The Listening Shift: Are You Coaching the Problem or the Person?

Janie Van Hool, author of The Listening Shift and guest at a previous Centre10 Coach Meet-up, shared a startling statistic: most people have only had a 2% formal education in listening, despite it being our most used coaching tool.

The "Cognitive Gap" is a primary reason coaching sessions stall. While we listen at a rate of 125-250 words per minute, our brains think at an incredible 1,000-3,000 words per minute. This means that while your rider is explaining why they are struggling with a jump, your brain is already five steps ahead, diagnosing the technical fault and planning the next exercise.

You aren't listening to understand; you are listening to "fix." This erodes the rider's trust and sense of support. Effective listening requires "social empathy" - considering what the other person is seeing, hearing, and feeling at that moment. By rushing to fill the silence, you deny the rider the "processing gaps" they need to internalise their own feelings and find their own solutions.

The Solution

 Welcome the Silence: Practice waiting five seconds after a rider finishes speaking before you respond. This creates space for deeper reflection.

Skilful Questioning: Instead of "fixing" questions like "Why didn't you use your leg?", use "interested" questions like "What did that transition feel like to you?"

Unlock the Full "Listening Shift" Framework > We’ve adapted the core techniques from Janie Van Hool’s session into a Coach’s Communication Audit.

This PDF includes the "3-Question Framework" we use at Centre10 to turn "instruction" into "transformation."

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