Ep 168 - Alex Lascu - Learning Designer & Re-searcher
Jan 26, 2025
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In this engaging discussion, Alex Lascu, a learning designer and researcher focusing on sports coaching, shares insights from his diverse experiences. He highlights the importance of creating supportive, enjoyable environments for athletes, particularly addressing gender disparities in coaching. The conversation covers the balance between fun and seriousness in youth sports and the challenges of parental expectations. Lascu also discusses the significance of nonlinear pedagogy in skill acquisition and the role of technology versus intuition in training.
Effective coaching emphasizes creating a joyful and supportive environment while balancing fun and seriousness in youth sports.
The podcast highlights gender inequality in coaching practices, advocating for equitable opportunities and quality support for female athletes in all sports.
The role of technology in sports is complex, requiring a balance between useful insights and the development of athletes' innate problem-solving skills.
Deep dives
Journey to Lifelong Learning
The speaker recounts their lifelong passion for sports and learning, describing a pivotal moment in childhood when they realized the joy of discovering new skills across various disciplines. This enthusiasm for learning led them to prioritize sports over traditional schooling, allowing them to excel academically while engaging in athletic competitions. The influence of both effective and ineffective coaching experiences heavily shaped their perception of sports, motivating them to pursue a career in coaching and education. Consequently, this passion for sports cultivated a desire to ensure positive and engaging coaching methods for future athletes.
Addressing Gender Disparities in Coaching
The discussion highlights a significant focus on gender inequality in coaching practices, particularly in cricket. The speaker's experiences revealed a clear discrepancy between the support male and female athletes received, which prompted them to investigate why coaching approaches differed for boys and girls. Through a PhD exploring skill development in women's cricket, the findings underscored a widespread lack of quality coaching for female athletes. The insights led to advocating for systemic changes in coaching environments to ensure equitable opportunities for all athletes, irrespective of gender.
Redefining Good Coaching
Good coaching is redefined not through technical perfection but by fostering joy, challenge, and support within training sessions. The speaker emphasizes the importance of laughter and engagement in youth training environments, introducing the concept of a 'giggle meter' to gauge enjoyment levels. This perspective aligns with the belief that coaching should center around creating a welcoming atmosphere where athletes feel free to explore and develop their skills. The discussion articulates a need to shift from rigid training designs to more adaptable approaches that prioritize interpersonal connections and athlete well-being over mere performance metrics.
The Complexity of Learning Environments
The conversation delves into the complexities of learning in sports, emphasizing that athletes are constantly navigating multiple influences—including past experiences and real-time challenges. The speaker asserts that understanding non-linear development is crucial; progress is often not a straightforward path but involves adapting to varying circumstances. They highlight the significance of providing athletes with time and space for exploration, enabling them to make informed decisions in dynamic moments. This reflects a broader understanding that coaching must encompass fostering adaptability and critical thought rather than simply imparting knowledge.
The Role of Technology and Traditional Methods in Coaching
A critical examination of the role of technology in sports highlights both its benefits and pitfalls; while technology can provide useful insights, it can also deter athletes from developing their innate problem-solving skills. The speaker illustrates this by contrasting the reliance on alignment aids in golf with the necessity for athletes to draw from their experiences and intuition. Moreover, the conversation points out that successful adaptation during performance often comes from an athlete's ability to read situations in real-time, rather than solely relying on pre-learned techniques or tools. This dynamic underscores the importance of balancing technological aids with fundamental skill development and experiential learning.
In this conversation, Jay Carter and Alex Lascu explore the multifaceted world of sports coaching, emphasizing the importance of open dialogue, the journey through various sports, and the dynamics of coaching, particularly in relation to gender.
They discuss the essence of good coaching practices, the balance between fun and seriousness in youth sports, and the challenges posed by parental expectations.
The conversation also delves into the debate on specificity in training, the understanding of muscle memory, and the role of technology in enhancing sports training.
They discuss the implications of relying on technology for performance, the importance of nonlinear pedagogy in understanding skill acquisition, and the necessity of adaptability in sports. The dialogue also touches on the interplay of past experiences and future possibilities in shaping an athlete's performance, emphasizing the need for coaches to create environments that foster exploration and learning.
