Solo with Supervision (Fundamentals)

The final phase before you coach independently.

After completing six co-lead sessions, you’ll run four classes entirely on your own. An experienced coach is in the room observing, but they don’t coach. They don’t add teaching points, don’t redirect students, and don’t jump in unless something is genuinely unsafe. This is your class.

For the kids program solo protocol, see Solo with Supervision (Kids).

How It Works

You run the entire class: warmup, evergreen, retrieval, main topic. You plan it, you execute it, you adapt it. The observing coach is a safety net, not a co-pilot.

The observing coach will:

Watch and take notes
Handle logistics if needed (timer malfunction, someone arrives very late)
Step in only for genuine safety issues
Debrief with you after class

The observing coach will not:

Add teaching points during your stoppages
Give individual feedback to students during your games
Change your game or your pairings
Redirect students on your behalf

If the observing coach has to intervene on something that isn’t a safety issue, that’s a signal you’re not ready. It doesn’t mean you failed. It means you need more co-lead reps before trying solo again.

Before and After Each Session

Before class:

Full class plan: games for every segment, targeted goals, backup games
Curriculum reviewed, game library checked
Know who’s likely in the room (regulars, anyone returning from injury, potential new students)

After class:

Debrief with the observing coach. They’ve been watching the whole class with nothing else to do. This is the most detailed feedback you’ll get in the entire training program.
Their notes will cover: game selection, rules communication, coaching language, feedback quality, time management, room reading, adaptation, energy management, culture enforcement
Ask them: “What’s the one thing I most need to improve?”

Sessions 1-2: Running the Show

The first time you run a full class alone feels different from co-leading, even though you’ve been running segments for 12 sessions. The difference is psychological: there’s nobody to hand off to if things get rough. The room is yours for the full hour.

For the observing coach

Take detailed notes. You’re watching with undivided attention for the first time. Note timestamps, game choices, teaching points, language, pacing, adaptations, and anything you’d have done differently.
Don’t give live signals. No head nods, no mouthing words, no pointed looks. The trainee needs to make decisions without reading your face.
Keep the debrief balanced. Start with what they did well. They just ran a full class for the first time and they’re probably anxious about the feedback. Then give them the most important thing to work on. Not five things. One.

Session 1: Quiz & Reflection

Walk through your full class plan: every segment, every game, every targeted goal. How closely did reality match your plan?

What was the hardest part about running the entire class? Was it planning, pacing, adapting, energy, or something else?

Describe one moment where you had to make a real-time decision with no safety net. What did you decide and why?

Session 2: Quiz & Reflection

What did you change about your approach from session 1 based on the debrief? Did it help?

How are you managing the full class timeline? Are you consistently finishing each segment within its window?

What’s the observing coach’s main piece of feedback so far? Do you agree with it?

Sessions 3-4: Proving Consistency

By now, the novelty of soloing has worn off. These sessions are about proving you can do this reliably: different topics, different rooms, different energy levels. Can you coach well on a Tuesday when five regulars are out and two new people walk in?

For the observing coach

Look for consistency, not perfection. Are they making the same quality of decisions across different classes, or do they have good days and bad days with no self-awareness about why?
Push them on self-assessment. By session 3-4, they should be identifying their own mistakes before you point them out. If they can’t, they need more reps.
Make the final call. After session 4, you’re deciding whether this person is ready to coach independently. Be honest. If they’re not ready, be specific about what needs more work and extend the phase.

Session 3: Quiz & Reflection

How did today’s class differ from your previous solos? Different topic, different students, different energy? How did you adjust?

Describe a moment where something didn’t go as planned. How did you recover? Are you getting better at adapting, or does it still catch you off guard?

What patterns are you noticing in your own coaching? What do you consistently do well? What do you consistently struggle with?

Session 4: Quiz & Reflection

Rate yourself 1-5 on each of these. Be honest.

Planning a full class (game selection, targeted goals, backups)

Communicating game rules clearly

Giving focused feedback (one point per stoppage)

Using external language over internal language

Walking the room and giving individual feedback

Reading the room and adapting in real time

Managing time across the full class

Setting and maintaining energy and culture

Handling new students (New Student Protocol)

Handling intensity issues (redirecting students who are going too hard)

Compare your self-ratings to the ones you gave at the end of co-lead. Where have you improved? Where are you still stuck?

What’s the observing coach’s overall assessment? Do you agree?

Final Assessment

Complete this after all four solo sessions. This is the comprehensive assessment for the fundamentals coaching track.

Knowledge Check

What are the five elements you must communicate when explaining a game? List them.

What are the three components of alignment? Define each one briefly.

Name the six core mechanics. For each one, give a one-sentence definition.

What is FYJJ? Explain it as if you were telling a new coach who’s never heard of it.

What is the difference between a grappling game and positional sparring? Why do we prefer games?

What are the four segments of a fundamentals class? What’s the approximate time allocation for each?

What is retrieval practice? Why do we include a retrieval segment in every class?

What is the constraints-led approach? Give a concrete example of how you’d use it in a game.

Coaching Skill Assessment

Describe your approach to planning a fundamentals class. Walk through your process from reading the curriculum to walking into the room.

What’s the most common mistake you make as a coach? What are you doing to fix it?

Describe a moment from your solo sessions where you adapted well. What were you seeing? What did you change? Why did it work?

Describe a moment from your solo sessions where something went wrong. What happened? What would you do differently next time?

How do you decide what to say between rounds? Walk through your decision-making process.

How do you calibrate your coaching for a mixed-level room (week-two white belt next to a four-year blue belt)?

Pedagogy and Philosophy

In your own words: why do we teach from concepts down rather than techniques up?

Lemov writes that “when you chase five rabbits, you catch none.” How does this principle show up in your coaching?

What does “the game teaches the game” mean, and why is it insufficient on its own?

What is the difference between “I taught it” and “they learned it”? How do you check which one happened?

What does “invest in loss” mean, and how do you model it as a coach?

Self-Assessment

What kind of coach are you right now? What are your strengths?

What kind of coach do you want to become? What do you need to develop to get there?

What’s one thing you wish you’d known at the start of this training program?

When You’re Done

After four solo sessions with a positive assessment from the observing coach, you’re cleared to coach fundamentals classes independently.

This doesn’t mean you stop developing. Post-class reflection, peer observation, and periodic feedback from other coaches should be ongoing. See the Coach Self-Review and Coach Feedback & Evaluation docs for how we continue to grow as coaches.

The full training progression:

Phase	Sessions	What you did
Shadow	4	Observed experienced coaches
Assist	6	Helped the lead coach, ran handed-off segments
Co-lead	6	Ran full segments independently, split the class
Solo with supervision	4	Ran the entire class, observed by experienced coach
Total	20