Game Sense, Play Reading

[Kai K]

Though this subject is important part of the art of coaching, I guess it deserves its own topic.

This part of coaching has all ways fascinated me, and my interest got deeper after I read "The Talent Code". From that book I learned about Damian Farrow who is researcher from Australian Institute of Sport. I've copied one of his articles to this post and then there is a link to an article by Daniel Coyle the Author of The Talent Code.
So I guess this is some kind of outline posting to this topic and I'm very interested to learn how you approach the game sense teaching.

Ps. It seems that you can only view the Reading the play in team sports article when you're loged in?

Kai

Reading the play in team sports: yes it's trainable!
netball in action
Author: Damian Farrow, Skill Acquisition, Australian Institute of Sport
Issue: Volume 27 Number 3

One of the great coaching debates concerns whether the ability to read the play in team sports is innate or trainable. Some coaches describe it as the player who is a good driver in heavy traffic, the player who seemingly knows what is going to happen next, two passes before it happens. While they may not be the fastest around the court or field, their ability to accurately forecast a game’s future means they always seem to have all the time in the world. By now you will have visualised players such as basketballer Andrew Gaze, AFL footballer James Hird, netballer Natalie Avelino or rugby union flyhalf Stephen Larkham.

For many of us mere mortals, reading the play is more akin to reading Latin, and it seems this reinforces the notion that it cannot be trained. However, while obviously some players will always be better than some others, there is now a great deal of evidence to suggest players can learn to read the play – just as you can learn to read Latin!

In scientific terminology, 'reading the play' is refers to pattern recall or recognition. Watching a team sport like netball is a classic example of watching a continuously changing pattern. Interestingly, while the pattern may look meaningless to the untrained eye, that is, 14 players sprinting and dodging in all directions, to an expert player (or coach) it can all look completely logical and can inform them in advance as to where the ball is about to be passed. This is quite a handy skill to have if your job requires you to intercept as many opposition passes as possible – just ask Liz Ellis.
What's chess got to do with team-sports?

Pattern recall was first investigated in the game of chess. Research was able to demonstrate that grandmasters were able to sum up a board in one quick glance. Provided with five or ten seconds to look over a specific chess situation, the best players could accurately recall the exact location of 90 per cent of the pieces. Lesser skilled players could only remember 50 per cent. The researchers concluded that the grandmasters could 'chunk' the pieces on the board into fewer, larger chunks of information that were more easily remembered and subsequently recalled to produce the required pattern, much in the same manner as how we all remember frequently used telephone numbers as one block of numbers rather than eight individual numbers.

Sports science has demonstrated that elite team-sport players also possess the analytical mind of a chess master. For example, research has identified that elite players have developed the ability to rapidly recognise and then memorise patterns of play executed by their opponents. Importantly, this capability to recognise opposition team's attacking or defensive patterns is not because the elite players have a bigger memory capacity than the rest of us – that is, it is not innate. Rather, their memory of sport-specific strategies is simply more detailed than ours and develops through years of practice and experience.

Pattern recall research in sport can be illustrated from netball where the recall ability of members of the Australian team through to under-17 talent identification squad members have been examined. Presented with video footage of netball game situations, the players had approximately ten seconds to view a piece of play before the footage was occluded. They were then required to recall the attacking and defensive structures of the two teams by plotting the location of each player as they had last seen them in the video clip on a blank diagram of a netball court. On average the Australian players were able to accurately recall the location of 72 per cent of all players. In comparison, Australian Institute of Sport players recalled 62 per cent while the under-19 and under-17 squads recalled approximately 57 per cent. Such results illustrate the contribution of reading the play to the make-up of our elite team sport players.
So how can it be trained?

Researchers who have interviewed some of sports great decision makers consistently find that they engaged in extensive team-based game-play as children, be it in their backyards or with others at the local park (for example, two-on-two street basketball). They also played a variety of team sports before specialising in the sport they made into a profession. For example, expert AFL decision-makers tend to have played significant amounts of basketball in addition to football. It has been reasoned that by playing similar 'invasion' sports they were constantly learning to read patterns based around the fundamental team sport concept of creating time and space.

Obviously, the more games you play, the more likely you are to become accustomed to specific attacking and defensive strategies and develop an understanding of where the ball will be passed. Whether a player then becomes a skilled decision maker relates to whether their coach draws their attention to such details. Coaches who provide their players with game-based training opportunities rather than stereotypical drills with minimal decision making requirements are likely to develop more competent decision makers. To quote AFL coaching legend David Parkin: 'Players need to bring their brain to training'.

