ONLINE COACHING - HOW DOES IT WORK & WHAT CAN I LEARN?

"Excellent training - I booked an online course as a gift to help gain confidence with a new bike following a crash. Although it was a new way of doing things, and evidently more tricky in some places to describe what you would otherwise be experiencing on a roads-based practical course, the online teaching was first class and completely relatable. Kevin taught both what to do when things go wrong - how to swerve, to correct lines, to avoid running tight or wide - but also why they were happening in the first place such as asking the bike to do two things at once or gripping too tightly. We covered basics that were once taught as part of Mod 1 (but at the time nobody explained why they were needed; just that you had to pass) as well as lots of other tricks and tips that ultimately turned nerves into a big wide grin in a matter of hours. I look forward to booking more courses - highly recommended!"

Still sceptical? ONLINE COACHING is a form of 'distance learning'. The fact is we use distance learning almost every day of the week. It's so prevalent in our lives we never realise what we're doing.

DEFINING DISTANCE LEARNING
Think about this. If you've ever read instructions on some ready-made food to "remove film and heat at 180c for 10 minutes" you've just benefited from distance learning - someone wrote those cooking instructions somewhere far away from where you're applying them to your meal. 

The same applies to any manual you might have read, any help file on your computer or phone. We're quite happy to access technical PDFs that are online and follow the instructions. 

That's distance learning in action, but the chances are you never thought of it in that way. 

Any text book delivers distance learning, and many riders are quite happy to learn advanced riding by reading the police manual 'Motorcycle Roadcraft', or the IAM's 'How to be a Better Rider'. You may even - dare I say it - have read one of my own books. 

And the same applies to video. Many riders subscribe to - and learn from - YouTube channels. I not only have my own '60 Second Safety' series on YouTube which aim to deliver short punchy messages to riders, I often reference OTHER channels to reinforce a point I want to make. 

So this is the key point - anything from learning by reading the preparation instruction on a microwave meal to watching a video online only changes the method of DELIVERY, not the CONTENT. And exactly the same applies to learning better biking skills via a Survival Skills ONLINE COACHING course. 

So if you are still sceptical about online learning, that's my first point. 

ONLINE COACHING IS INTERACTIVE
Compared with learning by reading a book or even watching a video, there's one HUGE PLUS for ONLINE COACHING - it's interactive. 

Books and videos deliver what's called 'PUSH' learning. The message is restricted to what the author gives you, and in terms of learning you make of it what you can. There's no interactivity, no feedback on how you're doing from the author and the biggest drawback of all, you can't request help in any specific area. Push learning CAN be effective...

...but it has significant limits. 

ONLINE COACHING totally changes the dynamic. It introduces 'PULL' learning. Pull learning works in two ways:

:: you can request personalised learning - you can ask for help in a specific area. The huge benefit to the learner is in terms of seeing relevance to a need - in other words, you don't just get the 'push' content the coach wants to deliver to you, you 'pull' back by telling the coach what you want. Survival Skills advanced rider training courses have always been client-centred - the ONLINE COACHING courses simply continue that tradition.

:: the learning becomes interactive - unlike the passive learning experience from a book or video, you  have the opportunity to engage with your motorcycle coach. You can ask questions and get clarification if you need more explanation, you can follow up points of interest in more depth, or even change the direction that the coaching is taking. Learning advanced rider training techniques with Survival Skills is a two way experience. 

In short, you get more out of online coaching because you're being invited to put your own input in.

ONLINE COACHING IS INTERACTIVE
Here's even better news. It doesn't rain, snow, blow gales of wind or get dark at 3:30 on Zoom either. Survival Skills ONLINE COACHING sessions are available whatever the weather, daytimes and evenings. We can look at topics that would be covered in my Confidence: BUILDER, Ride2Work or Ride4Fun courses. I can cover topics such as slow control, counter-steering, riding in heavy traffic and filtering, avoiding junction collisions, reading corners and the unique-to-Survival Skills Point & Squirt approach to machine control.

ONLINE COACHING DELIVERS PRACTICAL ADVICE
And it's not just theory that can be covered in ONLINE COACHING courses. With my many years as a trainer, my long experience of helping riders with riding issues via the internet AND an NVQ in DIstance Learning Techniques, you'll also get the practical exercises that you need to employ to develop your new understanding.

ONLINE COACHING ISN'T JUST A ONE-OFF
When you finish a course of on-road training, that's it. You one way, the instructor goes the other. You'll probably get a debrief on the day, but your takeaway from the day depends on your recall of what happened and what you learned. Not surprisingly, recall fades with time, and unless trainees put in significant effort to 'embed' the learning to make it their everyday to ride, so do the skills and techniques that were learned on the course. 

That's not the case with ONLINE COACHING with Survival Skills. You'll be given access to a recording of the coaching session. That way you can revise the content, whenever and as often as needed. You still need to go out and practise - just as you would after a face-to-face on-road training session - but you can keep coming back to the coaching material. It's a great way to keep the learning fresh in your head.

So now you have the facts about a Survival Skills ONLINE COACHING course, why not get your own advanced rider training course in the comfort of your own home?

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE SURVIVAL SKILLS APPROACH TO DEFENSIVE RIDING? 
All Survival Skills courses are based on the need to correctly identify hazards, assess the risk they pose, then employ PRO-ACTIVE risk mitigation strategies that deal with the WORST CASE SCENARIO. Will the car pull out? What will we do about it? Will the bend tighten up? What will we do about it? Will the overtake go wrong? What will we do about it? Developing, then using proactive skills to assess and manage threats helps us stay out of trouble.

And if things DO go wrong, we need a pre-planned strategy to stay out of trouble. Do we have a 'Plan B'? Can we change speed? Can we change position? 

Avoidance where we can. Evasion where we can't. Those are our Survival Skills.

So if you're looking for a course that will genuinely improve your riding, and push your threat awareness and response to new levels, then why not give me a buzz?