THE COACHES BLUEPRINT FOR 2026

                                           

It's almost 2026 but a lot of coaches still use drills (I'll get to that term later), from 1986 but it's clearly time to reinvent your coaching practices and look at what elite team sport coaches are doing right now.

WHAT WE CURRENTLY SEE

Kicking from this cone to that cone to this cone to that cone is the definition of a drill - a predetermined sequence of actions that cannot be deviated from.

They possess zero context to what occurs in games as there is no opposition, no consequence and no decision making taking place - all that a game has in abundance.

A training activity is something that is full of information that is representative of the a game consisting of interactions between teammates and opposition.

Decision's now need to be made constantly in regards to navigating the constraints of space and time on top of everything else.

Above all, skill is the ability to adapt to ever-changing conditions and all cone-to-cone kicking does is rehearse an already adequate foundational technique.

TRAINING AT THE MOMENT

Players get there, have a very casual kick with a teammate or 2, run a lap and then go into handball to kicking lanes or off the fence stuff with a player/coach out the front delivering the ball to them in a variety of ways.

Sure it's just the warm up portion of the session but it's still not representative of the game so as we only have 2 - 3hrs per week to train, why not make it as jam-packed with game information as we can.

This WILL require you as coach to shift from your current coaching habits and your players as well but change needs to come from the top and that's you.

At this point of the session you don't need ramp decision-making and complexity to its maximum but you at least want to start with it included in your "warm up" training activities (remember no drills!)

WHEN/HOW TO START?

When? My suggestion is your very 1st session of pre-season in the that's coming up in the next few weeks.

How? Try and gamify your current crop of drills to make them training activities.

Add decision-making into the activity via the use of opposition which doesn't mean 18v18 but having some opposition apply some pressure to what you're doing is what you're after.

This might be as simple as someone coming to stand the mark after each mark or running 4 players off 1 end and handballing through to the other end with opposition forcing them to make decisions, not necessarily lay them out with bone-crunching tackles.

PROGRESSION

As the session continues then ramp up complexity which means add more moving parts which now be adding more defenders to stand all marks, or as many as possible which forces the offensive team to search for more solutions as there will be less "obvious" options to take up.

You might alter the space that if opened up will provide more space and time for the ball carrier, or you might close it down to take both of those things away.

You might call play on after 8secs or after 5secs, depending on what you want to see happen.

There's so many ways to constrain the 1 training activity but the holy grail lies in the coach knowing what to manipulate and when, to keep challenging players if/as they solve the previous constraint consistently which may occur in the very first session or in take multiple sessions.

ACTION PLAN

1 - Challenge yourself to design your entire 1st pre-season training session around training activities, not drills.

2 - Get to work on altering your training drills into activities

3 - If you need any assistance doing this or would like me to look over what you've come up with then feel free to contact me through Facebook PM or Twitter PM.

AFLW ROUND 11 GAME ANALYSIS: BRIS/MELB + CAR/GWS + GC/COLL

There's 1 round to go until finals with 4 games this weekend with immediate implications for the final top 8.

Essentially it comes down to Carlton v West Coast where the Eagles need to win to stay in, otherwise they drop to 9th (potentially 10th), and the Swans will take 8th (potentially 7th).

My predictions for the final top 8 is North Melbourne, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Brisbane, Carlton, St Kilda, Adelaide and Sydney with the final 2 spots to be made official s on %.

Another interesting side piece is the North/Hawks game as they'll face each other again in week 1 of finals so do the Hawks "lose" this game in the hope of upsetting them in finals because it;s hard to see someone beating them at all, let alone 2 games in a row.

Do they try some things in the hope that they see enough in to really focus on for finals? It'll be an interesting watch from that point of view.