Reading the play can also be developed off-field by asking players to predict what is going to happen next when watching televised matches. Rather than simply spectating, players put themselves in the shoes of the experts and answer questions such as: where should the ball be passed next? Where should the support player run to?
Test your players pattern recall skill

Pattern recall ability is one skill where your players can easily be tested in a club setting:

1. Videotape a selection of elite level games of your sport from television.
2. Draw to scale a blank version of your playing field or court.
3. Select passages of play that contain structure and then show approximately ten seconds of the play to allow the players to get a feel for the scenario before quickly stopping the tape.
4. The players' task is exactly as described in the previous netball research example. Test the players on a variety of situations that occur in a match.

For example, stop a tape of Australian football just as the fullback prepares to kick the ball into play. The footage shown from behind the goal often provides an excellent perspective of the patterns a fullback is attempting to read.
Conclusion

While there will always be players with a greater ability to read the play, it is a skill that is primarily developed through quality coaching. To use an analogy from strength training, you cannot expect to make significant gains in muscular strength if you do not do a systematic weights program manipulating the variables of volume, frequency, intensity and overload. Likewise, players will not develop decision-making skills if their coaches only prescribe practice drills devoid of decision-making opportunities. There must be a systematic application of game based practice activities that require players to make decisions as required in game situations.
Suggested readings

Abernethy, B, Cote, J and Baker, J 2002. Expert decision-making in team sports, report on research commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission.

Berry, J and Abernethy, B 2003. Expert game-based decision-making in Australian football: how is it developed and how can it be trained?, research report submitted to the Australian Football League Research Board.

Farrow, D, Plummer, N and Byers, C 2002. The development and implementation of perceptual-motor skills tests for netball, a report on research commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission.

Merrick, E and Farrow, D 2000. 'Coaching decision-making in soccer: a constraints-lead approach', Insight 2(3):48-51.

http://thetalentcode.com/2010/05/13/vision-improvement/

Kai

[Kai K]

This is the base of what I try to teach to players

Reading the Play (or situation)

You have to identify the three continuously changing playing situations: Loose Puck – Attack – Defend
There are some 180 transition situations in the game
Does player understand the importance of winning the loose pucks?
You need a right reaction to the situation

Four Playing Roles

Attack: 1. Puck Carrier 2. Offensive player without the puck

Defense: 3. "Disturber" (player defending against the puck carrier) 4. "Guard" (player defending against the opponent without the puck)

The four playing roles help the player to react correctly in the different game situations. The roles help you to shorten the delay of your transition when the game situation changes.

Numbering

Numbering helps the players to position them in the game situation and according to their team mates
In attack: Puck Carrier is always the number one. The rest are numbered according to their position from the puck (2, 3, 4 and 5 are offensive players without the puck) (role two)
In defense: "Disturber" is always the number one. The rest are numbered according to their position to the puck carrier (2, 3, 4 and 5 are the "guards" )

Loose Puck

The team that wins most of the loose pucks usually wins the game
Players need the game courage to go "under the tackle" and take the loose puck
Face off is the first loose puck

These principles I learned from the Finnish version of ABC's of International Ice Hockey thirteen years ago and now all this new information and technology gives you more tools to help players. E.g. now everyone with a computer can edit video and do all kinds of things with the material you film.
Below is link to clip that I've made to give something concrete about the changing of the game situations.

Kai

[Eric Fink]

This site is a new program that is designed to improve game intelligence. The USNTDP used it last year.

http://www.usahockeyintelligym.com/

I like your articles and the video. Great visual on transition. I'll be using that as a guide to teach for sure.

[hockeygod]

Excellent article Kai!

Now you are talking… I do an awful lot of literature review in the areas of expertise, teaching games for understanding, decision-training and neuro-motor psychology (I taught in the latter two areas at University.)

I will post up more articles here when I get time…

Regarding Intelligym, the initial review I had of it was… it is a nice try, but it is more like a video game. Talking to a few people who have seen it, they believe it is a toy at best and won't translate to better performance in hockey (outside of the residual effect that one will get better performing repetitive tasks – such as what happens when you play a video game – but in this case, little or no translation to the actual physical game itself. As any scientist will tell you, it is very difficult to emulate real-world conditions in a lab!) The company that developed this allegedly started with a combat simulator for pilots.

