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07/16/2009 06:06 pm
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[Charlie B]

There have been a number of questions around "teaching" bocking

As a coach qualified in 2 sports and also as a profesional sports administrator I feel it is appropriate to offer some thoughts

Coaching/Teaching
big technical difference, teaching is applied learning against a curriculum with set goals . Coaching is the development of individuals at thier pace within a skills/knowledge frame work. Most of you will aspire to be coaches.

If you organise an event you will no matter how hard you try be liable for any injuries or accidents caused by your own negligence. Ignorance or a quasi - legal form will not help you.

In all good quality sports coaches are trained and go through a certification process.

Level 1

Gives an introduction to coaching practice and health and safety. You should be able to do an area risk assesment & organise safe events.

A child protection course and an emergency firts aid course are mandatory within this.

Level 2
This gets technical and begins to cover skill sets and the coaching process as well as some physiology.

At present there is no applied coaching sylabus for Bocking.

As a responsible sport I would like to think that we could begin to develop quality coaches. This we need to do in a formalised way so please let me know your thoughts.

Finally you can do child protection and first aid courses now as they are run independently, ask your local council sports development officer for details of courses run near you.

As the sport grows there will become a need to formalise structures to ensure we do not put someones wellbeing or financial future at risk. That is the other reason for the insurances etc that are generally needed.

[Nero]

great post charlie, thanks for sharing and clearing up what has been a grey area for a lot of us.
I would be interested in helping coach others in the sport, or anything else i can do to promote the sport.
even if this means a couple of hundred quid and a week in a classroom lol

[webmaster]

totally agree with Nero, an excellent & informative post, thanks.

@Nero... Can't imagine you trying to sit in any sort of class trying to study :d

[Nero]

  yeah i never done it as a kid, joke is i enjoy it these days, all about learning.

[hybrid_hex]

Sounds like a plan, although, I cant see many bockers spending a day in a classroom, none of us could sit still for long enough!! Still no work from the Norwich Council people, but my uncle (a local PCSO) has asked me to 'coach' at his youth club, so I shall be starting small, and looking into the bigger picture (who knows, might even get the RAF to pay for the training!!)

[Jason]

Good post Charlie

We will need some sort of coaching process in place eventually as the average person decides to have a go
 
When I started about a year ago Bocking was looked upon as a "Nutter" sport. In just one year it has started to get a more of an
"Anyone can have a go" type image and as we all know Nutters don't sue but the sheep that want a go do

I think there will always be small groups of "I'm gonna learn on my own types" like most of us now but many people want the support of a recognised expert to ensure the least pain for the maximum return and we will have to cater for them

Do yo fancy the job Charlie    (I'll vote for you)

Jason 

[Dark Knight]

I've seen Charlie twice now and chatted on here and he know his stuff 
I was an aerobic teacher and when he was in the gym you could see he was some sort of coach the way he acted 

I think it's up to us to work out a basic teaching program that we can use. After all we are the people who know what to do ?

Teaching it's for eveyone just because you can do it doesn't mean you can pass your skills on 

We have to start the ball rolling and come up with a WBTC World Bocking Training Certificate.

[Locky]

watch this space....in about 2 days

[webmaster]

Thats just cruel Locky, spit it out 

[Locky]

I cant. They wont let me.

[Nero]

sounds ominous

[Jason]

I cant. They wont let me.

It's not the "Voices" again is it Locky 
Take more of the Pills (holsten type) 

Jason 

[Locky]

no....its davros!

[hybrid_hex]

'The Rice Krispies told me to do it!!'

[chocl8]

 ....and oo oo me me! I'd like to be a bocking coach, i reckon i'm an ok teacher i guess, seeing as i guess most of us have had to teach our friends how to do it?

[Charlie B]

Really pleased for all the interest. I am sure we can work on this. Will have a think about it and respond.

[hybrid_hex]

I will keep me eyes and ears open!

[aidanh1]

legal form will not help you.

technicley if that legal form states that the person using the stilts may be hurt or damaged and theyve signed it like in a contract i wrotw a legal form does help and if theyve signed it its preety tuff wot happens....


but no doubt teaching is a idea i have had for ages XD but when i posted about it i was only thinking small walking and simple jumpiing kinda teaching if this ctaches on with the experts that want to join in well have millions of flippers XDcould make a group wif diffrent clases a person hu teaches simple walking then you got ur tricks guy XD

[Brendan (NeoNinja)]

I was going to say that. Isn't this the sort of community where people help others learn anyway?
Why would people want to pay for lessons when they can just ask the friendly bocker on the street?

The other thing is... it's not that hard. So there wouldn't be much of a curriculum when you devised
an official coaching award. Most people seem to learn how to walk in about 10mins. After that it's
just practice.

I can imagine people wanting to pay to bock in a 'safe' gym environment. And if coaches were there
it would be a bonus. But I don't think many people would pay for the lessons alone. Would they?

[Charlie B]

Aidahn

Whilst a form will indemnify you to some degree by pointing out the inherent risks and also protectiing you from other peoples negligence it will not cover you for yours. neither will it cover you for under 18`s as technically U18`s are not completely responsible for thier own actions

If you coach for money then there are further issues for you to consider which include indemnity and public liability insurance.

