Background: what happened this weekend

This weekend I had an afternoon class that, by my standards, did not go well in the end. 4/10 students failed the class, and I’m certain at least two (and probably all four) were due to stressing out once the eval started.

One student, having not actually piloted a motorcycle (she’d only ridden as a passenger), was extremely nervous at the start of class but was clearly getting into it and doing well by the time we got to the last exercise before the eval. During the eval she did fine on the first exercise, then totally bombed on the second. She immediately decided she was done, and I wasn’t able to convince her to stay. Even if she thought she’d failed, staying would mean she could at least see the rest of the test exercises and get that much more practice. However, she wasn’t having any of that, and flatly stated she wanted to leave. I asked about anxiety, and she said that at least contributed, but refused to talk any more about it and left. Thing is, usually people who screw up on just one exercise can pass if they do well on everything else. Also, my co-coach and I thought that, if she’d done well on the other parts and still failed, we’d consider offering her a retest card. Her departure prevented us from doing that.

Another student clearly had some anxiety issues, too, and it seemed to me she pretty much climbed into her head and stayed there once the eval started. In her case, though, she thought during the eval that she was doing well enough to pass and was incredibly dismayed and disappointed to find she hadn’t. We talked at some length afterwards, and she told me that she finds the testing format to be very intimidating and anxiety inducing. I don’t know what I can do about that (we must follow the state’s testing requirements). This was her second testing attempt on the same permit, so we were unable to issue a retest card (my co-coach and I agreed it would otherwise have been totally appropriate) and her only alternative now is to go to a DMV and take the eval there. Unfortunately, anxiety is still a problem because it’s essentially the same testing format. As I see it, the problem is definitely not in her riding skills. Like every student in the class, she demonstrated continual improvement over the entire weekend.

The other two students who also didn’t pass the eval seemed stressed out during the test. I didn’t get an opportunity to talk with them in detail about it, though, so I can only guess at reasons why. One of them definitely could have done better (he rode pretty well the entire weekend), and I’m wondering if dehydration and fatigue played a role for him and the other student.

OK, what can I do?

Which brings me to the thing I’m trying to figure out. As a coach, what can I do to lessen anxiety? The only tools I know of are to try to be positive, reinforce where students are doing well, and remind students to “shake loose” a bit and remember to breathe as they ride. I also have my own bouts with anxiety, but almost never when riding. (These days I’m a little anxious when I see someone approaching rapidly from behind while I’m at a traffic light, but generally riding is more relaxing for me than anything else.) I know how to address my own problems (usually), but that’s also because I have more visibility into what’s in my head than I do in other people’s.

My intent is to keep my teaching style honest, open, and relaxed. I want the students to trust me as a coach, because I am often telling them to try things that seem strange and uncomfortable to new riders. For example, new riders often seem very reluctant to turn their head sharply for U turns, something that does take practice. I try to encourage questions throughout the course and, although I may defer a question to a later point (like “ask me at the next break” because of time needed to answer sensibly), I try to be as open as I can to questions. I also try to stay relaxed, because amping up students by doing things like yelling at them doesn’t help me or the students. (I try to make clear that the coaches might yell towards them, but it’s to make sure they can hear us across a range or over the sound of a bunch of motorcycle engines.)

So what can I, as a coach, do to mitigate the anxiety? When I have students who I think are demonstrating decent riding skills (certainly enough to pass the eval!), who take instruction, who make the effort to self-evaluate and improve, I want to see them pass. I take it personally when they don’t, not because I think they’ve failed me in some way but because I wonder what I could’ve done differently to help them.

Any ideas? Let me know. I’ll discuss any followups here.