NEXT LEVEL COACHING - AFL SKILL DEVELOPMENT

The points in this post come from a report with a link I''ve had on my "get to at some point" list and once I got into it it's ridiculous I didn't look at it straight away.

It's titled "Challenging Traditional Practice Approaches to AFL Skill Development" prepared by Damian Farrow, a Vic Uni sports science professor.

As the title suggests, it challenges current methods in regards to building skill development at AFL level, being commissioned by the AFL Research Board so if you want to fast track your own local/amateur club's development, what better way than following AFL researched methods rather then the old "this is the way we've always done it" road.

If you like the points I've highlighted here then definitely give this report a read yourself as I only pick out what's relevant to me based on my own knowledge level and beleifs on what is important, of which you'll be totally different.

• Kick from a mark occurs 38% of the time in a game v 47% at training
• Kick from a handball receive occurs 29% of the time in a game v 13% at training
• 30 – 45m kicks occur 44% of the time in games v 28% at training
• Straight kicks occur 88% of the time in games v 31% at training **
• Kicks across the body occur 19% of the time in games v 67% at training

** both of these sound weird as you have far less straight lines during games compared to training + you need manoeuvre around more players to kick in games compared to training** 

• 0 – 1sec processing time before needing to kick occurs 14% of the time in games v 3% at training
• 7- 8secs processing time before needing to kick occurs 38% of the time in games v 67% at training
• 1 step prior to kick occurs 13% of the time in games v 0% (!!!) at training
• 2 – 4 steps prior to kicking occurs 31% of the time in games compared to 56% in games
• Not needing to use evasive skills before kicking occurs 32% of the time in games v 86% at training
• Moderate perceptual load, or the number of players ahead of the ball, occurs 74% of the time in games v 19% at training
• Kicks hitting the target in games occurs 57% of the time v 86% at training
• Kicks missing the target in games occur 35% of the time v 14% at training
• Practice goal kicking like it occurs in a game so instead of using a block training approach such as 10 shots all in a row, space them out into sets of 1 at diifferent times in your training sessions, coming off the back off different physical an pschological conditions, just like a game
• Well organised practice with sufficient variability/challenge can reduce the number of repetitions required (practice with purpose)
• Contextual interference is the amount of mental effort a learner is required to use when practicing a skill
• Skill practice should follow a progression of block, serial schedule and random training phases 
• The secret to making every rep count is to forget the previous one (psychological hangover), so do something different between reps
• Implicit learners are less prone to choking as they’ve developed more solutions to the same problem, not relying on 1 specific solution that may or may not be available at that time (give someone a hammer an everything is a nail)
• An example of implicit practice for goal kicking might be to first explain the skill via a metaphor/analogy, have the learner perform a secondary task while kicking like counting backwards or singing a song, the coach must design and utilise errorless learning conditions of activities that they’ll be successful in 90% of the time which builds confidence and decreases over analysing
• Provide zero feedback to the learner by removing visual feedback such as kicking into a towel right in front of you, which prioritises the process over the outcome
• With more skilled performers who learned explicitly, create implicit activities that are instinctual so there’s no time for thinking/analysing
• External focus is better option than an internal focus
• Don’t isolate aspects of an entire skill as when practicing a tennis serve ball throw, studies found you actually  throw the ball 20cms higher then you do in the full serving action, and with greater spin too
• Instead use equipment modifications etc, as skills need to be practiced as they are used in their usual dynamic circumstance (repetition without repetition/specific skill variability)
• In Clarko's early days, the Hawks had players kick 80 – 300/week, based on injury history
• Goal kicking can be improved far more relative to field kicking simply because it’s not practice as much so there is more scope for improvement
• You can acquire a new skill in as little as 5 sessions over 6 days and will be gradual as you modify your existing technique, rather than adopting a completely new one
• Fast bowlers need 123 – 188 bowls/week to maintain fitness and anything over/under that poses a higher injury risk