I would try it (for free!) but feel like I should dust off an old game of Asteroids! I wouldn't bet the farm on this product!

The ideal simulation would be based on first person footage ("see the game through someone's actual field of view") similar to the gaze control research Joan Vickers is doing at the U of Calgary; rather than a bunch of overhead slips… plus it would need to be more controllable / more realistic so the "player" could sit in a 3D environment, reading and reacting to the game situations… while carrying a stick. I think the Wii has some hockey game out that recognizes stick movements or something… just in time for Christmas!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Kai K]

Thank you Dean

The ideal simulation would be based on first person footage ("see the game through someone's actual field of view" )

I totally agree. I have few ideas that I have been playing around with for few years now but never had the time or the resources to execute. Nothing fancy interactive 3D stuff but e.g. in your playbook forecheck diagram is supported by a 1st person view picture of the situation, Of course there is too much variables even in one game situation but I guess it could give some kind of visual base. At least it could help you to concretize the numbering to players.

I fail to see how the intelligym could help. It looks like some retro video game and I think that most players would also fail to see the connection to ice hockey.

Kai

Kai

[DMan]

I fail to see how the intelligym could help. It looks like some retro video game and I think that most players would also fail to see the connection to ice hockey.

Glad to hear you guys say this, because this was my first reaction too. What we need is a Gretzky cam taped to the side of that old Jofa, showing us how to see the play develop and then removing the guidance to see if we can do it on our own in a "1st-person shooter" manner.

Does anyone remember the old CBC series "Home Game" based on Ken Dryden's book of the same title? In the video series they had a camera man on the ice during a major junior game and during Canadiens game (must have been a pre-season exhibition.) It was amazing….you really got a sense of how quickly the game transitions, and what it's like to be out there. It was only a minute or two of footage but it was very powerful. The closest thing we have right now are "iso cams" that isolate a player for a whole shift (NBC does this on their website in the US) but you fail to see the rest of the game developing as is usually the case with television viewing.

How many of you use video footage for feedback for your players? Is it worth the time, effort & expense? Does anyone have copies of the Home Game Video series or anything similar?

[hockeygod]

Good to hear others perception of 'arcade-i-gym' is similar to mine. Not sure what they charge, but I would rather load the kids up with quarters and send them to the arcade! It's probably cheaper. Better yet, play some 'real' Smart Transitional Games in a gym or on the ice!!!

Dman – Now you have piqued my interest in the old CBC series. I know I can borrow it at the public library. I want to see this footage! Have you checked youtube yet? (Can you provide more identifying info about the specific episode?)

I know I have seen some footage from a French-Canadian goalie who played for the Avalanche (?? who?? not Roy) that was filmed from inside his mask during an exhibition game, as part of a eye movement PhD. study. I know who showed me – I will try to locate him to see if he still has it; and if it is allowed to be shown. If the answer is yes, I will post it. If not… you won't hear anything from me!!!

I bought a Sony Handycam (HDR 150 XR 150) this spring to record my daughters birth. It is an HD quality / hard drive model. I paid about $650 CDN at London Drugs. I have used it to record a few pro, junior and minor hockey practices. It is an excellent way to show coaches how they look on the bench / at practice – not too mention a great visual for the players! (Video doesn't lie!)

Just don't take it to Vegas…! 😉 'cause like I said, video doesn't lie!

Now I need to figure out a way to quickly get it available to show players – ie immediately on site – looking at a small notebook / ipad but I need to learn more… can anyone provide advice?

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Kai K]

I have used video to teach and feedback. It is a great tool for game sense development. But there is no substitute to game as teacher of game sense and by this I mean SAGs, themed games, transition games.

We play a lot of games off-ice and off-season. Those three principles exists in basketball and soccer too and you can do you transition games off-ice.

