THE SKILL-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP STUDY PART 1

                                    

These notes come from a 30-page long study titled "A Theory on the Skill-Performance Relationship" and looks at how skill and performance are entwined in various parts of life, but I'll keep it sports-related.

Part 1 today and part 2 tomorrow or Friday - strap in!

• It can be examined at the technical, behavioral, psychological and neurological levels
• Skill affects performance and performance in turn defines/affects skill
• Successful performers are successful not just because of their skills but because they take advantage of their skills by creating more occurrences of momentum, making them last longer and using them to bounce back faster from streaks of unsuccessful performance
• The variability of skill’s effect on performance becomes clear when considering the difference between skill possession and skill execution
• The possession of a certain level of skill does not automatically lead to invariant performance at that level because skill execution fluctuates as a function of how well/poorly individuals are able to use their skills during performance
• To better understand the skill-performance relationship, you need not only examine the effects of skill on performance but also the main determinants of skill (ability x effort in practice)
• Ability is the the innate capacity to understand/learn information from acquiring physical/cognitive skills as to acquire complex motor skills,you require a capacity to coordinate bodyparts/implements used in performance such as golfers being able coordinating their upper/lower segments for a smooth swing
• Skills are learned, acquired physically/mentally tools or qualities to execute certain actions required for successful motor/cognitive performance in specific domains – a learned ability to perform at a specific level from acquiring the necessary mental/physical know-how for doing so such as a golfer learning to hit iron clubs down into the ground to get the ball up in the air and for this to be a skill, you must be able to do it consistently
• A skillful golfer not only gets the ball up in the air almost every time but has also learned to regulate the ball’s flight trajectory on demand
• Effort is the employment of personal resources for practicing/improving skills via frequency, duration and intensity
• Performance is objectively/subjectively measuring performance in cognitive/physical tasks
• A golf handicap is a good example of the intersection where skill, ability,effort and performance all meet
• High ability individuals are more likely to benefit from personalised coaching/tutoring than those with lower abilities
• The best performers not only benefit from initially higher performance, but their rate of improvement is faster
• Ability limits the effects of effort/practice on skills where more practice in music does not correlate with better music skills/performance, suggesting a relative lack of musical talent restricts the beneficial effect of practice
• It is more difficult to compensate for a relative lack of ability in certain activities although there can be some compensation from added work but the theory of the path of least resistance suggests that people are less likely to engage in hard work when the required effort increases
• In addition to technical knowledge/physical skills in cognitive/motor areas of performance, mental skills are also required for best performance
• You need a model that assesses the contributions of ability/effort to the over skill/performance in both absolute and relative terms
• A golf score cannot be used as a proxy for skill as both need to be assessed individually
• Cognitive/physical abilities + psychological/physical effort = skill
• Working memory is an integral part of skill/performance in most cognitive/physical tasks as it enhances action-perception skills
• The positive effect of working memory on performance is diminished if a performer has not acquired requisite knowledge/actions (skills) through practice to deal with such interfering factors such as cognitive load
• The 4 cornerstones of skill-performance are neural functioning/nonconscious processing + behavioral execution + mental-social factors/conscious processing + ability/know how and skill performance is the result of all of them synergistically coming together
• A piano player must have the ability to play the music on their own but that doesn’t guarantee successful execution in front of friends or 1000’s of listeners which also depends on conscious processing of relevant mental (concentration) and social (audience presence) factors
• In cognitive/motor tasks, both technique possession for skills (the amount of relative knowledge possessed) and behavioral execution of skills are needed for the best performance
• In math tasks a person is more likely to be successful if they have a large repertoire of knowledge of relevant/basic math operations as well as an ability to think mathematically using their acquired knowledge
• In golf you need the knowledge of how to execute certain technical shots as well as the behavioral skill of how to use this technical knowledge in-game
• High performers have better technical, tactical and procedural knowledge then lesser skilled performers
• Performance variance (between individuals) is caused by a lack of proper technical knowledge, incorrect technical practice and failed execution of skill
• Unmastered skill leads to a more variable performance and worse outcomes
• Performers must also have the ability to retrieve the necessary knowledge from their long and short term memory storage
• The planning of a motor movement in the mind consists of retrieving a motor plan from the memory which has a signature similar to the actual execution of the plan
• If performance is not frequent enough then knowledge decays and the retrieval of critical information slows down with it and the skill then becomes fragile/variable and hard to reproduce at a high level

4 OPTIONS TRAINING ACTIVITY

This is a kicking and decision making training activity that also trains various patterns of play and being another option if you get ignored initially.