Today we look at:

• Campbell Overlap
• GWS Outnumber Advantage Fail
• Carlton Forward Leading Patterns
• 1 Link Breaking Collingwood's Team Defense

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ST KILDA v NORTH MELBOURNE AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

Today we look at:

• North at Field Stoppage
• Saints Shark North at Center Bounce
• North's Layered Run from Behind
• Saints Going Inside Forward 50
• North at Center Bounce
• Saints Not using the +1
• Bogue Gets Out the Back...Again

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AFLW ROUND 11 GAME ANALYSIS: SYD/WC + FRE/RICH

Footy's funny.

Sydney finished 15th last season with a 3-8 record after an injury riddled season - West Coast finished 13th with a 4 - 7 record after Daisy's first year at the helm.

Before this round the win-loss records were both 6-5 but the Eagles were favorites to win this one to make finals, even though it was in Sydney and until the worse thing happened...an Ella Roberts a late out.

The Swans had control of this one from early on and even after being kept to a 1pt final quarter, still won by a comfortable margin.

West Coast will, and should be, dissapointed with the early loss to Essendon but the umpires did them no favors in that game either.

Sydney, now bound for finals, are now without Chloe Molloy which was covered last week by Privitelli who I was surprised was brought in earlier to assist Molloy as her hot streak started to fade, but whether we can now do any real damage in finals remains to be seen - Hurley back in a huge though as 4 of our losses have come when she hasn't played.

Fre are going to fall short and it should be a lesson to them to expand their offense a bit more as a % of 82.2 isn't another game, possibly 2, behind the other 6 win teams with Sydney on 108.4% being the 2nd lowest of those 4 teams.

Richmond have just now announced an investigation into season 2025 - a bit dramatic in my opinion as they lost Sheerin and had no one of that quality coming through somewhat die to their lack of VFLW team + they extended their coach who was win-less at the time so they shouldn't have to look to far.

Today we look at:

• Sydney Kick Out Scouted
• Sydney at Center Bounce
• Zippy Fish Over-Committing and Allowing the Eagles Goal Side
• Bacon Overlap
• Fre at Center Bounce
• The Problem with Linear Leads for Short Passes in AFLW
• Poor Richmond Team Defense

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ESSENDON v HAWTHORN AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

Last week I pleaded for Essendon to free whatever offense they had them, for Wales to totally dominate the ruck and give their mids first use and to not stack the back line - so how'd they go?

They weren't too bad over the course of the game while watching the game but I think in the end it was down to the Hawks being down so many key players then anything the Bombers did as they had their average total disposals of around 260-odd but only 21 inside 50's v Hawks 238 and 42.

They didn't move the ball with anywhere near enough conviction to stretch the Hawks anywhere near like Port Adelaide last week that showed some deficiencies defending against fast and direct ball movement - not an Essendon staple.

Hales had on OK game from a stats point of view (15 possessions, 7 tackles and 28 hit outs) yet the Bombers were beaten in clearances 21- 24.

I just think at this point the Bombers should be playing to what they want to be with everyone playing rather to who they currently have on the park now.

Today we look at:

• Essendon Numbers (Again, Again)
• Essendon Wing Pushing Forward
• Essendon Fat Side Line
• Essendon's Team Defense Breaking Down
• Essendon Not Organised at Center Bounce
• Hawks Inside to Outside v Essendon Outside to Inside
• Hawks Not Using Their Winger Inside Forward 50

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ESSENDON v BRISBANE AFLW GAME ANALYSIS

                                 

If you want the season from hell than Essendon is your team where they have managed to slide down the ladder after every round.

Round 1 - 2nd, 293% / Round 2 - 4th, 210% / Round 3 - 4th, 191% / Round 4 - 7th, 131% / Round 5 - 8th, 96% / Round 6 - 11th, 78% / Round 7 - 11th, 74% / Round 8 - 12th, 72% / Round 9 - 14th, 63% / Round 10 - 14th, 60% 

It's no question injuries ruined they're season with the 2nd highest number of players missing at the moment (8), 1 behind St Kilda (9) but a league high 7 missing for the rest of the season, and had been the case for a month now.  

