SYDNEY DEFENDING KICK OUT + CREATING/UTILISING AN OUTNUMBER

                                          

Here we have another couple of clips from the weekend, focusing on my beloved Sydney Swans.

Clip 1 looks at Sydney defending an opposition kick in (we looked at Collingwood doing the same yesterday) where they read the Gold Coast kick in and get numbers to that side.

Clip 2 looks at Sydney not only creating an outnumber but then having the shared mental models to utilise it for a deep forward 50 entry.

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COLLINGWOOD DEFENDING A KICK OUT + SYDNEY STOPPAGE SET UP

Here are 2 short clips from last week's round of AFL.

In clip 1 I look at Collingwood defending kick outs of which I've looked at numerous times in the last couple of seasons.

In clip 2 I look at a set up Sydney used in the early stages of their game to take away anything Gold Coast wanted to do post-clearance.

I'll post another couple of clips tomorrow too...

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COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY

                                       

These notes come from a piece posted over at Inner Drive, a student learning research-based company from the UK, explaining the ins and outs of cognitive load theory.

At its core, CTL emphasises the fact that our working memory has a very small capacity so if new information isn't transferred to long term memory (which has infinite space), then it will usually be forgotten and what you see, or what you think you're seeing at training, is not transferred to games where it actually counts. 

The rate of transfer can also be decreased if there is to much information being presented all at once, which results in cognitive overload which is already sky-high in games without any extra load being put on top of it via you're coaching methods.

Here are 10 ways to teach that take cognitive load theory into account for better learning and transfer.

#1 - WORKED EXAMPLES

When students are relatively new to a topic, all their attention goes to solving the problem but then they often don't remember how they did it so step-by-step demonstrations can help this

#2 - COMPLETION TASKS

Design partially completed examples with gaps to fill in that should get progressively harder

#3 – SPLIT ATTENTION EFFECT

Give them multiple sources of information simultaneously so they have to switch between different formats (written + diagram in the same graphic) which can create cognitive overload but you can minimise that by combining the information via integrated diagrams (results in 22% higher marks on average)

#4 – MODALITY EFFECT

Diagram + integrated text can still create cognitive overload as the learner has to process both types of information using the same visual store so use 2 different formats such as a diagram with the words on it and also read it out aloud which allows them to process the visual information separately from the auditory info, reducing risk of cognitive overload

#5 – REDUNDANCY EFFECT

Giving them irrelevant information just clogs up working memory so avoid that by giving them time to read it themselves, instead of saying it to them as people read and hear at different speeds

#6 – IMAGINATION EFFECT

For more experienced learners, give them a set of instructions and then ask them to imagine the process they need to solve the problem e.g. if the question refers to reading a graph to answer then they would first imagine how they would read the graph and what information they would need to take away from it and only then would they go about actually solving the problem which forms mental representations in the brain which helps interpret the worked around us as imagining instructions allows students to automate these schemas which therefore causes less processing in the working memory

#7 – ISOLATED INTERACTING ELEMENTS EFFECT

Some complex tasks require simultaneously processing many interacting elements before they can understand it and if the number of elements exceed working memory capacity, then learning may not take place so process some elements in an isolated way then bring them together

#8 – EXPERTISE REVERSAL EFFECT

This has to do with the amount of prior knowledge someone has, where support/instruction is useful for beginners but can have negative implications on experienced students who need to be met at their challenge point

#9 – GUIDANCE FADING EFFECT

Refers to reducing the amount of guidance you give as they gain more knowledge and also ensuring that you're meeting them at their challenge point which helps avoid the reversal effect via worked examples into completion tasks into solving the full problem

#10 – GOAL-FREE EFFECT

With an example being to calculate as many angles as you can v a specific goal by calculating a specific angle, this requires students to focus on the information they have and requires more problem solving skills and the type of wording used here requires low levels of cognitive load and helps facilitate learning

THE ADAPTABLE COACH (STUDY)

                                         

This study came out a couple of weeks ago and is a must-read for today's coaches, most of who has come through the coaching ranks with a direct instruction-based approach that doesn't assist players in the chaos of a game on its own. Instead it suggests how to also incorporate ecological dynamics approach for the best of both worlds and goes close to ensuring all players can receive the coaching they need at the level of development that they are at.