I'll post the level 1 layer of this in the video below and then give you some extra options to layer this with below it. 

For full access to this training activity, register for a level 3 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/.

ESSENDON DEFENSE, WEST COAST GETTING LENGTH, SYDNEY GOING INSIDE FORWARD 50

3 clips of vision from this week's round.

1 - Essendon showing their defensive chops - who would have thought?

2 - West Coast getting ultra-speed on the ball and the ensuing length as well

3 - Sydney 2-man forward 50 play for mark 15m from goal

For full access to these clips, register for a level 1 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/.

1 LINERS FROM MY RESEARCH FILES - TEACHING

                                                     

The first 5 parts of this series has covered youth development, learning, coaching, club culture and gameday, and today we look at 52 1 liners relating to teaching.

1. Correct/Incorrect/Correct Model (John Wooden) – show the correct technique then show what the athlete did and how it was wrong and then show the correct technique again
2. Integrate/Isolate/Integrate (Lee Taft) – integrating 1st allows you to know what might need isolating later
3. Harold Gibbons – it’s not about perfect movement but about providing the organism with as many ways as possible to safely complete a task in any given situation
4. Positive Feedback (John Brandon) – neurons/synaptic connections actually grow/develop in area’s where we have the strongest brain activity so for someone really smart running data analytics and pointing out their poor people skills is giving feedback in the worst way possible so instead point out their strengths and give positive feedback
5. Coaching/Teaching (Steve Magness) – is not about prescribing/dictating but about creating situations where the athlete is challenged to figure it out and as the coach you can nudge them along but if you always give them the answer then you aren’t actually teaching and they aren’t learning

For all 52 1-liners, register for a level 1 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/. 

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.

For full access to these 2 game clips, and many others, then register for a level 1 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/.

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.

For full access to this game clip then register for a level 1 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/. 

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...

For full access top this training activity and 100's of others, register for a level 3 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/.

THEMING

 

As a coach you've probably read of AFL head coaches using theme's for games and even seasons.

In past years Damian Hardwick used a Band of Brothers theme for one of Richmond's premiership seasons based off a Bruce Springsteen song, and only last year Craig McRae used the Take the Steps theme with Collingwood again to a premiership win. Luke Beveridge at the Bulldogs is also partial to a gameday theme.

These notes come this article on how to go about theming, whether that's for a single game, a string of games, or for an entire season.

• Why do you want to theme?
• What are you trying to dig into?
• What do you feel you’re going to get out of theming?
• Find a story that you belong to
• Why is this a story that’s going to reasonate with you and your players?
• How is this going to strike with the group you’re working with?
• How does it capture what you’re trying to achieve?
• Consider some of the landmarks of the story – the key individual's and events – and how are you going to tell that story?
• You don’t have to do it chronologically
• Your players might know the story so you've got to find angles/aspects they haven’t heard before, or are lesser-known
• Totems are physical objects that can help bring the theme to life where Richmond players were each given rocks to wrote their why on and Collingwood had the ladder that they built throughout the season
• Language is powerful in theming and it needs to be driven by everyone, not just the head coach
• It gives a higher purpose of why you’re playing
• It can help maintain long term motivation

1 LINERS FROM MY RESEARCH FILES - GAMEDAY

The first 4 parts of this series has covered youth development, learning, coaching and club culture with Game Day being the focus today which is a mix of mostly game day tactics used by teams/coaches picked up from social media, footy analysis shows and footy commentary but also some idea's from coaches from other sports that still fits the AFL model.

1. Holding Teams Back – tardiness, selfishness, complaining, not finishing, blaming others, making excuses, energy vampires, lackluster effort, no team cohesion, poor team leadership
2. Defensive Line – the position of the ball determines where the defensive line is and the defender closest to the ball is the one who sets the line regardless of their position
3. Hawthorn Forwards Box – 2 at the back who lead up towards the ball and 2 at the front that double back but crossover as well so the kicker has 4 options
4. Clarko’s Cluster – to defend a kick in position a 4 man diamond from the man on the mark, wingers fall in behind the wide points of that diamond and then there's 2 big forwards behind those wingers just outside 50 so if they manage to get past layers 1 and 2, then there’s still pressure from behind
5. On the Bench – have players write down what they’re seeing out there

For full access to all 50 Gameday 1 liners, register for a level 1 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/. 

