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<\/p>\nBy Steph Acosta in collaboration with Brendan Ryan<\/p>\n
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Five years ago, I opened the door to my sister\u2019s house. Before I could say hello, my nephew Alex, who was 7 at the time, grabbed my hand. \u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d he said, pulling me right back through the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are we going?\u201d I asked. \u201cThe swings,\u201d he said, with a broad smile lighting up his face.<\/p>\n
On the walk there, he told me all about the swings and why he thinks they are great. \u201cYou go up and down,\u201d he said. \u201cThey move fast. You feel so free on them. The harder you pull, Aunty Steph, the more you push up; the higher you go. It\u2019s so cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
After about a minute of swinging, Alex had finished and moved on: first, the slides, then the monkey bars, followed by the rope climb, jungle gym and general socializing with other little people \u2015 he tried everything. As much as he was having a blast, I was annoyed. I hadn\u2019t seen my sister in a long time and had delayed my visit so he could feed his slide habit. General playground euphoria was not what I had agreed to provide. However, as Alex played, I realized something: As much as he liked the swings, what he really loved was learning new things, and that\u2019s a very good thing. That thought made me really happy too.<\/p>\n
Alex was successful at some of the things he tried, such as the monkey bars. On them, he made it all the way across. But on other activities, he wasn\u2019t so successful \u2015 he fell off the rope climb every single time, for instance. Interestingly, to Alex, there was no success or failure; the results were completely unimportant. His focus was on learning new skills for the sake of the learning.<\/p>\n
Alex eventually got tired of playing, and I got to catch up with my sister. Afterwards, as I was driving home, I resolved to make the lessons I teach look more like Alex\u2019s playground session: \u201cLearn; no success or failure; have fun and want more\u201d \u2015 Alex\u2019s goals at the playground became the \u201cTrue North\u201d of the lessons I teach.<\/p>\n
Recently, Alex, who lives in a country far from me, joined me at the golf course for a lesson. He\u2019s 12 now, an athletic kid who has a passion for golf. When he arrived, I gave him some simple instructions, \u201cHit some shots, and each time you do, pick a different club and target.\u201d As he hit his shots, I conducted my evaluation. I came to the conclusion that Alex lacked an understanding of separation in the back swing, which was in part due to an unstable base. Without explaining anything, I asked him, \u201cDo want to play a computer game?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d he said, smiling widely. \u201cWhat\u2019s the game called?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Ding,\u2019\u201d I told him. \u201cYou make the computer ding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d I told him. \u201cWhat we are going to do is put on this vest and belt, and then an avatar will appear on the computer screen along with some arrows. You follow the arrows to move the avatar and get a ding. That\u2019s the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCool,\u201d he said, nodding his head, still the bold discoverer of new things, on-board with the project, but a bit underwhelmed.<\/p>\n
In less than a minute, he was playing his new, custom-built-for-him computer game. What was this \u201cgame\u201d? A K-VEST NEXT program, set to combine the drill advanced posture with the 20\u201340 takeaway drill and the side bend at the top drill. This program let him\u00a0 \u201cdiscover\u201d \u2014 completely on his own \u2014 the movements I wanted him to learn.<\/p>\n