The Bombers have an injury depeeted Hawks up this week at Windy Hill and then Sydney in Coffs Harbour so I would love to see them go all-out in the Hawks game, who were exposed last week v Port who took it to them at clearance without a 1st sting ruck which then put their defense under a huge amount of pressure to the tune of 94pts allowed (48pts the season high points allowed for the season before this game) and a history high for their AFLW team.

The Bombers will have a huge ruck advantage in Hales, they should have the midfield advantage with Prespakis, Nanscawen and Cain so hopefully they don't stack the back line with extra's like they have been and free the offense.

Brisbane's best might be the 2nd best in the league but have still a looked off a touch from Melbourne and the Hawks until now, but availability might be their best ability going into finals with a sliding Hawks and a still somewhat untested Melbourne.

Today we look at:

• The Essendon Numbers Game (Again)
• A Wing-Off
• Essendon  Going Inside Forward 50
• Essendon Too Slow to Release
• Essendon Forward Press Defense

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AFLW ROUND 10 GAME ANALYSIS PART 3/4

In what we hoped might be a contest, really wasn't as North Melbourne put the sword to the Crows with the Roos having the first 13 scoring shots of the game and 16 of the first 18 into the 3rd quarter.

The Saints are on a run at the moment (6 in a row) where they'd beaten 5 teams below them until they beat the Blues who were even with them on wins before this game. They have uncanny ability to score goals out of nowhere after the opposition have control for minutes at a time with repeat inside 50's, but are able to defend and then transition very efficiently.

The Blues just aren't quite there but it's clear the improvements in their game this season.

Richmond continued their late season form where they got 6.4 out of Greiser, Brennan and McKenzie 2 weeks ago in their win over the Crows, then 6.3 out of them this week in another win over the Pies so it's a pretty quick scouting report for their opposition over the next 2 games of the season.

 Pies are still a work in progress but again have shown clear improvements in 2025.

In round 6 the Dogs were on 1 win on 1 win and a % of 61.7 and 4 games later they're on 3 wins at a % of 121.2 which is a ridiculous turnaround from the team that managed just 10pts v Hawthorn in round 3 so what can they do better opposition in Geelong and the Saints to follow?

Today we look at:

- Adelaide Loose Defender

- Carlton Going Inside Forward 50

- Saints Going Inside Forward 50

- Collingwood Defensive 50 Rebound

- Hartwig Forward 50 Leading Patterns

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AFLW ROUND 10 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/4

 

West Coast put an end to the Cats finals hopes in a rather lopsided win in the end. If the Eagles manage to make finals,they'll have earned it more than anyone after facing Geelong, Sydney and Carlton in the final 3 rounds  - all teams vying for finals themselves. Daisy has as much buy-in as any coach in the league and they have young talent to burn all over the ground.

I'm not sure where the Cats go from here as they seem to have talent all over the ground as well but just haven't put it together this year and after drawing with North Melbourne just last season, have gone for just 8 wins and 11 losses since.

The Dees cemented themselves as the 2nd best side in it right now and the Swans now have a rather large battle on their hands to make finals after being an almost shoe-in a month ago and are fading fast so hopefully the inclusion of Molloy and Hurley can be the catalyst for a return to consistent form.

GWS's forward 50 connection woe's were again an issue, losing by just 7 points after being -18 in inside 50's and -14 for clearances, yet +2% in time in possession. If they can add that final piece of forward half connection they could make a jump next season but at the moment, but the loss of Parker has hurt them in 2 ways.

1 - Goldsworthy is not playing forward as much as they would have planned

and;

2 - Getting killed at clearance means they have to generate their offense from their defensive 50 and that's not sustainable for 99% of teams in AFLW (i.e. not North Melbourne)

They are a mirror image of their men's team.

Today we look at:

• Poor Geelong Defense
• Center Bounce Clearance x 2
• Sargent-Wilson Run
• Poor GWS Defense
• GWS Kick Out

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AFLW ROUND 10 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/4

Port pulled off a sorta upset by defeating the Hawks who were without a 1st string ruck after Wales pulled out pre-game and killing my Supercoach team at the same time.

