blood check: a nurse is preventing him to enter the room with her. Although she is screaming and crying and is practically ripped out of his arms. He is not arguing with the nurse, but quietly listening Maya’s screams behind the closed door. Maya can clearly see that. Some of the fundamental directions of this new method of upbringing are presented below with several typical phrases. How similar this is to the society we live in, it is for us to evaluate. 30 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 I HAD NOTHING I WILL BUY YOU EVERYTHING MY MOTHER WAS A HOUSEWIFE YOUR MOTHER IS AMBITIOUS AND WORKS ALL DAY IT WAS ACCEPTABLE THAT TEACHERS COULD I WILL PROTECT YOU FROM EVERYTHING PHYSICALLY PUNISH ME I WAS FORCED TO WORK SINCE I WAS CHILD YOU DO NOT NEED TO WORK UNTIL YOU GROW UP I DID NOT FINISH SCHOOL SCHOOL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THIS IS A WASTE OF THE TIME, I WILL ENROL YOU I SPENT MY CHILDHOOD ON THE STREET WITH MY FRIENDS TO ALL AVAILABLE ACTIVITIES SOCIAL LIFE OF MY PARENTS WAS POOR WE WILL GO TO AND ORGANISE AS MANY SOCIAL GATHERINGS I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CRITICISED I WILL ALWAYS PRAISE YOU I OFTEN CRIED YOU WILL NEVER CRY I WAS YELLED AT I WILL ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WITH YOU YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND 31 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 T eachers avoid bringing up kids at school. They want to avoid coming into conflicts with them and potentially with their parents. Generally, they believe that they have lost the authority and this is partially true. They have, indeed, lost the authority, as it was in the past, the authority of (physical) punishment when and how they wished. At the same time, they did not find a new model for building their personal authority. On each of the after school activities kids spend 3-4 days a week and their coach avoids any conflicts: “Let your parents bring you up” they say. A kid spends about 2 hours a day with their parents and during that time parents are more occupied with organising their personal schedule, preparing a meal or helping them to do their homework. Parents really make a great effort to be nice with their kids, as they think it would be pity to spend such short time that they are together in arguing. As a result they become overly tolerant toward them and in the end they neglect their upbringing. WHO IS BRINGING UP THE CHILD? NO ONE? NONE OF THE ABOVE? Raising a child is not when we occasionally explain to them what went wrong or how it should have been done. It is an ongoing process of interaction of the entire beings of both; of an adult and of a child. What kid gets is an avoidance, which sends a message: you are not that important to me to commit myself fully to you, find somebody else. Consequently, some kids do exactly that, each on their own way. Those who are not yet tired or given up they get into fights, some cry, some disturb us, some are always in some kind of pain, some are the best, some … ADULTS NEVER STOP RAISING THEIR KIDS: VERBALLY AND WITH BODY LANGUAGE, WITH WHAT THEY DO OR FAIL TO DO, CONSCIOUSLY OR SUBCONSCIOUSLY WHO IS BRINGING UP THE CHILD? ALL. ALL OF THE ABOVE. On the other side we witness a process of kids’ overprotection in development of their selfconfidence, which plays a critical role in their healthy development. Jordi is 12 years old. In order to cross the dead-end street and come to the training from his school, at noon, he first has to give a written consent from his parents and then the coach is obliged to pick him up at the school, take him across that street and, after the training, walk him back to the school. 32 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 In doing his homework, 2-3 times a week there is a hired pedagogical expert to assist him, although Jordi is one completely normal and healthy boy. Equally, parents of most of his friends pay for learning assistance to their children. It became a common practice that kids were incapable of playing a match the day after a school trip or a birthday party, because: “Jordi is tired”. We were quite surprised by that in the beginning, later we got used to it. The Handball Federation released an official schedule, the period of a day when kids should not play matches. This is related to the (in) capability of enduring the hunger. Matches should not start in period of 13-16 h, so they could have a time for lunch. It is not unusual to see Jordis’ parents next to the players’ bench helping him to take off his track suit, put his sneakers on or to bring him a sandwich. Coaches of younger age groups talk about kids as Jordi using following statements: THEY ARE INCAPABLE THEY ARE IMPOSSIBLE NOTHING IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM THEY CAN NOT FOCUS THEY ARE RESTLESS THEY HAVE ALL THEY WANT SO THEY DO NOT CARE or using well proven model: WHEN I WAS YOUNG... All of the above is reflection of the general state of the society and we can not influence on that. Our choice is following: TO WORK, HAVING THOSE FACTS ON OUR MINDS. OR TO CRY FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS. (WERE THEY REALLY BETTER DAYS?) 33 HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4 W e do not judge if above described changes in the society were good or bad. They were a logical flow in the history of social development. Those have changed kids (or other way around?) who came to train handball. Social and educational changes in Catalonia were given here to show how wrong it was to try to solve one problem by offering a solution completely opposite to the original problem. Hopefully, in Croatia we have not yet reached that extreme point, however we are surely somewhere between traditional way and above described state. Regardless of whether the parents are ambitious or just want a healthy activity for their kids, there are more and more of those who enrol their kids in some sport activity at this age. We are handball coaches and we know how difficult this sport could be for small kids. The ball is small, flying very fast, a physical contact among players is allowed, you have to lead a ball… those are all high demands for the start. However, if we give up and fail to think of good and creative ways of interactions with those kids, they will not simply stay at home but enrol in some other activity. The second important reason to be creative about training structure: the environment Do we want to stay competitive in 20 years as we are today? 34