Games based approach.

As I mentioned in my previous post. Often coaches forget what it was like when they played the sport. How repetitive a typical session can be of warming up , drills having a game then a cool down. Offering the players no opportunity to reflect on what they have learned , practiced or achieved in that session , but more importantly when players make mistakes in a session or struggle to grasp a concept or technique , with no reflection in the session they are left usually , at for example a Sunday football team to wait another week before training again , or they go several days after making a mistake or encountering a problem with their game or technique into a match or performance with no work on their problems leading to repetition or an escalation of the problem , which if left to a game situation could be a major negative impact for a player perhaps in confidence. Training and practice is their to iron out mistakes before a match or performance so use it for that !

The games based approach targets this problem by constantly assessing an working on issues , simple feedback and communication assessing performance is all that is needed. During a session using the games based approach a typical session structure may look something like this.

Warm up
Game
Questions on the game
Back to game
More questions
Progression
Repeat the cycle with the progression implemented
Cool down.

When stopping the game for questions it is important to let the players give their views on the game in order to work on specific areas , you as a coach may see something very differently stood at 6ft tall and 20 yards away to what a player who is 4ft tall in the middle of the game may see. Allow players to reflect when the game is stopped , suggest changes or possible solutions then allow them to go back to the game. Before repeating the process.

Note when the cycle says progression , this is not a set list that needs to be ticked off in order to be effective. The game should only be progressed if the players are ready for it and the aims have been achieved. If not then it is not a problem , allow them to continue trying to find a solution and simply come back to it next session. Problems don't end at the end of training sessions so you should continue to work on them until it is no longer an issue.

BELOW IS A VIDEO I THINK DESCRIBES THE GAMES BASED APPROACH WELL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKzAbB2Lg6U