A big part of what I do as a shooting coach is to ... "Teach people to coach themselves and others!" The "Self-Coaching" part of that is huge.

It's one thing to teach people what they're "supposed" to do and then judge them on how well they do it. It's another to teach them to "know" what they're doing and where they want to get (the most effective way to perform an action, for example) and how to get there. Once they "know," then they can coach themselves. They reach a state of awareness where they know what works and what doesn't work. They have a sense of all the possibilities, not just the one action you (or they) think they "should" know.

In the teaching I got from my golf mentors, I learned that when you can "distinguish" an action (definition: to perceive or know the difference in; to characterize; to perceive clearly; to make a distinction, a distinction being the act of making or keeping something distinct or unmistakable), then you are free to self-correct, free to coach oneself, free to learn...

IT'S IN THE PRACTICE!

It's in the practice of a skill where kids will become great at anything. It's not in games, though occasionally breakthroughs can occur there. Rather it's in the hours spent, often by oneself, working on things, that the greatest development occurs. A lot of people are aware that parents these days are too involved with their kids activities, trying to help them achieve things faster and greater. One of the results from that is too many games at young ages. As I've written before, if you're always testing yourself to see how good you are (like in games), there's less time to play and develop. It's like pulling a flower up by the roots to see how well it's growing. Games are for performance, not for trying out different things. Failure is less forgiven when score is being kept. A few kids excel under the pressure of constant games, but the vast majority are hurt by it.

The Swish Method is about learning and (self) coaching. Teach kids to make their own distinctions and you teach them to be independent and self-reliant. That's one of my biggest goals. The other is to help train coaches to coach shooting more powerfully, to teach them how to empower kids in the process of finding their own distinctions. For coaches, it starts with them being learners. As in learning, when you can distinguish things as a coach, then you will know how to teach others.

Tom Nordland is a shooting expert and coach from California via Minnesota. His videos, coaching and writings are inspiring a Renaissance (a rebirth, a revival) in shooting around the world as players and coaches are taught the things that really matter in shooting. A great shooter as a youth, Tom was given a gift of seeing shooting like few have ever seen it. He sees the essence of great shooting and how to get there. The good news is that its very simple. The few great shooters of today and yesterday mastered simple things, not complicated motions. Improved shooting is now possible for everybody in the game, and mastery is available to those who sincerely dedicate themselves to it. Visit Toms website (www.swish22.com) to read of his background and his articles and newsletters, and to view the remarkable endorsements and amazing testimonials for this approach to shooting.