2 TEMPLATES TO LEVEL UP YOUR TRAINING-DAY COACHING

 

We're just days away from, or already have completed, round 1 for 2024 and everyone is obviously pretty pumped about it.

The success of your games comes of the back of your ability to teach your players, and thus your players ability to learn - as a direct by-product from what and how you teach.

Players can't execute skills they don't have or have ever tried, not can they play to tactics that they have never been taught.

The ability for your players to transfer what you do at training to actual games will pretty much determine your win-loss record going forward unless your cash-splashing to win on talent alone.

Here are 2 frameworks you can use to level up your training day coaching to ensure greater transfer to games.

Most coaches will go straight to a training activity as the what and how they'll do something and then go to the why but that's backwards thinking - from Gary Piggott, we'll look at the what/why's first then look at the how.

• What x have a clear learning focus, what do the players need help with?
• How x progressions, the end game, ensure repetition of focus throughout
• Why x reason for the session, is it what the players need to develop? Is it game related/simulation?
• Challenge/Motivation x appropriately stretch/challenge the players, is each athlete being motivated every session? Is the challenge point correct where it's not too hard nor easy for any player?
• Player Ownership x are you giving players all the information throughout or do you allow them to learn on their own?
• Simplicity x don’t over-complicate, keep your message/s concise
• Core Coaching Skills x how will you organise, manage, communicate, and observe during training?

Once you've got a brief outline of what you need to do and why, only then can you start to look at how you will deliver the individual session but also, how you'll develop a game concept over multiple training sessions and time periods. This is from Chris Fraser:

• Differential Practice x varied tasks to develop adaptability, decision making and creativity by changing stimulus, equipment and/or task
• Random Practice x mimic unpredictability to enhance players’ ability to think fast, react quickly and thrive in games while keeping them guessing by altering focal areas, conditions, space etc
• Isolated Practice x master fundamentals and specific skills in controlled environments to build technique, precision and muscle memory
• Conditioned Practice x set constraints and challenges to simulate games that pushes players to adapt, problem solve and excel under pressure
• Massed Practice x concentrated repetition to accelerate skill acquisition that can build confidence with maximum reps in a minimal amount of time reps
• Whole-Part-Whole x start with the big picture to inspire and then break down to refine the skill/s required and then bring it back together
• Linear Practice x progress step-by-step while mastering the skill before moving to the next
• Interleaving Practice x enhance retention and adaptability, mix and match drills, intertwine skills, challenge players to switch gears seamlessly and embrace variety, stimulate the mind and elevate performance
• Non-Linear Pedagogy x mix it up, jump between skills, keep players on their toes, embrace chaos and encourage adaptability to unlock creativity

You'll definitely have used some of these before without knowing it but which new idea's here jump out at you?

20 MORE STREAMLINE TRAINING ACTIVITIES

 

As always remember that these training activities simply have a brief description and that's it - no images, diagrams and pictures to accompany them. Let's get to activities 71 - 90.

#71 - NAVIGATOR

#72 - 6v3

#73 - OLYMPICS

#75 - HAT SCORING

#76 - MURDERBALL

#77 - CHANGING GOALS

#78 - START MARKERS

#79 - 5v5v5+1

#80 - 2 GOAL STOPPAGE

#81 - CAT AND MOUSE

#82 - HAT DEFENDERS 

#83 - CONTINUOUS 4 x 5v5 

#84 - 3 GOALS PER END 

#85 - 2 GOAL 3v3 

#86 - RUCK FOLLOW UP 

#87 - PRESS v POSSESSION 

#88 - 4v6+2 

#89 - CONTINUOUS ATTACKING RACE 

#90 - DEVELOPING WIDE PLAY

For access to these 20, and the all 90 streamline training activities (so far!) then register for a level 3 membership from https://aussierulestraining.com/membership-account/membership-levels/.