GAME SENSE COACHING & DECISION-MAKING

GAME SENSE COACHING & DECISION-MAKING UNIT 2 VCE PE (2012) RAY BREED (HIGH PERFORMANCE COACH) Rayzor Edge Sports (www.rayzoredgesports.com.au) Email: raybreed5@gmail.com

GAME SENSE COACHING & DECISION-MAKING UNIT 2 VCE PE (2012) Exerpts from the book: Breed & Spittle (2011): “Developing Game Sense through Tactical Learning – a resource for teachers and coaches”. Cambridge University Press (copy link below in to browser) http://www.cambridge.edu.au/education/teacher/title.php?s=secondary&n=Title&a=viewTitle&bid=300893#.UJoCL80UKKY RAY BREED (HIGH PERFORMANCE COACH) Rayzor Edge Sports (www.rayzoredgesports.com.au) Email: raybreed5@gmail.com

TEAM SPORTS GREAT COACHES GREAT PLAYERS • Can you name the coaches and players above? • What do all of their sports have in common? (think ‘tactics’)

GAME SENSE • TGFU (UK) or “Tactical” approach • Teaching/coaching that uses games to develop tactical/strategic thinking • Modification for exaggeration • Technique + Pressure = Skill Caption: Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU): The Curriculum Model (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982) (From: Bunker, D., &Thorpe, R. (1986). Is there a need to reflect on our games teaching? In R. Thorpe, D. Bunker, & L.Almond (Eds.), Rethinking games teaching (pp. 30). Loughborough, UK: Loughborough University of Technology.)

Skill Technical skill = + Tactical skill + Pressure What is ‘skill’? • Features of Game Sense drills: • ‘Open’ skill drills (repetition of a skill in variable situations) • Implicit learning • Questioning • Repetition of tactical scenarios • Variable conditions “Great players are NOT born – they are developed through practice and hard work!” (Jordan)

DM involves: • TACTICAL KNOWLEDGE: What to do if…..? (game understanding/rules/team plans/probabilities) • READING PLAY: Pattern recognition/movement cues The DM process: 1. SCANNING INSTRUCTION VS “INATTENTIONAL BLINDNESS” 2. PERCEPTION 3. ATTENTION 4. RESPONSE SELECTION 5. SKILL EXECUTION

Training involves 3 main areas of improvement: • Eg. Kick to adv, cont marking, set shots • High reps/low pressure • Explicit & implicit • Indiv/small-sided drill (1) Technical skill • Improve DM • Skill eff under pressure • EG: ‘Game Sense’! • High reps/pressure • Implicit/variable • Small-sided games (2) Tactical skill** • Framework within decisions are made • Team plays/structures • EG: ‘Game Plan’! • Low reps/pressure • Large-sided games • Explicit & implicit • Structured scenarios (3) Style of play IMPLICIT: learning through experience without direct instruction EXPLICIT: learning through direct instruction

Why implicit game-based training? • Elite players have better DM skills • “Open” skilled game i.e., techniques executed in variety of situations • Well-rehearsed techniques can break down under fatigue & pressure • Research strongly supports implicit training is more effective in transferring to performance than explicit (structured drills) methods • Implicit games are more durable in terms of player learning Features of implicit game-based training: • Player-centred – coaches guide/facilitate players to explore options • Coach asks questions • Emphasis on DM in tactical situations that can occur in a match • Implicit learning – learn sub-consciously/‘learning from mistakes’ • Indirect learning through problem solving The Coach is a FACILITATOR

How does Game Sense work? • Techniques (movement patterns) can break down in competitive situations with ‘distractions’ • Practicing with variety of scenarios can improve attention to only ‘relevant’ cues • Improve DM skills through ‘experience’ i.e., learning from good and poor decisions • Repetition – small-sided games • DM becomes automatic (sub-conscious) • ‘Need to make mistakes to learn!’ “A poor performance is not failure, it is feedback!”

COACHING GAME SENSE GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING GAMES/TRAINING • Aim or theme (expected outcomes?) • Small-sided (2-6) • Replicate typical scenarios • Length – time for repetition • Main rules & area • Variations of game • Prepare questions • Block or Random/variable practice?

COACHING GAME SENSE GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING THE GAME • (Explain purpose) • Brief explanation of rules/limitations • Let game ‘play’ & observe (evaluate) • Is it working? Modifications? • Vary pressure/difficulty • Ask individual questions during game • Teachable Moments • Freeze play –‘walk through’ demo • Feedback on decisions • Turn FB into questions

COACHING GAME SENSE QUESTIONING Coach’s role to assist players in solving tactical problems 4 concepts: • TIME – when should you…….? • SPACE – where should you…….? • RISK – which option…….? • EXECUTION – how should you……? Use open-ended questions Turn feedback into questions: when, what, where, why, how?

COACHING GAME SENSE CONSTRAINTS-LED APPROACH • Level of pressure/tackling • Size/shape of area • No of players (def/att)/size of teams • Rules • Time in possession • Method of scoring/points eg. 3 pt • Positions/zones

COACHING GAME SENSE PRESENTING GAMES: To develop strategy we can: • Stay in A or D role for time of no. of turns • Give one gp a task • Set scenarios • Observation • Experienced v inexperienced

COACHING GAME SENSE EVALUATING THE GAME • Did game address aims? • Could game be modified? • Sufficient repetition of skills? • Player involvement maximised? • Game progressions?

PART 2: GAME SENSE IN ACTION SMALL GROUP PEER COACHING • 3 Teams of 6-8 • You will have 3 roles throughout the session: • Player within a team • Observation of opposition team tactics • Observation of coaching strategies/styles • Play 3-4 games: • 2 teams play • 1 team observes opposition and coaching methods eg. questioning, feedback, changing game constraints

PART 2: GAME SENSE IN ACTION SMALL GROUP PEER COACHING Teacher to select from the following games (play each game for 20-30 minutes) using a variety of balls/rules. • Warm-up game – 2v1 tag (variation 4v2 tag) • 2v1 Gauntlet (variation 3v2 gauntlet) • Team tag • Prison Break NB: see Breed & Spittle (2011) book for game descriptions

GAME SENSE COACHING & DECISION-MAKING