Also being a tier-1 mid in Bates, the Hawks just didn't have the depth and although they were -21 in hot outs, they were still able maintain clearance at -4.

Port managed to do what they haven't really been able to do this season and that's maintain a lead against quality opposition with losses to Freo, West Coast and the Saints after leading at 3/4 time.

If they can keep scoring they're OK but still need find a slower tempo-possession game when they're not ad defend with the ball in hand. 

The Hawks have been on thin ice all for what seems all season with form but will finish top 4 anyway and I wonder what they do against North Melbourne in the final round, predicting they'll meet them again a couple of weeks later.

Today we look at:

• Port at Center Bounce
• Port at Forward 50 Boundary Throw In x 2
• Brooksby Run
• Being Able to Kick on Your Opposite Side
• West Coast Center Bounce

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MOTOR LEARNING > SKILL DEVELOPMENT PART 2

 

A couple of weeks ago I posted part 1 of this series that looked at different motor learning concepts/terms and how they pertain to footy, specifically scheduling (block v random), explicit v implicit learning, focus of attention, challenge point framework and feedback.

Today we look a bunch more as we go off the mantra, you can't teach or learn what you can't label.

Skill Acquisition - player development attained via motor learning principles that are highly context dependent and guided by the practice environment such as players practicing the same kicks in games at training for maximum transfer, unpressured kicks to unpressured targets

Ecological Approach x skill aries from interactions between the individual and their environment v isolated skill which is actually skill rehearsal which are not the same

Motor Learning x skill development via goal-oriented problems to expand your bag of solutions

Dynamical Systems Theory x how complex systems (the body) change in a non-linear manner relying on self organisation to adapt to variable environments meaning players will find successful solutions at different times depending on session design quality

Constraints x used to shape movement through the individual (kicking, handballing, marking, intention) - task  (rules, scoring system, consequence) - environment (indoor, outdoor, wet, dry) relationship

Individual Constraint x any athlete specific characteristic such as height, reach, speed, endurance etc

Task Constraints x the specific task of completing the exact task you’re training for

Variation – the fluctuations of individual - task - environment constraints (differential learning)

Constraints Led-Approach x the altering of the 3 constraints to force athletes to find different solutions where you consistently alter 1 of them to maintain a high level of game representative design

Perception-Action Coupling x the connection between what you see and how you act where what you see decides how you move and how you move dictates what you see

Affordance x the bag of solutions an athlete is afforded to choose from given the exact environment they are currently in meaning the specific things that players see that allows them to problem solve which also takes into account their own action capabilities. As the biggest midfielder of all-time, Patrick Cripps doesn't have break away speed out of stoppage so he wont be as adapt at finding affordances to do exactly that but his size and strength does afford him the ability to take opposition tackles and feed out to outside options.

Attunement x with many choices to make its the athletes sensitivity to execute a skill within specific environments and then selecting the best solution to do so. Lachy Neale is a great example of attunement at stoppage knowing exactly where the exits are coupled with elite clean hand action capabilities

Representative Learning Design x replicating the game environment in practice via constraints and problem solving in a games-based approach that contains the same information as games do

Problem Solving x challenges the athlete to discover better/new/more solutions in practice

Degrees of Freedom x the quantity of available movement options an athlete has in a given situation referring to solving the same problem many different ways and/or being able to solve many problems in the same way 

Attractor States x repeating stable movement solutions despite micro-variance such as kicking stationary to kicking on the run to kicking being chased to kicking being tackled

Invariant x elements of a given movement essential to completing the task where all players must have a great ball drop and a strong penultimate lunge-step when kicking

Variant x style related elements of a movement individualised to each athlete and their movement solutions such as left footers having a hook foot

Contextual Interference x combining different skills in the same session to increase the retention of both so focusing on 2 concepts per training session but alternating blocks of time dedicated to both such as center bounce clearance x 10mins, defensive 50 rebound x 10mins, center bounce clearance x 10mins, defensive 50 rebound x 10mins, center bounce clearance x 10mins, defensive 50 rebound x 10mins

Flow State x being fully immersed in an activity to find the perfect balance to generate an outcome and during this time you'll be doing everything unconsciously and on instinct to a high level (in the zone)

AFLW ROUND 9 GAME ANALYSIS PART 2/2

North are, and will continue to be, North Melbourne - they're more of a chance to go undefeated and win the premiership than not which s quite ridiculous.