• The task for coaches is not deciding what approach (direct instruction v a constraints-led approach) is better and only coach that 1 way, but to determine the approach/learning principles that best suit the athlete’s learning requirements
• Coaching is not an exact science so you need to be open/adaptable/flexible in your approach
• For a gymnastics coach teaching a 6yr old how to perform a basic handstand they would need to think about what instructions should they provide to facilitate safe technique, how do they balance athlete expectations of the timeline of progress, is the athlete motivated to engage in the current training schedule or are they expected to participate by their parents, and this is just a fraction of the diverse influences in the coaching process
• These factors are not static with some being more/less prominent at certain times and with others taking their place
• A constraints-led approach refers to the self-organisation around interactions between individual, environment and task v skill acquisition via int movement representation
• Skill acquisition is now often coined skill adaption
• Each approach can be broken down into the same 5 categories x perception (internal memory representations v a variable environment), motor control (memory interactions v self-organisation in real time), skill acquisition (explicit v implicit instruction), movement variability (low v high) and practice (decomposition v simplification)
• Formal coach education opportunities are dominated by traditional approaches where coaches are then at risk of not developing the appropriate tools on how to coach and the knowledge of why a particular principle should be applied, instead coaching how they were coached previously
• Set clear intentions for training
• Align instructional content to the individual needs of the athlete/s and learning outcomes of the coaching context
• Balance the amount of movement variability in practice
• Allow more opportunities to to make mistakes in training
• Set flexible practice structures to allow for the non-linearity of learning
• Appropriately represent  the demands of competition environments in practice
• Simulate critical information sources to develop connections with relevant performance information
• Instructional Delivery x use explicit instruction early to reduce cognitive load to establish a basic movement pattern + use implicit  instruction to encourage exploration of individual movement patterns.
• Movement Variability x introduce it by manipulating task constraint (ball size etc) to encourage athletes to adapt movements while maintaining a high level of success + monitor how constraint manipulation influences task difficulty and see whether it introduces too much movement variability that is detrimental to performance
• Skill Acquisition x deviations that interfere with task achievement can be corrected in line with the minimal intervention principle which allows task variability in practice and the ability to remain flexible to certain movement deviations as they emerge over time + in a  constraints-led approach, movements that might interfere with behavioral goals can be leveraged to facilitate the development of individual movement solutions + athlete safety is always prioritised so any incorrect movement patterns that increase injury risk will need to be explicitly corrected
• Training Specificity/Representiveness x task complexity early in skill acquisition can be overwhelming so you can use task simplification/drills to maintain athlete motivation + where appropriate, aim to introduce critical components of performance contexts (small sided games) to facilitate transfer of learning into competition + this might include purposeful manipulation of task constraints (increase/decrease ball size etc) to encourage the exploration of different movement solutions
• Quantification of Workload x drills may better represent appropriate game intensities so provide appropriate stimulus to elicit physical adaptations + utilise technology/GPS etc + consider the quantity/quality of training goals and the balance that is needed between repetition and a constraints-led approach design
• Development of Perceptual-Cognitive, Decision-Making and Tactical Skills x lower level athletes can use independent practice (video review etc) to reduce cognitive load + different skills/athletes may require different levels of complexity meaning technical skills may be practiced in isolation before adding tactical/strategic elements + monitor/evaluate training/performance outcomes to understand whether training could be adjusted to include the concurrent execution of technical/perceptual-cognitive skills

SUCCESSFUL CENTER BOUNCE TWEAK FROM SUNDAY'S GAME

                                      

I was appointed to coach an under 18 team for 2024 but we couldn't quite get the numbers early enough (it's a junior club only, no seniors at all) so I'll be assisting the under 16's as well as helping other coaches at the club for training and potentially games as well.

We had a practice game 2 Sunday's ago but with school holidays we were missing about 8 players but had round 1 with a full list this past Sunday.

Our under 16's won the Grand Final in their division last season so there's some very handy top-age players from 2023, and some very good bottom age players who came up from the under 14's.

We were playing a team who also won a grand final in under 16's last year and whose under 14 team was also right up there so were expecting a close one at least.

In the first half we had the majority of the play around but were not capitalising on our chances, but they were getting very clean center bounce exits most of the time.

Even with our general play dominance we were only a a couple of points up at half time.

Here's what I saw for our center bounce set up in the first half with us being the blue team going to the right of image...

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DEFENDING SLOW PLAY WHILE OUTNUMBERED

This is a quick clip looking at Brisbane defending a Melbourne slow play off an intercept mark and how 1 Brisbane player defends 2 Melbourne players, and the most dangerous space, all at the same time while making the least damaging kick for the ball carrier undeniable which all enables to help Brisbane keep their defensive shape in front of the ball.

A great clip to show your players as it doesn't rely on any great skill or ability.

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FRONT PRESS DEFENSE TRAINING ACTIVITY LEVELS 1 & 2

I'm club coaching this year with another coach for an under 16's team as my appointed under 18 team didn't have the numbers to get through the season so we called that last week.

We've been training as a combined group anyway since we started in Jan so everything I taught the 18's has been taught to the 16's so it's a smooth transition from a coaching and teaching point of view.

One of the earliest tactics I introduced was front press defense which I first noticed by used by Sydney back in 2021, Collingwood and Geelong AFLW in 2022 and now a few more teams in both AFL/W are using it. 

The main point of trying to use this type of defense is to turn the ball over as close to your goal as possible so you're not trying to transition all the way from your defensive 50 all the time.

In my 6th session of this year I introduced a very basic version of this which is also part of the Collingwood Training Activities package from last season, of which there are 5 - 6 versions of this

This clip shows how it can look in a game and just look at the 4 - 5 layers of front press defense that Collingwood put on the Blues here.

The level 1 version strictly focuses on closing down the space between the defender's initial position, and the ball carrier - the ball carrier and defender are going straight to each other pretty much so there's no real decision to be made by the defenders as it pretty condensed and there's not much time to make another decision but what's directly in front of you right now.

We had pretty high defensive success when we did this which is expected in the condensed area...

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