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Over the last decade, there has been a tremendous amount of research dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Children diagnosed with ADD tend to have difficulty giving or sustaining attention. They frequently appear unorganized, and may have difficulty following instructions or directions. Often, these children tend to lose items related to task completion and tend to be forgetful. Some children with the disorder may also display hyperactive and/or impulsive behavior. They squirm or become fidgety, interrupt others, talk excessively, engage in a high level of motor activity and have difficulty in turn-taking activities. Many children with ADD experience difficulty building and maintaining positive peer relationships.
More and more professionals engaged in the treatment of children diagnosed with ADD or ADHD are recommending that these children become involved in a martial arts program. For many children with Attention Deficit Disorder, the dojang provides ideal place to increase attention span, decrease distraction, develop motor and behavioral control, improve self-esteem, and build positive peer relationships. As a Certified School Psychologist, I have frequently recommended taekwondo instruction for ADD children. As a taekwondo instructor, I have seen ADD children make tremendous strides in their ability to sustain attention and control behavior. Finally, as the mother of an ADD child, I have seen the impact that taekwondo instruction can have on attentional and behavioral concerns on the home front.
Families with ADD children should carefully select a taekwondo school. The instructors at the school should have some familiarity with Attention Deficit Disorder as well as some knowledge of strategies for working with these students. Instructors should constantly be mindful of the needs of each individual student and insure that these needs are addressed in the activities that are provided. A class size of ten to twelve beginners is certainly preferable to one of thirty to forty beginners. It is also a positive sign if assistant instructors or trainees are available to provide extra on-to-one assistance where needed. Parents should seek instructors that provide discipline primarily by shaping behavior through positive reinforcement. This is not to say that the instructor should never impose consequences such as "push-ups" or verbal correction but when correction is provided any positive effort at improvement should be recognized. Consistency is another key component in providing good taekwondo instruction to ADD students. ADD students tend to respond better when they know what to expect and when to expect it.
Things that parents can do to help their ADD child to have a positive experience in the dojang. First of all, it is important that your child attend class on a regular basis. Do not punish your child by withholding taekwondo classes. I have frequently heard parents make comments such as "if you get another bad behavior grade, you won't be able to go to taekwondo." Since one of the primary purposes of a taekwondo class for children should be to promote good discipline and respect, it makes no sense to use this as a punishment. Secondly, be consistent in developing your child's class schedule. Choosing to attend class at the same times on the same and days each week establishes a habit of attendance. On class days, rather than ask your child if he/she would like to go to class, announce that it is time to get ready for class. On school days, you would not ask your child if he/she wanted to go to school, but rather you would facilitate their getting ready for school. Assist your child in maintaining uniforms and equipment. It helps to keep an extra clean uniform on hand, and to buy spare mouthpieces in advance. Have a consistent place for gear storage, and have your child double check for all pieces of gear prior to leaving for class and from class. Be supportive of your child's instructor, and do not be afraid to ask for suggestions for assistance with discipline at appropriate times. Most instructors will be glad to set up an appointment with you to address any special concerns you may have pertaining to your child. Praise your child for accomplishments and provide encouragement when they experience difficulty. In whatever way you can, help to make taekwondo a positive experience in your child's life.
Martial Arts not only improves the physical skills of the practitioner but, also, elevates both the mind and the spirit. Drills provided can be a powerful tool in helping ADD students learn to focus their minds on a task and increase their attention span.
In my writings I talk a lot about – and try to explain away – many golf myths. One such myth is the supposed need to get the club shaft to horizontal at the top of the golf swing. Why should the golf club get to horizontal? Why is this the ideal position? What is the scientific reasoning for this? Because it is parallel with mother earth? What if it is a little shy of horizontal? What if it goes beyond horizontal (see John Daly)? Getting the club to horizontal is an arbitrary instruction that unfortunately cripples many a player in their efforts to get it there, and distracts them from the primary ingredient of the golf swing: the downswing. What if someone came along and told you it did not matter if you got the club to horizontal or not? What if someone told you you do not need to be a contortionist while executing the backswing? Wouldn’t that lift some big burdens in playing golf?
There is an irony in the fact that most of us try to make a big backswing, while telling our buddies to slow down. What if you were told you could speed up? Should speed up? While many will say that even on the PGA Tour there’s nearly as many different golf swings as there is players, there is one undeniable common denominator among them, and that is acceleration.
All top players accelerate the golf club to impact. Many a struggling player makes such a huge swing that they either get into a position from which acceleration is difficult, or they are so out of control that they decelerate in order to try to gain control by the time they reach impact. Either way the result usually does not produce the distance desired, or the contact required. Deceleration is contrary to centripetal force while acceleration contributes to it. Suffice to say, two swings that are 90 mph at impact are not the same if one was accelerating from 80 to 90, while the other was decelerating from 100 to 90 at impact. Consider the racecar driver who slows before a curve in the road, and then accelerates into it. Then consider an occasion where you were going too fast for a curve and had to slow down. Remember feeling how hard it was to maintain control of the vehicle as you encountered the turn? The golf swing is no different. A decelerating golf club cannot remain on its intended path and will veer wider than its intended path. This creates a wider arc, the bottom of which is now behind the ball. Hello fat shot. Even if your club was going 200 mph before it hit the ground, hitting the ground will slow it down immensely, not to mention all the other negatives associated with hitting the big ball (earth) before the small ball (golf). The answer is not slowing down.
