The Imitation Game—Improve Your Coaching Without Saying a Word

Backstory

In 2018 I was teaching a weekly kettlebell class together with my good friend and fellow StrongFirst Instructor, Luca La Torre, as part of a free offer throughout the summer by the city of Stuttgart for its citizens. We would have up to 40 or more people of different ages and from all walks of life train together. In combination with only a limited number of kettlebells and some broom sticks, this was an amazing experience that really put our coaching abilities to the test.

During one of these sessions, I introduced the get-up to a group of around 20 people by standing in front of them and having them do the movements I was doing. Without much talking and within a couple of minutes, the whole group was able to do the entire sequence which most of them did not know just a few moments before.

Luca and I were impressed, to say the least.

Because this went so well, I started using this method to teach the get-up to new students in my weekly kettlebell classes. One year later I took an Indian club course with StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor and Director of Education, Brett Jones, in England where he introduced every movement by what he called “mirroring.” He did the same thing to teach the single kettlebell jerk two days later at the SFG Level II Certification.

Mirroring as a teaching method has two big advantages: it is simple for both teacher and student. Even with a big group, a teacher can use this method to teach effectively with limited time. For the student it is simple because it works without any kind of verbal instruction thereby removing any language barrier.

This method turns an abundance of new information (often overwhelming for many students) into something comprehensible and manageable. Especially with more complex movement patterns you avoid the common problem of “paralysis by (over) analysis” and overloading the students with too much information by giving them only one thing to focus on: to feel while they move. Mirroring puts the students into a situation where they can learn by feeling. And making them feel what they´re doing is of immense value. It is great as an instructor to see something a student is doing, but it´s better for them to feel it, because as Brett told us at the Indian club course, “If you can feel it, we can fix it.”

A Hardwired Learning Method

Imitation is a form of learning that´s ubiquitous in nature and something through which humans used to acquire and pass on behavior and information (and therefore culture), and still do. From an evolutionary standpoint, imitation is one of the earliest forms of learning and this is echoed in the development of a human being—imitating the behavior seen acted out by adults is how children learn long before they know and understand language.

“In imitating, the goal of the observer is to match the target behavior…[it] is one of the principal modes of acquiring new patterns of behavior.”—Maja J. Mataric, Motor Learning by Imitation

It remains to be an important form of learning in adults as well. Mataric says, “[I]mitation is a critical form of learning during development and throughout life.” But unlike children, “[A]dults are not blind imitators. They choose when, what, and whom to imitate.”

Mataric describes two types of learning via imitation. You first learn the rough pattern or sequence of the movement. And then, with an improved body awareness that develops alongside the pattern, you start work on refining it. After you get the “outline” of the movement engrained, you start working not only on the details, but also on further improving your perception, so that how the movement feels is how it actually looks, and vice versa.

This is exactly what “having a pattern to correct before correcting something” in the StrongFirst teaching principles section of our instructor manuals is about. There is no value in focusing on the details of an exercise before the person learning the movement is able to do the full pattern.  

Learning through imitation also helps us as teachers to avoid falling into the common trap of over-coaching: overloading a student with too much information. Instead, this method allows us to reduce the necessary amount of new information to a minimum and still enable the student to progress in learning a new movement pattern.

Mataric further states that, “Complex motor behaviors that are difficult to semantically/symbolically represent benefit from physical trials and the resulting procedural learning.” In other words: practicing is what makes you better. Learning by doing. She also makes the point that “The more experienced the person [is], the less of the motor behavior is truly `new´,” meaning that it´s easier for an experienced person to apply their previous understanding to a new situation.

 Go Slow to Go Fast

The best part is this teaching method works for all movements. Ones that can be done slowly like the get-up, or faster ones like the swing that you can slow down by removing the load. Slowing down a movement gives someone new to it an easier entry point and makes it look not only accessible, but safe, as Brett explained when teaching the jerk at the SFG II in England.

“Slow before fast” is also a natural progression within the same exercise and also when you look at a movement pattern, like the hip hinge for example: progressing from the kettlebell deadlift (slow) to the kettlebell swing (fast). A huge benefit of doing a movement slowly is that it increases our awareness of what´s happening. Especially when learning new exercises, going fast gives us a false sense of comfort since speeding up a movement often allows us to hide mistakes.

Mirroring Outside the Gym

Learning doesn´t stop when your students leave the gym.

As a teacher, you are always a role model to your students, and that makes how you compose yourself in public part of your professional performance. If you use “mirroring” when teaching in the gym, then your students will likely “mirror” your behavior outside the gym as well.

Seeing someone representing StrongFirst by wearing the shield causes those watching you to have certain expectations concerning your behavior, both personally and professionally. That is why your behavior in public at any time should be congruent with the StrongFirst Code of conduct. There should be a harmony and compatibility between what the Shield on your chest when you´re wearing the StrongFirst logo represents, and “what´s in your chest,” with or without wearing the Shield.

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Resources

Motor Learning by Imitation—Maja J. Mataric