Multi-Track Training

Having many judo players of different experience levels in your class is a good problem for any coach to have. It's a good problem because it means you have players to train in the first place. Getting sufficient bodies onto the mat is the No. 1 headache of coaches the world over. But a good problem is still a problem and it needs a solution.

In the past we've tried getting everybody to do the same thing but that doesn't work so well. The beginners can't keep up and the experienced ones will feel the beginners are slowing them down.

We've toyed with having certain days set aside for more basic (beginner's) judo and certain days for the more experienced ones. That doesn't work either because on certain days designated as beginners, it's mainly experience ones who show up. And on certain days designated for experienced players, sometimes a lot of beginners show up. So, it's kind of impossible to maintain and kind of regimented system. You can plan all you want but you'll never really know who will show up or fail to show up until class commences.

Recently we tried having multiple tracks during a single session and remarkably, it worked really well. One group were absolute beginners who focused on the basics. Another group were those training for competition. A third group focused on preparing for belt grading.

Each group did their own thing for much of the training session but towards the end, when we had randori, everybody participated. Of course the beginners were paired with more experienced players who could take care of their safety. But everybody did randori.

Usually, on weekdays, when the turnout is smaller, we will do this type of multi-track training. On Sundays, the group is bigger so it makes more sense to do a group training where everyone does the same thing. We'll do more drills, play more games and do more out-of-the-box stuff rather than conventional training on Sundays.

But in judo, as in life, you have to be able to roll with it and sometimes improvisation is required. For example, this Friday it looks like we might be having a rather big crowd. As such, we will probably do a group training ala Sunday. It makes more sense.