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COACHING DISCIPLINE 7

Week 5

Planning for Teaching and the Games Approach to Coaching

Planning for Teaching

It is important that coaches stress the benefits and steps for seasonal and practice planning. A six-step approach to planning is optimum, and details and practical information and procedures for each step: Explanation of the first step includes suggestions for sources of information and methods for identifying essential skills that athletes need for the season. Step 2, know your athletes, presents ideas for preseason evaluation of athletes, including reasons for conducting preseason evaluations, what to evaluate, and how to evaluate.

The next step is analyzing the situation: Assessing what is available and what limitations exist. The fourth step outlines a procedure for establishing priorities for skills in the six constellations of sport skills. Two criteria for establishing priorities are suggested: the importance of the skill to playing the sport and the athletes' readiness to learn the skill. Step 5 includes guidelines for selecting instructional methods. Coaches are encouraged to use the games approach as their overall approach to teaching and practicing and in selecting methods for teaching in practices. Games, drills, quizzes, stories, videos, and other instructional materials should be collected to assist in developing learning experiences for athletes.

The final step is planning practice sessions. Elements of a practice plan are identified and sample practice plans are presented. Coaches are urged to consult their seasonal plan regularly as they plan daily practices, to be flexible and adjust to changing situations as the season progresses, and to remember to evaluate each practice session.

The Games Approach

The Games Approach to coaching is in contrast to the Traditional Approach. The Traditional Approach is characterized as playing the game only after practicing basic technical and tactical skills, and its shortcomings are summarized. The Games Approach is proposed as a holistic approach that focuses first on helping athletes understand the game and then helping them learn how to play it.

Three methods used in the Games Approach: Shaping play involves redesigning the game in practices so that athletes have the opportunity to practice what is relevant to the real game. Methods for focusing play emphasize critical elements of the game by explaining the purpose of the practice game, labeling key elements to be learned, reminding players of these actions, and stopping play to question, correct mistakes, and reinforce correct action. Techniques for enhancing play help challenge athletes during practice, use handicapping techniques to make close contests, and encourage and recognize progress. The games approach makes practices more game like and more fun for athletes.

Technical skills and tactical skills are defined and identified as a part of the range of skills that athletes need to learn. The Tactical Triangle is presented to explain three factors that determine an athlete's game sense: reading the situation, acquiring knowledge, and making decisions. Physical skills, mental skills, communication skills, and character development are discussed as other constellations of skills that coaches need to teach and integrate for each of their athletes.

Teaching Technical and Tactical Skills

Teaching Technical Skills

Teaching principles to help athletes learn technical skills are an important aspect of successful coaching. Experts used to believe that athletes learned technical skills by developing mental blueprints through the practice of each task. Today, scientists believe that athletes use key pieces of information from each performance to create rules for future performance. Factors that affect athletes' learning of motor programs are identified as talent, maturation level, experience, motor and cognitive intelligence, capacity to pay attention and concentrate, and motivation. Three stages of learning technical skills are outlined: the mental stage, the practice stage, and the automatic stage. Characteristics of each stage are described and suggestions for effective coaching in each stage are provided.

Four steps for teaching technical skills are presented with details for implementing good coaching strategies within the step. Introducing the technical skill is the first step. Getting your team's attention, arranging your team so that all can hear and see you, and naming the techniques and explaining how they are used in a game are guidelines for this step. Step 2 is demonstrating and explaining the technical skill. Guidelines for this step are presented. Explanation of the third step, have the athletes practice the technical skill, including discussing the decision making process about whole practices versus parts of practices, as well as principles for better practices. Correcting errors is presented as the fourth step in teaching technical skills. Ideas for identifying causes of performance problems and providing feedback are discussed as a positive approach to correcting errors in athletes' performance.

Teaching Tactical Skills

Coaches provide information and strategies in teaching their athletes and developing their own tactical skills. Tactics, strategies, and game plans are identified as the essential elements of tactical skills. Making a good tactical decision in sport involves the ability to read the play or situation, acquiring the knowledge needed to make an appropriate tactical decision, and applying one's decision-making skills to the problem.

