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
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HANDBALL EDUCATI N 1/4
Marija and Robert Papić
LEARNING CREATIVITY IN SPORT
ZAGREB, 2012.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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Topic 0:
BEF RE START
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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...
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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
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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
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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.
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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
rukometniodgoj@gmail.com
we consider critics a free advice
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?)
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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