Importance: High. Group control is an essential aspect of your work, both from a safety management and general enjoyment point of view.
This lesson looks at the important skill of maintaining control of your group of clients whilst on the water. It will take around 20 minutes to complete.
The training video discusses:
- Recommended group sizes and staff/student ratios. Please note that there may be different specific local/regional/national recommendations for maximum group sizes and staff/student ratios in your part of the world. If there aren’t, then we suggest following the recommendations here.
- Good practice recommendations for the instructor
- The problems with group control that the instructor may encounter
- Group dynamics, and how they can impact on a group
- How do deal with problems that may arise
Every group of clients is different, no two lessons are ever the same. Learning to manage a group is a skill that comes with practice, but having some ideas in advance on what might go wrong and how best to deal with it will be of great value, particularly for your first few lessons.
The test at the completion of this online course may include questions on group sizes and group control techniques.
Is there anything we have not covered, that you consider important/essential in this particular area of knowledge? Or anything specific to your part of the world that differs or diverges significantly from what we are suggesting or recommending? If so, please get in touch – contact us at supinstructorsnz@gmail.com and let us know about it.
Check Understanding!
- Do you understand the various recommended group instructor:client ratios?
- Do you understand how you can utilise other competent adults in order to increase your group size?
- Can you recall some of the main issues that the instructor is likely to face in terms of group control?
- What techniques would you use in order to keep your group together?
If you’re unsure on any of these, go back and review the lesson again. Otherwise, you can move on to the next lesson.