Kids cues should be fun, but they need to be precise and effective. Mikki Lee Martin explains.
In the CrossFit Kids program at CrossFit Brand X, we hear a lot of cheerleading for our kids. The kids work incredibly hard and have earned our support. But that kind of encouragement has to be balanced with actual coaching; ultimately, we are trainers and we should spend the vast majority of our time training kids to move well.
Anyone who has attended the CrossFit Kids Trainer Course knows that we suggest the use of the “criticism sandwich”: something positive, something to work on, and something positive. After all, one of the major goals of the program is to pair fitness and fun, so the atmosphere must stay upbeat.
The meat of the criticism sandwich is the movement cue. It is no secret that the success of a CrossFit trainer lies in the ability to effectively communicate optimal movement to clients. This is particularly true when training kids. How we cue children matters every bit as much as the use of positive language. Kids cues must convey exactly what we want to see from the child and be conceptually accessible to a variety of children. Cues must also contain something children can easily remember and want to imitate.