As is the theme for my weekends I was working again at Plas Y Brenin this time I was instructing on a Single Pitch Training Course. It is a real privilege to work on these National Governing Body Award courses, as we get to instruct the instructors, unlike most courses I work on, we are here to deliver a syllabus, so it is more about delivering the goods that are required by the Training Boards.
I often find it a little surreal working on these courses, as it was only a few years ago that I qualified as a MIA, although I have been an SPA and ML (summer) holder since 1997. The best way I can describe it is that it feels that all of a sudden you have gone from just another instructor to someone who instructors to be are constantly asking you questions as to how to do something, or what to do in certain situations. At first it feels rather strange that you don’t so much have a lot of responsibility but suddenly you are the ‘expert’ in the field.
One of my colleagues asked me a bizarre question related to the role of would be expert when I was sharing a lift back from the Brenin, he asked how I felt writing my coaching book, as he had worried in his last job that who was he to write something with authority. A bit like the instructing the SPA training, in that I should be not worried, but concerned that what I say is often taken as gospel by many of the those people I instruct. As such trying to say the ‘textbook’ answer is often the best solution, meaning you have to have memorised the text book.
I responded say that yes I could have worried about whether people ask who am I to write a book, I am not a Neil Gresham or any other big name climber. What I am is an instructor, who has spent a reasonable amount of time thinking about what he does at work, and gone onto study physiology, psychology and effective coaching to a Masters level. So whilst i might be just another freelance instructor delivering a whole manner of courses at a wide range of centres, I actually feel that I have something to not so much add as collate on behalf of other instructors and climbers to the field of coaching people to climb harder. As to be honest a lot of my book is lesson I have developed from other instructors. All I have done is been bothered to put them together in a book, designed for any climber to improve there game.
Anyway the weekend was a great despite being drenched on Upper Tier Tremadog on Saturday. Tomorrow I have to deliver a day on the Walking Group Leader Award Training, hopefully a day like today is on the cards where i didn’t get wet!