When I first began my Pilates training as a student long before I was certified, I was always worried about making a mistake. I had this idea that if I did not execute the exercises perfectly, then I would not master the Pilates system and ultimately progress. Fast forward to years later when I decided to become a certified teacher and guess what, the fear of making mistakes amplified even more. Not only was I scared to make a mistake when executing Pilates, but now I also had the pressure of teaching the exercises correctly. I needed to get over my fear of making mistakes.
The good news? I was able to overcome my fear of making mistakes through learning and understanding more about them. So much so that now I embrace making mistakes and through the creation of my Kinexology Lab and Method I share that work with other teachers. Kinexology is where Pilates meets science, and this is exactly what we do. We look at Motor Learning and Control research, concepts, and theories and apply them to the teaching of Pilates to optimize learning for our clients and educate Pilates teachers.
When diving into Motor Learning research, I was able to find a greater understanding and appreciation for how mistakes foster and enhance learning. Making a mistake when learning movement can be one of the most beneficial experiences for both you and your client. It may be hard to believe, but it is true! The concept of mistakes is an incredibly complex topic. It has many layers including how they influence the learning process, movement refinement, and retention. It is equally important to learn how to address mistakes with our clients to maximize the learning potential within the mistake.
As Pilates teachers, we are encouraged to correct clients to minimize mistakes and learn how to do exercises correctly. There are goals to each Pilates exercise including proper technique and correct alignment. These goals are valuable, and over time we do want our clients to minimize their mistakes. However, it is important as teachers that we do not discourage clients from ever making a mistake. How can a client learn what is “right” if they cannot compare it to what is “wrong”?
What I have noticed from working with many Pilates teachers over the years is that as teachers, we are quick to correct mistakes. We rush to correct clients sometimes before we see them move! By being quick to react and correct, we miss an opportunity as a teacher to see what their natural tendencies are. These mistakes give us a ton of information about the client. You can see if they favor one side, how they are initiating movement, or simply if they can remember the corrections from last week. This information can help inform the rest of your programming to create a more tailored workout. If you were to rush to correct, valuable information would not have presented itself to you.
Problem-solving is equally important in learning. Additionally, letting a client move and make mistakes gives them a chance to problem-solve how to execute an exercise. Many of the movement skills in Pilates repeat themselves within the repertoire. Therefore, clients will need to retrieve these skills and transfer them to different exercises and apparatus. Attaining this skill is challenging and even harder if the client does not have the chance to critically think and discern how to retrieve and transfer this information from one environment to the next. Therefore, their progress and overall advancement will plateau.
When teaching my Pilates students, there is a goal that I have set for both of us. This is for my clients to gain the ability to self-correct. In doing so, this means that a client has first learned a specific movement skill I am asking them to do. Secondly, they will have created a personal movement plan to accomplish this skill and thirdly, they can problem-solve. Previously, when I was quick to correct and stopped clients from making mistakes, they were unable to self-correct. They relied on me to execute the exercise. This error detection process takes time for clients to cultivate. It occurs and manifests through making mistakes. When you take a step back as the teacher you allow the client more ownership of their movement. The client will be able to learn from their mistakes and gain better motor skill retention over time.
Having my clients take ownership of their movement was not an easy process. It required me to pivot my teaching significantly. We are not taught in our training programs how people learn movement, the stages of learning, the benefits of mistakes, or how to enhance the learning process for clients. This knowledge has been life-changing for me as a teacher. I want to be able to share this knowledge with you. If I had not learned all of this information and applied this to my teaching, I would still fear making mistakes, doubt my teaching abilities and my clients would not see the progress I hoped for them over time.
It is okay to question what we are taught. We should encourage one another to learn from other modalities and that it is okay to make mistakes along the way because let’s be honest, being perfect is overrated. By looking at the Motor Learning and Control research, concepts, and theories and applying them to our teaching of Pilates, we better optimize learning for our clients and educate Pilates teachers. Kinexology is a resource for you as a teacher to learn everything that we didn’t learn in our teaching programs to enhance your teaching, ease frustrations, and help your clients see more progress faster.
