Hook ’Em In
Why engagement must come before instruction
All humans want to feel safe. Nothing matters until this happens.
Before athletes can learn, they must first be ready to engage. I often describes this simply as: “Hooking ’em in.” If attention is not there, learning will not happen. Having said this, it takes work…
Athletes (learners) need to feel:
• safe
• interested
• curious
• ready to participate
Teachers sometimes describe this idea as Maslow before Bloom. Basic needs and engagement must come before instruction.
I have worked at schools with learners from all kind of backgrounds. Sometimes you have to ask, “have you had your breakfast yet?” The basics like sleep, shelter and the like from Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs are considered well by teachers.
In other words, basics like pencils or deoderant are important in learning. Good teachers espouse this maxim, ‘Maslow before Bloom’. I could be showing my biases here, but sometimes, exciting innovations in strength and conditioning, data, skill acquisition or exercise science seem overrated by coaches. Therefore, basic emotional safety and other needs are far more important being met than the latest trends in external feedback or higher order thinking. I stress this is all in my experience…
The First Minutes Matter
The beginning of a session often shapes everything that follows. If athletes are standing in lines waiting for their turn, attention disappears quickly.
Instead, great sessions often begin with:
• movement
• games
• interaction
• curiosity
Players can become engaged before the coach begins explicit teaching of technique, strategy or whatever else.
Engagement Before Explanation
On the whole, many coaches start sessions by explaining what will happen. There is a place for this in your sessions but many athletes learn much faster when they experience the activity first. Now, let me be clear, I always start teaching the javelin throw to year 7 or 8s by first letting them throw it!!! Five metre spacing all waiting five metres behind and all the safety prescription etc notwithstanding. They see these big shiny spear things. They are engaged. Let them throw it.
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
Once they are moving and interacting, the coach can:
• observe
• ask questions
• shape the environment
In my experience, learning begins once the athletes are hooked into the activity.
Coaching Through Engagement
Engagement does not happen by accident. Great coaches design environments that immediately involve athletes. The goal is simple: Hook them in first.
Once athletes are engaged, everything else becomes easier.
A Simple Reminder
If attention is not there, learning will not happen.
Before anything else: Hook ’em in.
Part of the Coaching is Teaching Series
• Coaching is Teaching
• What do you Notice?
• Start With the Game
• Let Them Explore
• Shape the Environment
• Coaching Behaviour Matters
• Keeping Kids in Sport
Want to go deeper into this idea?
Want to go deeper?
I am currently developing a short course on creating engaging coaching environments.
Register your interest here → Course Interest/Coaching Enquiry
Source for reflection - there is nothing new under the sun:
Many of these ideas connect with broader work in coaching and physical education teaching.
Coaches interested in exploring what I call ‘operational’ pedagogy (the absolute art that onle teachers get hammered with at university) could start out with: Teaching Physical Education for Learning, Judith E. Rink, 1993. I have never found a better book for learning how to teach ‘the physical’ for complex groups.