The Games Approach Chapter 9

PLAN Technical and tactical skills Traditionnal approach Games approach How the Games approach works Contrast between both approaches

Technical and tactical skills Technical skills: Specific procedures to move one’s body to perform the task that needs to be accomplished. Some sports requires that athletes learn many technical skills, and others require that they learn only a few. Technical skills refer to the specific motor used to perform a task. Tactical Skills: Decisions and actions of players in the contest to gain an advantage over the opposing team or players. A player who demonstrates good tactics knows where to go and how to use space and time intelligently, both alone and with teammates. We called them layers with « Game sens ». Tactical skills refer to the mental skills to know when and where to execute de the technical skills.

Be carefull We often use the terms strategy and tactic synonymousy; howerver , the term strategy refers to a plan of action for your team for a season or series of contests, Make the difference between the two meanings of Skill. -It may mean task. -It may mean quality of a person’s performance at some task. - Technique and skill are two terms often used interchangeably, but they shouldn’t be. Skill in sport is being able to execute the techniques required at the right time and place.

Traditionnal approach

The games approach The games approach emphasizes learning the game through gamelike practice activities that create realistic and enjoyable learning situations. As athletes play, they learn what to do; this is called tactical awarness. In the games approach practice begins by playing carefully crafted versions of the game to develop both technical and tactical skills, followed by further practice of technical skills, often throught drills, and then integrating these into more gamelike play. The games approach is a more holistic aproach to learning the sport, focusing first on helping athletes understand what the game is all about , and then helping them learn how to play the game. Through this approach players discover what to do in the game , not by you telling them, but by them experiencing it. What you do as an effective coach is help them unnderstand what they’ve experienced.

How the games approach works Three methods to reach a good games approach: - Shaping play - Focusing play - Enhancing play

Shaping the play of your athletes it’s about teaching through the game Shaping the play of your athletes it’s about teaching through the game. Here are four aspects of the game that you can change to create a variety of learning situations. - Change the game rules in practice to create the learning environnement you want. - Increase the number of players to increase player participation and active learning time. - Alter the size of the playing area or change the size of the goal to help your athletes focus on learning a particular aspect of the game. - Shape play by modifying the goal and the scoring. Focusing play means that you need to focus your players’ attention on the key elements of the game that you want them to learn. Focusing can can be done by explaining the purpose of the practice game and labelling the key elements to be learned, and then during play reminding players of these actions. You can enhance your athletes’play by different methods as presenting challenges during practices, using handicaping techniques , encouraging them […] But also, your personality and knowledge of the game and the respect players have for you, are important factors that help enhance play.

conclusion