Another Word I Never Use: Mobility
Consider these three sentences:
Babe, I need more pleasure.
Chef, I need more taste in my entreé.
Coach, I need more mobility.
The sentence to the coach gets said all the time, and to nodding heads. The culinary one would get you thrown out of a kitchen. The bedroom confession may stir conflict, create conversation, or leave you on the couch. So why is our sporting sentence sanctioned while the others stand out as oddities?
Because our common vocabulary in this athletic industry is atrocious and accepted. The words we regularly use to describe our physical selves and their challenges are the equivalent of Beethoven saying, “My symphony needs more noise.”
I talk with elite coaches, practitioners, and athletes—people who should be poets about their professions—and “mobility” and “tight” are the words used to describe scenarios that deserve elaborate elucidation.
The better an athlete can describe her problem, the better I can help. The better I describe a potential solution, omitting useless words, the faster we succeed. I employ words that get jobs done.
Your new and upgraded vernacular can be simple too! After all, we’re just talking about heads, shoulders, knees, and toes; as well as sidelines, goals, opponents, intentions, abilities, and limitations. Academic jargon about skill and physiology has no place in these conversations.
The Solution: Specificity
My hypothetical chef would be specific when describing what her entreé lacks, “I need more cardamom.” Hopefully, the bedroom partner can be just as direct in describing desires. Movement professionals (coaches, athletes, practitioners) need specificity. They need to understand what kind of mobility is needed. Is it hip flexion? You sure? How do you know? If so, then your eyes must follow suit. You need to observe, ensuring that the hip gets bent instead of the low back rounded.
The Practice: Writing and Deliberate Speech
It’s hard to get better at using words without practicing them. Writing is the most accessible practice: pen, paper, and time. Make it distraction-free. Pore over your words. Avoid “mobility” at all costs. Add specificity where you can and rhythm where you want. Festoon it with fantastic flare if you feel like it.
Speaking to other people tests your practice. Conversation forces verbal habits, words trip out of your mouth seemingly without consent. Relationships eject unintended words and trigger emotions, which can steer your diction one way or another. Ever be at a loss for words when you’re worried about what the other person will think of you?
Enter one or two conversations with the intention to speak a certain way. Once you wrap up, did your speech match your intent?
Make rules for yourself. What happens if you don’t allow yourself to say the useless words I disdain? Prohibit yourself from inviting their extended family into your mouth, Restriction and Freedom. (They made a mess at the family reunion.)
When you use language that is specific, you make more progress faster. Communication skills are cheat codes available to everyone. But few people write them into their lives.
Mobility, taste, and pleasure are not descriptors but categories. Hip external rotation, paprika, and “Yes, right there” are specific. Be specific.
Okay, so you need more hip external rotation. (Specificity!) How you get it matters… But I’m trying to keep these as short as I can, which isn’t that short, so you’ll have to wait till next week.