With Essendon and Port, Richmond have not been anywhere close to repeating their finals positioning from a season ago and even with encouraging performances in the last 3 weeks, they still have the 1 win to show for it v 6 from last year.

They did lose Sheerin (North Melbourne incidentally but didn't play) and have had some notable injuries (Egan early, Seymour late) but no one saw this drop off.

This games'performance was a pass but with the likes of Conti, Egan, Mackenzie, Brennan and Greiser, you'd be hoping for a better return on the season.

Today we look at:

• Gold Coast Defending Deep
• 1 Link in the Chain Breaks Richmond's Team Defense
• Tigers Over Commit
• Tigers Let Bogue Goal Side
• Tiger Mids Caught Boundary Side
• Tigers Ignore Corridor for a 1v3
• Sydney Repeat Kick Out Set Play

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AFLW ROUND 9 GAME ANALYSIS PART 1/2

After yesterday's center bounce clearance special game analysis post, we dove deeper into round 9 in our next 2 posts.

The Dogs have now scored 60pts in 2 out of their last 3 games after being one of the lowest scoring teams in the AFLW so far this season - albeit against Collingwood and Essendon - but it shows the capacity to score consistently if they play in a manner that allows them to, which they usually don't against the better teams.

The Bombers have been ravaged by injury but have also had enough time to work forward from that as they mostly happened very early in the season with scores of 8, 22 and 10 in 3 of their last 4 games they clearly haven't, and playing with 1 or 2 extra defenders all game doesn't help either.

Adelaide did what they had to do against the Eagles who are your classic mid-tier team with a record of 5-4 with a % of 117 - on an upward trajectory but just behind the top-tier of the middle but better than the bottom tier but tracking nicely overall on the whole.

We'll find out more about Adelaide v North Melbourne this weekend,not that they'll win but in how close they can keep the margin.

Geelong will probably fall just short of finals this year and but there's a slate of middle team games so but should be the bounce team next year with a middle 6 draw at best and some players back who haven't/won't feature this year.

GWS and Gold Coast each need a pre-season exclusively focused on going inside forward 50 and then converting!

Today we look at:

• Bombers Not Numbering Off Once the Ball is Cleared
• Bombers Poor Spread and It's Domino Effect
• Adelaide Not Cutting Off Stoppage Exits
• Geelong Inside Forward Kick
• GWS Going Corridor
• Gold Coast Not Identifying/Utilising the Outnumber Advantage
• Gold Coast Poor Use of Space

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AFLW ROUND 9 GAME ANALYSIS - CENTER BOUNCE CLEARANCE SPECIAL

In past years there has only been a smattering of center bounce clearance set plays and most of them have been from North Melbourne who had the most dominant tap ruck in Emma King to go along with their star-studded midfield.

Most teams now have established rucks rather then converted basketball, netball and volleyball players who have ruck craft from their 10 years in the AFL pathway.

In this current season I have see far more teams be more assertive at center bounce clearance as it's the only chance you'll have a 4v4 so a dominant ruck needs to be be taken advantage of.

Some points that I bring up in these 7 clips of the Bulldogs, Geelong and Richmond this past weekend include:

• Owning Space
• Holding Opposition Out
• Stay With Your Go-To Player
• What's Your Domino Effect if You Win or Lose?

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10 NEW STREAMLINE TRAINING ACTIVITIES WHITEBOARD EDITION

After posting 171 streamline activities with just a brief written description, I've now probably got more diagram activities in my files that I haven't posted, then written one's.

