Forcing progress: We all want to maximize our rates of progress in the sport . Most people work on the assumption that if they just show up for class, progress rates will be satisfactory. In the early stages, this is usually correct, since the learning curve at introductory levels is very steep. At some point however, you are going to run into your first experience with growth plateaus. This can be very frustrating for a student who has grown used to easy progress. As a coach, a big part of my job is to make plateaus less likely to occur and also to get students over them when they do occur. I have fond memories of my own first experience with growth plateaus and my sensei, renzo gracie's method of dealing with it. When I first began jiu jitsu as a white belt I was physically bigger and stronger than most of my class mates. In addition, this was at a time when jiu jitsu was very young in the United States and the skill level among the average student was much lower than it is today. As a result, when grappling the other white belts I usually had an easy time of it and only got into trouble with the few blue and purple belts we had in class in those days. In my mind I thought I was doing extremely well with my peers. You can imagine my surprise when sensei pulled me aside one day and told me how poor my overall game was and how my training needed to change! Mr Gracie told me that henceforth I was only allowed to start matches in inferior bottom positions and was not allowed any top position at all until told otherwise. This change had an immediate effect – those same smaller white belts who I had been dominating were now crushing me. Every match became an exhausting, frustrating battle for survival. It was immediately apparent that what I had thought was good training previously was anything but. I was forced to learn a whole new range of skills, tactics – even mindset – and grew greatly as a result. This example shows two important elements of good coaching. The first is obvious – by forcing a student into new areas you can create progress. The second is not obvious. athletes often are not aware that they are in a plateau and sometimes need outside intervention