It does not matter what level of coaching you want to do if you are not CRB checked, do not have a First Aid Certificate or a Child protection qualification you will open your self to legal action if things go wrong.

legally anyone over 18 is responsible for thier own decisions you can only advise or put rules in place. There is as always a caviate to this in that if you believe for example that helmets are a high safety need then you can make a rule that if you do not wear a helmet you cannot participate. In court if a person sued for a head injury you would have to prove that you werre not negligent and that all reasonable precautions were taken. This applies double underlined with U18.

I do not want to discourage anyone from coaching, if you like helping others you are on the right track.

If you are under 16 then at present most sports (or sports halls) would not allow you to coach alone. This is again due to the legal issue with under 18`s being classed as minors. There are a number of courses young people can take, Junior and senior sports leaders courses are two that give you expereince and qualifications to go on to be a coach

You would not ask your mate who can just about wire a plug to re-wire your house or a friend who could fix a tap to plumb your house. The same applies to coaching

Everybody thinks they can do it, most can but all require support and education to do it correctly and safely.

As previously posted I have 6 years experience coaching and also head of the Development of community sport in Lincolnshire. I have been involved in a number of cases where legal action has been taken against coaches so know how good practice helps you defend yourself and also what the penalties. financial and personal can be

This is a complex area, I am happy to keep posting, however if anyone wants more detailed info on a specific are please feel free to PM me for a more confidential response

[Charlie B]

One of the things I like about this community is how friendly and helpful it is.

I also agree that informal groups can help each other. What you do in a small group on a street is up to you. However if you set yourself up as the coach of the group and show Jimmy who is 13 how to flip and he hurts himself  you could find yourself in court.

I am more interested in the formal indoor environment where people can come along and be coached how to jump and do tricks safely. It is here that the more formal qualified coaching is valuable.

Interestingly 90% of qualified coaches are volunteers and do not get paid, so as a money earner not good unless you are at a premiership football club !

[Locky]

Everybody thinks they can do it, most can but all require support and education to do it correctly and safely.

This is so true. You might think there is no need for coaches in bocking at the moment but I think that is purely based on how the sport has developed so far. By that I mean, the meet ups etc where we do all help each other and it is a real credit to the whole community how we all pull together and travel many miles to meet for a few hours. We've made the best of a situation where all we had was people and stilts. No gyms, no support, no structure. For many of us in the early days it was hit and miss.
But this has been adopted because its the way we did things. Nothing wrong with it but some of the fundamental techniques like getting up unaided or even just the bouncing technique of not bending your legs. These are something that someone can learn far quicker under a coach, and also in a safe environment indoors.
It is true, once you've got the hang of things and your balance is adapted then the learning curve is a lot less steep and many things become lack of confidence and commitment but I think there will always be a need for people to learn the basics and even for people to learn the technique required for flips, baranis etc.
I know from experience in Cardiff bay most weekends we have a member of the public on stilts and when they are, my attention is 101% on them because I know the risks but I'd feel a lot safer if I was actually qualified to do it.

[Jason]

I agree with all you two (Charlie and Locky) have said on this subject
And I personally think the all meet up and help each other is a very good way to learn (If not quickly it's a fun way to learn) and while every one stays nice it works
The problems start when one person feels that harm was caused through anothers fault I would have to have been literally attacked by a fellow bocker before I even concidered suing anyone and believe most of the bockers I know are the same

But when we start renting Gyms and doing major events (and teaching/coaching) the people organising such things ask "Who's in charge" and a lot of the time some poor mug of a bocker gets volunteered (and sometimes has little or no qualifications) said poor mug gets away with it most of the time but once in a while looses his/her shirt

We can't live life expecting the worse all the time but we all try not to be the one to get the bad end of things and like you said Charlie qualifications and experience helps a lot

I think that in todays climate Teachers/Coaches (especialy working with children or in areas where people can get hurt) are very brave and I take my hat off to people like Charlie and the like, it's not a job I would like to do daily, for me the risks are to high but thakfully some people are willing to do it and help the comunity a great deal

Jason 

[Nero]

the more i read this thread the more it seems there is a bigger picture.
good luck to those who are looking to start teaching bocking, i figure you have juggling, cycling, skating classes so you can teach anything.
im not sure i have met a bocker that needed a teacher yet though, i learnt most of my tricks looking at pictures, and although you will pick things up quicker around or watching others i think lessons are less important to the sport than organising say a competition or show of sorts, to introduce bocking to the masses.
think about what freestyle has done for motorcross, big tricks impress.

[Charlie B]

Agree nero, events where people see others doing tricks are all part of the mix for getting people into the sport. Generating a "I want to do that" impulse is hugely important. Howver once you get people through the door it must be a positive experience for them to carry on. Good quality coaching in a safe environment is normally (but not always) the best way to do this.

Some can either use books or look a video and learn, I have a son that like you can do this. Quite a lot of others cannot as this is down to your preffered form of learning. I am a kinetic Learner so have to have people show me how something is done.

Having now run two events and done some promo work I beleive giving people a safe environment to practice in and build confidence would open the sport up to more people and also accelerate the learning of those currently involved.

There will though always be a place for individual development, for example children play football on streets and learn. They also play at Football clubs and get coached