Today is the 2nd whiteboard edition which are still streamlined but require a visual to get started, with activities #182 - #191 consisting a simple image with a diagram and a quick explanation.

#182 - PRESSURE DIAMOND

#183 - ESCAPE 

#184 - 4 CORNER PRESSURE

#185 -SUPPORT OR FILL

#186 - MULTI DIRECTIONAL 3v2 

#187 - HANDBALL + SPRINT

#188 - 4v4 (+2) MIDFIELD PENETRATION

#189 - 4 TEAMS OF 3

#190 - 6v5 WINGS

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AFLW ROUND 8 GAME ANALYSIS - RICH/ADE + GEE/CAR

The Tigers still seem to have adequate talent on most, if not all lines, but have just looked so disconnected on the field that player quality didn't really matter.

Enter last week against Brisbane and they were actually in front at half time while being able to get the ball in their front half and trap it in for minutes at a time, albeit the Lions did what they thought they would do in the end.

This week the Tigers were behind for the entire 1st half but having the same amount of scoring shots indicated they were well in the game and by the end of it, ran over their much more fancied opponent.

It also helps when McKenzie and Conti have career games and Brennan and Greiser can have great impact up forward.

The Crows have been the mirror-image of Brisbane this year - past perennial Grand Finalists but some of the shine is coming off in 2026.

They have beaten 1 team in the 8 (Hawthorn) with other wins against Geelong, GWS, Gold Coast and Sydney so not a terrible form line by any means but we'll get the ultimate look at them v North Melbourne in round 10.

The Geelong/Carlton match up was an 8-point game - with a Blues loss they fall back to the multitude of teams on 5 wins and a Geelong win puts 1 game of that same pack.

Geelong just haven't been bale to get it going this year and is probably a wasted year in the end.

The Blues have been the surprise packet of the year going from unwatchable to 1 of the most watchable teams in the league in the space of 1 season - Bucky's done a huge amount work on their offense and it's very clear to see.

This time last season they had scored 266 total points v 358 this year but their defense has also gone through the roof, conceding 532 points this time last year v 292 this year - a remarkable turnaround - and they might be the 2nd best team in it come finals time.

Today we look at:

• Richmond Going Inside Forward 50
• Richmond Showing the AFLW Cheat Code for Going Inside Forward 50
• Geelong at Center Bounce Clearance
• Geelong Forward Press Defense
• McDonald Run
• Poor Carlton Defense
• Geelong Manufacturing a Free Player

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AFLW ROUND 8 GAME ANALYSIS - GWS/STK + GC/BRIS

                             

GWS are a frustrating watch for me. 

The positive is that their brand is clear with a high use of handball (3rd) and uncontested possession (3rd) while also being 4th for disposal efficiency and 2nd for bounces - all on the surface looking like a fast ball movement, high scoring outfit.

The negatives are that they are 16th for clearances (last for center clearances), 4th for clangers and 11th in inside 50's and now it becomes a bit more clearer.

Losing clearance means you're generating most of your offense from your defensive half which requires a lot of possessions to get the ball back to your own forward 50, and with that coming from a lot of handball an clangers, they rarely make it inside forward 50 and when they do it's usually to an outnumber or a vacant forward line resulting in equal 3rd last for scoring shots (with Richmond) but they're not the only one's with this problem (Essendon 2nd last and Gold Coast/Collingwood last).

The Saints were Jekyll again this week losing pretty much every stat except the most important one to now actually be in the 8 as we speak.

Gold Coast are just plain struggling but with a young team and 1st year head coach, that's to be expected but when can we expect something from them? Maybe there is a Daisy Pearce-like bump year next season as there is enough talent there already, and with the boom that is Queensland junior pathway coming through year-after-year, for that to be a possibility.

Brisbane are the interesting one's right now. The perennial powerhouse have 5 wins right now against Freo, Adelaide, Bulldogs, Richmond and Gold Coast with losses to Hawthorn, Carlton and North Melbourne so are they now just flat-track bullies? 