The role of each of these three important tactical-skill areas is described with examples of their application in tactical sport situations. Reading the situation refers to athletes' abilities of perception, attention, and concentration in attending to relevant stimuli and avoiding distractions in sport performance. Athletes make better tactical decisions if they have acquired knowledge of rules, strategies and game plans, playing conditions, the opponent's and their own strengths and weaknesses, and the tactical options available to them.

Six methods for enhancing decision-making skills are outlined:

1. Teach the tactics in whole, then the parts.

2. Have players observe decision making in others.

3. Have players observe themselves.

4. Use variable practice.

5. Control feedback.

6. Ask questions.

Each of these methods is explained along with coaching tips and examples of applications and strategies for teaching decision-making skills.

The tactical-skill development plan is a five-step plan to teach athletes how to read the play and respond to game situations. This plan is presented as a form for coaches to complete while developing plans for teaching important tactical skills.

****Discussion (No more than 300 words Minimun 3 paragraphs, minimum 2 references)

Using research, review the three stages of learning technical skills. Then, select a technical skill in a sport of your choice.  Explain the approach that you will take to teach athletes this skill, paying attention to characteristics and coaching suggestions for each stage. How will you know when athletes reach the automatic stage? How will the focus of your coaching change in this final stage? Describe how to perform this skill according to the abstracting-rules approach to learning technical skills. Describe correct performance of the skill. Identify information that an athlete needs to use in practicing and performing this skill.

Thorborg, K., Krommes, K. K., Esteve, E., Clausen, M. B., Bartels, E. M., & Rathleff, M. S. (2017). Effect of specific exercise-based football injury prevention programmes on the overall injury rate in football: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the FIFA 11 and 11+ programmes. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 51(7), 562. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy1.apus.edu/10.1136/bjsports-2016-097066

Gearity, Brian,PhD., C.S.C.S. (2010). The discipline of philosophy in strength and conditioning. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 32(6), 110-117. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/scholarly-journals/discipline-philosophy-strength-conditioning/docview/847389722/se-2?accountid=8289

Salo, K., Piirainen, J. M., Tanskanen-Tervo, M., Kyröläinen, H., Huovinen, J., & Linnamo, V. (2019). Effects of military basic training on VO0RW1S34RfeSDcfkexd09rT42max1RW1S34RfeSDcfkexd09rT4, body composition, muscle strength and neural responses in conscripts of different aerobic condition. Biomedical Human Kinetics, 11(1), 167-174. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy1.apus.edu/10.2478/bhk-2019-0023

***Response to E Joyner Post ( no more than 150 words)

The benefits of having physical training will help athletes like basketball players strengthen their muscular endurance, build healthy bones, improve balance and coordination, and develop fundamental movement skills. Playing basketball requires agility, strength, and stamina. You must quickly move and change directions using high-intensity, short-duration muscle contractions (Cronkleton, 2020). In training, coaches mentioned using different intervention styles, such as supporting athletes' needs, providing positive feedback, and giving responsibilities to the athletes. The teaching of technical and mental skills in training were also two areas discussed extensively by the coaches (Grove, 1996, p. 342). The players having the benefits of maintaining their routine will help keep up their endurance during rigorous practice and games. Having muscular endurance will keep the players from having cramps or suffer a muscle sore. The players will go through running drills or using an equipment bike to maintain their muscles from getting sore. Second, building healthy bones will help the basketball players have a positive bone density that helps them keep from severe injury or cramps. Having proper balance and coordination is the key for basketball players to maintain repetitions moving during practices that will help them more coordinated player during the game. They would not have to stumble and lose their endurance while playing long and demanding games. The players will need vertical jumps and healthy feet to keep the fundamental movement skills that will improve their jumping and running skills. Speed and agility are two keys elements that will improve while training. 

 

College and trainers can help athletes like basketball players go through different training routines to improve their endurance and speed to improve their performance skills. Latin et al. (1994) believe that physical and physiological profiles might have helped coaches, trainers, and conditioning coaches as they attempt to improve the functional ability of their players (p. 214). They need to rebound and pass the basketball more accurately rather than sloppy play. Holt et al. (2006) reported that research suggests the teaching of technique can lead to an improvement in decision-making, and some evidence, although equivocal, that teaching tactics might aid technical performance. The college or high school facilities should apply a top-line training center to improve their conditioning and strength. The most critical anaerobic method is weight lifting and treadmills, which will help the players utilize their muscles and increase muscle mass to strengthen their ability to jump and run faster. The coaches and trainers can help the players go through drills of running, jumping, and shooting in repetitions forms to help maintain the players' coordination of passing and shooting correctly. Running is the best alternative to keep the players from getting exhausted or out of breath. The players need to maintain their endurance to keep the athletes more competitive forms. 

