Last week I wrote about the importance of desirable difficulties, struggle, and friction as part of the learning journey. It is critical, however, for trainers to realize that effective training is not about having your trainees struggle all training session, every training session. Even if the learners learn to Embrace the Struggle, Embrace the Suck and trust the process, constant struggle in training can come with both a motivational and a physical cost.
There are several factors to consider when planning training sessions. A few of those considerations include:
- The current experience and skill level of the participants. Is this Day 1 of Subject Control Tactics in a pre-service academy or is it the latter part of the academy?
- The fatigue level of the participants. Have they just completed a grueling fitness session before coming to control tactics? Is the training session at the start of the day or end of the day? Is it at the start of the week or the end of the week?
- The length and frequency of the training sessions. Does your academy implement the concept of spaced practice where you get the recruits multiple times a week for one or two hours at a time, or do you get them for 8- or 10-hour days of control tactics training? If you get them for 8- or 10-hour days are those days spread out in the syllabus or in a 40- or 80-hour block?
- The goal of the training sessions. Is the focus on learning where you are forsaking short term performance for long term learning and therefore going to have a high degree of struggle and challenge? Or, is the goal of the session to retain existing skills and enhance the participants’ perception of their competence and confidence and therefore reduce the difficulty, struggle and challenge of the training session?
- What else is going on in the entire training syllabus? Do the recruits have a major exam scheduled right after your control tactics training session? It is easy to suggest that is not your problem, but it is. You are part of the training cadre who are collectively responsible for creating an appropriate learning environment.
- Is the goal of the session to prepare participants to perform specific techniques, in a specific manner so they can pass a practical test as dictated by POST or some other governing body? This may be very different than training sessions with a focus on principles and concepts where there is a high degree of variability with no “correct” way to solve the problem.
Years ago, we brought in a highly skilled trainer to run a 5-day instructor certification course. This was one of the most physically demanding weeklong courses I completed in my career. While I don’t think we incorporated any of the techniques taught during the week, we learned a great deal from the instructor regarding training philosophy and methodology. That learning occurred both during the actual training as well as the open discussions with him on breaks and at lunch. I had the additional opportunity to have in depth conversations regarding training during breakfast with him every morning and on the drive from his hotel to the training center every morning and back again at the end of every day. He was masterful at knowing when to push, when to back off, and when to call it a day. On the drive back to the hotel after the third day he asked me to call the other participants (it was a small group) and tell them to meet at his hotel in the morning and bring their swim trunks. He recognized how beat up and sore everyone was and decided that we would spend the first hour of Day 4 moving around and loosening up in the hotel pool. While it took away 90 minutes of potential training time, it enhanced the learning and performance of the group for the rest of that day as well as the final day of the course.
Now, I am not suggesting that you incorporate a pool session into every block of training. I am, however, suggesting that you need to vary the intensity and level of struggle in your training sessions, especially in sessions involving physical training. That training will result in a significant energy expenditure both physically and cognitively and the mentality of go hard all the time will burn out your people and diminish the learning. Those physical training sessions are also just one component of the overall training syllabus in an academy and need to be looked at as part of the overall mission of creating a holistic learning experience.
Variability is a desirable element of effective training, and it comes in many forms.
Take care.
Brian Willis
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