For mine they've been the same for too long but they can easily tinker and bounce back as a force again next season.

Today we look at:

• GWS Not Using Their Numbers
• GWS Defender's Not Being Offensive Options
• GWS Play On Handball Fail
• North Melbourne Kick Out Zone Defense (image below video)
• GC Going Inside Forward 50
• GC Going Too Fast to an Outnumber Disadvantage

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AFLW ROUND 8 GAME ANALYSIS - MELBOURNE v ESSENDON

The Demons seem to be the 2nd best team in it but as mentioned yesterday, they've had a very suspect draw up until now as they finished in the bottom 8 last year so that's not their fault and with Freo away, Sydney at home, Brisbane away and Geelong away we might get a bit more of a handle of what they can do in finals re: how far away from North Melbourne are they really?

The Bombers are having the year from hell as far as health is concerned but that doesn't mean they should continue to play with 2 extra defenders for the entirety of games, which will be highlighted here.

There's also a companion video to 1 of the clips that serves as a further teaching aid to forward structure while staying connected during transition.

Today we look at:

• Essendon Going Inside 50 x 2, 1 Good and 1 Not So Good
• A Wing-Off
• Melbourne Forward Structure During Transition (+ companion video below the main video here)
• The Essendon Numbers Game
• Bannister Inside Forward 50
• Essendon Not Play to Their Strengths

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AFLW GAME ANALYSIS - HAWTHORN v FREMANTLE

The Hawks are 7-1, the same as this time last year, but doing it in a completely different way.

After 8 games in 2024 they were 7-1, at a % of 190.6, averaging 62 points for and 31 against while averaging 38 inside 50's per game.

2025 has been a very different beast all together with injuries and not being able to hit the offensive high's of last year.

After 8 games in 2025 they are 7-1, at a % of 123.4, averaging just 32 points for but defending at an elite level for only 26 points against while averaging  just 30 inside 50's per game.

In this game of 3rd v 12th they were bang on those averages of 33 points scored from just 29 inside 50's but again defended at an elite level of allowing just 18 points against.

With a top score of 40 there's a question mark hanging over them offensive juggernauts North Melbourne (66pts/game) and Melbourne (57pts/game) although Melbourne's draw has been very suspect having played zero top 8 teams at the beginning of this round (8) with only Brisbane to come before finals.

Fremantle are one of those teams that likes in congested, low scoring stoppage-feasts which keeps them in games but isn't really a winning combination against the better teams (4 games under 25pts) and it's these teams that are stuck in the middle of developing a winning brand or winning games, and then not much of either is produced.

From this game we look at:

• Fremantle Cutting Off Hawthorn Exits 
• Freo Not Recognising/Utilising Space Going Inside 50 
• Hawthorn Forward Press Defense
• No 2nd Layer of Freo Transition Defense
• O'Driscoll Goal Saving Tackle Technique
• Fremantle Defending the Goal Line v Contesting the Ball
• Hawthorn 2nd Layer of Defense

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MOTOR LEARNING > SKILL DEVELOPMENT

                                               

Last week I read study titled "Motor Learning: Bridging the Gap Between Basic and Applied Approaches" which you can read by clicking on it there, not that I expect you to as they're pretty heavy reads with a lot of scienc-ey jargon in them so they don't make for easy reads at all.

Usually I dot point my way through them them post that but for this one I want to highlight some of the critical terms used in it because coaching is the teaching of different skills (motor learning) which is a huge part of any coaching job.

Sadly 99% of coaches teach how they were taught and not by following evidenced principles that are backed up by hundred's of study's = sometime's over decades.

Different methods become fashionable with others dropping out at various times - usually because someone has found a new name for it and redesign the wheel.

What it comes down to is that if you can't label it, you can't learn it and then you definitely can't teach it.

I've definitely used these terms on this website and should have done a terms-based post long before now but here we are.