 

The most crucial fitness for basketball players is speed and agility. Latin et al. (1994) think that the ability to accelerate is critical to playing performance, yet many coaches may not perceive the need to quantify speed or the ability to accelerate. The condition to utilize speed to maintain running across the court with their health endurance. The agility is necessary to apply for using jumping vertically to rebound or shoot the ball properly. When the player is applying speed and agility when trained, they will be an effective basketball player. Players like Lebron James and Stephen Curry are examples of exceptional players who have maintained their endurance and strength to keep going in many games. They have gone through proper training to keep themselves in shape.

 

***Response to Boutet Post (No more than 150 words)

One benefit of physical training is an overall increase in physical performance. This can be demonstrated in multiple ways including greater levels of fitness and increased health, or a decrease in life-altering diseases (Vina, 2012). The overall increase in physical performance occurs through physical training as an individual is able to train for a specific goal- whether that be to get faster, stronger, more agile, or alter qualitative metrics such as weight or body fat percentage. The systems and processes that are involved in increasing physical performance and life span include aerobic and anaerobic, as an individual can train to either maintain a level of fitness throughout an extended period of time, or work to be able to participate in high intensity training. 

Another benefit of physical training is improved cognitive, affective, and social knowledge (Laker, 2000). Throughout physical training, athletes learn more not only about the sport they are practicing, but overall healthy habits and fitness techniques. This increases their overall understanding of fitness as they visualize the action being performed and do the physical work for strength or endurance. Additionally, studies have shown that physical fitness has led to higher self-esteem in individuals, thus improving affective elements, and in turn, social qualities- “physical education can be used as part of a holistic approach to aid personal and social development” (Laker, 2000). Providing the opportunity for individuals to learn about, and then perform a physical activity has shown to increase cognitive ability, affective elements, and social development.

In the sport of volleyball, the aerobic processes that are most frequent include running and jogging. While the sport uses far more anaerobic processes, a volleyball player needs to maintain an overall level of fitness that allows the athlete to maintain a high heart rate for extended periods of time. Aerobic systems can be best seen when teams are getting back into position for serve receive, running onto the court after a substitution, running back to the service line, and getting back onto the court after chasing down a ball.   

Volleyball consists mostly of anaerobic work- examples of which include sprinting, using quick twitch muscles, and high intensity training (Patel, 2017). Due to the speed and tempo of the game, volleyball requires short bursts of energy for plays, with frequent reset times in between rallies. While some rallies extend for longer periods of time, the game is generally focused on making quick turns, jumping frequently, and short sprints- usually under 25 feet. 

Muscular strength is important in volleyball because it allows players to be explosive on the court whether that be while jumping or moving quickly. This muscular strength allows players to execute an explosive movement less frequently, but with more power (Muscle Strength Vs. Muscle Endurance). Muscular endurance is equally, if not more, important as muscular strength because it allows athletes to repeat the same motions for an extended period of time (Muscle Strength Vs. Muscle Endurance). In volleyball, this is exemplified by the number of times a setter needs to transition to the net, the hitters transition off of the net to put themselves in a good position to hit, and the defenders move from base to defense to the pursuit of the ball if necessary. Other abilities like speed and reaction time are crucial to the success of an individual or team. Volleyball is a fast-paced game, so athletes need to not only be able to react to what is going on in the play, but be fast enough to make adjustments when necessary. While flexibility is not as inherently important, stability is crucial in order to prevent injuries. 

Overall, if a player is aiming to be a talented athlete in the sport of volleyball, it is important for that individual to be fast, have a high vertical jump, and extend their muscular endurance. If an athlete’s goal is to be physically sound or safe on the court, it would be important to be stable and have a strong lower body, core, and shoulders. Ideally, a player encompasses all of those characteristics. Therefore, there is not just one aspect that is most important to athletes- in order to remain safe and healthy, they must be stable and strong, and in order to be talented in specific regard to volleyball, they must be fast and have high endurance.