For many people, I’m known as “The Trick Shot Guy.”  I started making Trick Shot Videos in 2020 as a way to pass the time during virtual learning as well as try to build connections with students whom I’d never met as it was my first year at this school. In the 250+ Trick Shots and 1000+ hours of failing, I learned I was way more resilient than I ever gave myself credit for. 

Fast forward to present day, Trick Shots have become a staple in my teaching and my students are now learning to not be afraid of failing, but rather to use those failures as learning moments to achieve their task at hand. I always tell them, “I never miss, I just learn new ways not to make the shot!” In presenting on how to incorporate Trick Shots into your lessons, one of my key points is to give your students time to fail. It’s imperative that if we are going to set failure as more of an expectation, we need to allow them the time to work through the emotions, make the adjustments and figure out what they need to do to make the shot or achieve the goal. Our Perfect Shot is a great example of this. Every student gets 1 chance every 4 class periods but when they have a Choice Day, some kids will spend the entire class missing and missing and missing, trying out different strategies. That’s where the magic is, because when they finally make it, the excitement is through the roof, and not just from them but from the entire class (and school for that matter when they can hear the cheers from down the hall)!

Recently, I’ve realized another aspect that may be just as important….Let your students see YOU fail. In wrapping up our dribbling skills unit, I’ve been attempting live Trick Shots as the students are lining up and they now get a first hand look at me failing and not having it bother me at all. Sure, they may see me get frustrated if I have a close miss but they also see that I immediately turn my focus to the next attempt and what I need to do differently for the next try. The more I’ve done this at the end of the classes, the more I’ve noticed the students supporting me through the misses and even providing the exact feedback I am giving myself. Some classes don’t get to see a make, but they still walk out of the gym excited about the next opportunity to see something they’ve never seen before. And the days I am making it…talk about feeling like a Rockstar!!! 

Give it a try, let your kids see you fail at something and use it to show them how you respond. You’ll be amazed and proud when you see them taking risks and trying out something they never thought they could do. Then, watch the excitement explode out of them when they finally succeed…just be sure to celebrate the heck out of them in the process! That excitement that they show isn’t because they were successful one time, it was because they overcame all the failed attempts before that successful attempt. 

Happy Failing! 

You can find Patrick’s Tik Tok channel here.

I started making trick shots to keep myself busy during distance learning last year. Over 150 videos later, I have students bidding in auctions to win a trick shot class with me and it’s so amazing and humbling to share a passion with my students! @fcpsnews @FCPS_HealthPE pic.twitter.com/DFzHDEBE1I

— Coach Noel (@pm_noel) May 18, 2022

This microblog post was a featured post in #slowchathealth’s #microblogmonth event. You can search for all of the featured posts here. Please do follow each of the outstanding contributors on social media (including Patrick Noel, the author of this post) and consider writing a microblog post of your own to be shared with the global audience of slowchathealth.com

Pair this post with the following:

Happiness Factories by Phil Mathe

What Is The Most Fun Thing You’ve Ever Done? by Mark Housel

How to Facilitate Deeper Connections to Physical Activity by Jordan Manley

Have you read the latest Book of the Month recommendation?