Below are a bunch of terms/concepts used in this study that can get you started on becoming  a far better coach in regards to teaching skill acquisition/motor learning, and not one that post video's on Instagram that look busy and achieving, but really aren't.

I'll keep this as basic as I can for you use a starting point - some of them have far more to them then what I'll post here now.

 

SCHEDULING

There are 2 basic approaches.

The first is block scheduling where you are learning to perfect the same technique of the same skill each and every time and is what 99% of coaches use.

The second is random scheduling which uses very slight variations of the same technique for the same skill (1 eye closed, on 1 foot, jump to the side etc) - also called differential learning.

The implications of block scheduling is that you can see very quick improvements in the actual training session itself giving the learner and coach the feeling of fast learning.

Unfortunately it is an illusion as the short term gains made actually result in low retention even 24 - 48hrs later.

Random scheduling on the other hand will result in far slower session-to-session improvement but with far better retention over the long term. The differential learning aspect also builds a more robust skill set that stands up better under pressure, as the learner has trained far more ways to display the same skill so can be more successful in more situations.

You'll never perform the same kick twice in a game of footy, so it's random scheduling for the win here but block scheduling does still have its place in the initial stages of early learning, yet the differential learning aspect should still apply and limited, if any, actual teaching is being used.

Let them try and let them explore.

 

EXPLICIT v IMPLICIT LEARNING

Explicit learning refers to teaching skill by engaging cognitive resources (attention, conscious control etc) that builds fatigue faster (cognitive load) during practice and games, and again it dominates early learning but decays rapidly.

Implicit learning involves teaching skill through the use of analogy's and focusing the learner's attention away from their body.

Instead of something like "kick with a straight foot" use something they can put meaning to like "kick like Wanganeen-Milera".

 

FOCUS OF ATTENTION

Explicit processes engage through the instruction of "hand this", "foot that" - directing the learner's attention to specific body parts while practicing the skill.

Implicit processes develop gradually and decays slowly as directing the learner's attention away from internal body movements reduces the increased mental load of explicit instruction.

In games where movements need to to be fluent and fast-acting, high cognitive load is the complete opposite of what you want.

Implicit instruction might sound like "make the ball spin backwards" or "kick so your teammate can try and mark it".

 

CHALLENGE POINT FRAMEWORK

Too many coaches will only let learner's progress in their skill progression once they master the previous aspect of it which leaves many learner's frustrated and stuck in their skill acquisition journey but it's the coaches' teaching practices that are doing the damage.

Using the lesser options from above feeds right into this progression model which is why most coaches really need to go right back and recalibrate their teaching habits.

The challenge point framework has coaches develop training activities around the current skill level of the learner.

It involves stretching the learner ever-so slightly out of their comfort zone bit it will take some tinkering as too easy will mean zero learning is taking place, only skill rehearsal, and too hard will only frustrate the learner and dent their confidence if they cannot be successful.

This will mean you'll go "up and down" in the level of the skill being practiced over a session, a week or even months.

Ultimately you're only looking at a 70% success rate of a higher level skill before you can stretch them again.

Stretching learner's can be as simple as shifting from block to random scheduling in the initial stages of learning to adding defenders and opposition pressure in later stages of learning.

 

FEEDBACK

Frequent feedback can enhance immediate performance but can also create a dependency on that same feedback that impairs performance when removed - games!

This can be a part of you nailing the challenge point as slowly reducing feedback to zero is an evidenced/based method to successful and long term skill acquisition. 

Even in initial stages of learning should feedback be kept to "only as much as it needs to be" - that's not after every rep - while allowing room for the learner to explore around 1 piece of feedback before having to tackle another piece.

To much feedback feeds into the explicit instruction model and thus overloads cognitive processes, stifles exploration and freezes fluent movement.

 

I'll leave this for now but remember learning is a search process where learner's must explore to locate stable movement solutions using variable search strategies to explore the landscape of possible movement solutions through the manipulation of constraints.

Once coaches see themselves as facilitators rather then teacher's then this process becomes a lot more easier for them.