Sport Diploma

Alfie Banks

Parkour
Today, our sports diploma class were taught the sport Parkour. This was new to me, I have heard of it before, but never took part in the sport itself. Firstly, my group and I were split into pairs (of 2) which was myself and Reuben Caven, we were then asked to set up the gym with equipment to use, I had an idea of using a beam to do volt over, so I asked my teacher if we were allowed to do this and he approved so I went to get the equipment needed in order for the beam to be safe e.g. metal pins to put in the correct holes to support the beam. After everyone in my group set up their own station, and tested it out, made sure it was safe, we were then asked to demonstrate it to our fellow class mates, on a rotational circuit; so each pair could teach someone new and also try something new as well. My first task was to try something new which was called a Wall Spin I have never heard of this skill let alone ever tried to do it, my coach assisting me was Danny OCallahan, he told me exactly where to place my hands on the board, and to tuck my legs up, and then chuck my shoulder allowing me to spin around the board and then land. At first, I as a bit optimistic whether to do this, but I gave it my best and had positive feedback from my coach, he gave me the right feedback to improve, one which was to tuck my legs up even higher because my feet was scrapping the wall, at the end I had improved so much, my teacher video recorded me for future reference. After trying the new skill, it was my turn to teach Danny on the beam, at first he struggled with the height of the beam, so as a coach my idea was to lower the beam to a lower level to make the task easier for Danny, on that level he progressed and managed to get over the beam with two hands, but not using only one! So I lowered the beam again, with my theory of if he can do this height with one hand and get comfortable, build his confidence, and then he could do the next level which was a bit more difficult, I gave him feedback and he was clearing the beam with one hand, so when I felt he was confident I encouraged him to move up a level, and he completed the task perfectly. Great effort! At the end, I saw one of my fellow classmates on the Wall Spin, Reuben Caven, and he wasnt too sure whether he wanted to do it, so I encouraged him and cheered him on, which then built his confidence and he went on to try his best at the skill, improving tremendously. Overall, I was extremely pleased with myself and my fellow class mates, I feel I improved greatly; I tried a new skill and improved along the way. Enjoyable, fun lesson!