Acceleration is the answer. Acceleration from an advantageous position. Interestingly, while a big backswing tends to promote deceleration, a short backswing does the opposite. A short backswing promotes acceleration. Your win-win. Mentally, it’s like you do not believe the shortened backswing will do the trick, so you accelerate to make up for it. Hello good shot. Being it was so good, you become willing to try it again. And it works again. The next thing you know, rather than trying to attain difficult physical positions (such as getting the club to horizontal at the top of the backswing) you are practicing accelerating the club. Imagine practicing something good. Aha.
And here’s the bonus to the bonus. Practicing (consistently) leads to muscle memory. Muscle memory leads to speed. Think of anything you do that requires muscle memory and that which you do repeatedly. Whether it is tying your shoelaces, or your tie, or phoning home, you do it quicker now than when you first started. I highly doubt that since you mastered phoning home, you began trying to phone home harder. I highly doubt that since you mastered tying your tie, you began trying to tie your tie bigger. I highly doubt that since mastering tying your laces, you began trying to tie bigger laces. Okay, I am pushing the point. But I think you see the point.
Surprisingly PGA Tour players don’t enjoy one luxury that we do. They do not have the luxury to mess around with their golf swings. We can mess around and only our game suffers. They mess around, and suddenly their day-to-day existence suffers. Ask Ian Baker-Finch. PGA Tour players have learned that by shortening their swings and working on acceleration they can attain just as much (or more) distance than they used to, and improve accuracy and consistency – two staples to life on the Tour. That is why we will continue to see a growing trend of shorter backswings on the long golf courses of the PGA Tour.
Clive Scarff, a teaching professional, is also the author of Hit Down Dammit! More information can be found at www.hitdowndammit.com.
Drill: The Right Hand Thrust Drill
The Right Hand Thrust Drill can be found on “Hit Down Drills!” - one of four DVDs in the Hit Down Dammit! Golf Instruction DVD series available at www.hitdowndammit.com. This drill’s goal is to develop acceleration from a shortened backswing position. While harder than it looks, the results will surprise you.
Swing your club back to waist-high, pause a split second, and then use your right hand to "thrust" the clubhead down toward the golf ball. You will find you have now created sufficient speed with the clubhead that it follows through to the target, naturally, putting you in a finish position wherein the clubhead is pointing at the target, the toe is up, and the shaft is roughly horizontal (waist-high) and parallel to the target line. This position should roughly mirror your top-of-backswing position.
As you perfect this drill you’ll create more clubhead speed, the momentum from which will see a follow-through position that "naturally" swings through a little higher than the height of your backswing. It is important that this follow-through is natural, not forced or abbreviated.
(To see this drill as a video please visit: http://www.hitdowndammit.com/#Drills)
For more articles, or further information, please contact Clive Scarff at clive@hitdowndammit.com
Will your child be a quitter? Are we raising a quitter? Adults don’t want to push their children into anything these days or force them to commit to it because their parent forced them to do things they didn’t like to do things. But my question to you is this, are you successful today because your parents forced you to exercise and forced you to commit to projects and sports? Did they let you quit sports when you had a bad day? Did they let you quit anything? Mine didn’t. And I thank them for not letting me quit everything. The habits of quitting and not committing to things are going to follow your children through life. If you let them always quit things as a child then they are never going to be able to hold a long-term job as a teen or adult. Think about this when they say karate is too hard and I don’t want to go anymore. Think about them quitting their 1st job when they are 16 because they had to work hard that day. Think about them dropping out of college if they make it that far. Think about them quitting a job every 2 years as an adult. Did you quit every 2 years and become as successful as you are today with these quitter habits.
When the child walked in I noticed he was almost as wide as he was tall. We tried him out; he was as I figured, too young for the class. At this age exercise should not be to get back in shape. It should be fun. A 5-year-old should never have been given the chance to get out of shape. Whose fault is it? Did the 5 year old get the car keys and drive to get a cheeseburger and fries? I don’t think so. The parents give in to the child and let them eat what they want. Immediately after the trial class while I was trying to talk to the mother, the child kept saying, ”I want Cheetos, I want Cheetos”. So what did the mother of the overweight 5-year-old child do? She bought him Cheetos and a Sprite. The child didn't sign up. He said the class was too much work. Since when is exercise too much work?
The reason I am writing this article is to remind everyone over 30 that we were not raised this way so why are we raising our children this way?
James Holan 5th Dan in TKD
In Irving and Grapevine, TX.
Adults don’t want to push their children into anything these days or force them to commit to it because their parent forced them to do things they didn’t like to do things. But my question to you is this, are you successful today because your parents forced you to exercise and forced you to commit to projects and sports? Did they let you quit sports when you had a bad day? Did they let you quit anything? Mine didn’t. And I thank them for not letting me quit everything. The habits of quitting and not committing to things are going to follow your children through life. If you let them always quit things as a child then they are never going to be able to hold a long-term job as a teen or adult. Think about this when they say karate is too hard and I don’t want to go anymore. Think about them quitting their 1st job when they are 16 because they had to work hard that day. Think about them dropping out of college if they make it that far. Think about them quitting a job every 2 years as an adult. Did you quit every 2 years and become as successful as you are today with these quitter habits.
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