There is a old post from Tom about IIHCE lecture by Harri Hakkarainen. In that lecture Hakkarainen speeks of decreasing sports activity of Finnish kids. I believe that this increased screen time (that was near 6 hours per day) is a major factor in decreased numbers of talented young athletes here in Finland.

from Developing Sport Expertise – researchers and coaches put theory into practice:

studies showed that professional ice hockey player spent over 10,000 hours involved in sport from age 6 to 20. approximately 3,500 of these hours were spent in play-like activities (i.e., deliberate play), and 2,300 hours were spent playing other sports. In addition, just over 3,000 hours were spent in organized hockey practice (i.e., deliberate practice), and just 2,400 hours were spent playing organized hockey games

So the 3,500 hours of play-like activities 2,300 hours of other sports alarmingly decreasing because kids dont move by them self and they are specialising in one sport too early. This is really puting pressure to coaches because you have to make training many-sided. And you have to make up some how the loss of 5,800 hours. This is obviously effecting the game sense too.

Dean,
I know that some Finnish youth national teams have had video projector and screen beside the rink and they just plugged their camcorder to projector to give instant feedback .

Kai

Kai

[DMan]

Dean,

I have checked Youtube for "Home Game", but all I could find was the intro scene. I'll look at the book to remind myself of the chapter title. It could be that my memory is a little off (some say I am too) since it was back in college when I saw it, but I do remember it feeling like you were on the bench/ice with the players.

As for video I'm looking into getting one of these to hang on the glass behind both nets:
http://www.theflip.com/en-us/

They plug right into a usb port and are formatted to upload easily to youtube. Right now they're $169 US at Costco. This still doesn't do the same as a helmet cam would though. Would love to see video from the goalie perspective. Come to think of it, I wonder what happens with all the video taken from the NHL net cams?

Dave

[hockeygod]

Kai,

Thanks for the reply. Any articles that you have access to on these topics, please post them in their entirety as I like to read the research! And thanks for the heads-up on what the Finnish coaches are doing.

I agree that ultimately, "The game is the best teacher of the game!" Video does give kids the chance to receive feedback from their own actions; or positive / negative examples. But at the end of the day, the game is "played" – not "watched!"

Now, excuse me, I gotta go play Zombie Farm!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

DMan wrote:
Dean,

I have checked Youtube for "Home Game", but all I could find was the intro scene. I'll look at the book to remind myself of the chapter title. It could be that my memory is a little off (some say I am too) since it was back in college when I saw it, but I do remember it feeling like you were on the bench/ice with the players.

As for video I'm looking into getting one of these to hang on the glass behind both nets:
http://www.theflip.com/en-us/

They plug right into a usb port and are formatted to upload easily to youtube. Right now they're $169 US at Costco. This still doesn't do the same as a helmet cam would though. Would love to see video from the goalie perspective. Come to think of it, I wonder what happens with all the video taken from the NHL net cams?

Dave

Thanks Dave, keep me posted on the Home Game stuff.

I used one of the "flips" on-ice to record skill stuff, goalie movements, then downloaded them for the class – and liked them… the resolution wasn't top notch and the memory amount wasn't great, but it served my purpose at the time. I like the idea of the placement to simulate a "net cam" perspective.

I know each NHL team receives many feeds / camera angles from each game. I will see if I can use my connections to take a look… maybe I can "find" some… stay tuned. (When I was with HC in the early 1990's I had access to and used a lot of footage shot from overhaed angles. This really lets you see the play evolve… not sure which angle I prefer (overhead or net cam.))

Off to the rink now…

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Tom Molloy]

I remember HNIC had a show with a lot of players from the Oilers during their dynasty. Messier, Anderson, Coffey, Gretzky and I think it was Ron McLean but maybe someone else. They were sitting at a big table and having a few barley pops and just talking.

Messier asked Gretzky why he seemed to be able to see the play better than anyone and appeared to know what was going to happen before it did. Gretzky thought for awhile and said somehting like this.
'When I was a kid I scored one goal my first year. The next season I scored something like 230. After I scored that one goal my dad and I were at the breakfast table and he asked me "Wayne where were all of the players when you scored that goal?" I didn't know but he took the cups, the salt and pepper shakers and everything else on the table and showed me where everyone was and why I scored that goal. The next year we went over every goal the same way and I think that is why I started to look where everyone was and learned to recongnize what play would work in which situation.

I wish I could find that video. I think there is a lot to learn from it.

Dean did I give you 2 dvd's. I know I burned 2 of the NHL practices and it is driving me mental that I can't find one. I have attached a picture to show you the Duff beer bottle I brought back from Salzburg.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[Kai K]

hockeygod wrote:
Kai,

Thanks for the reply. Any articles that you have access to on these topics, please post them in their entirety as I like to read the research! And thanks for the heads-up on what the Finnish coaches are doing.

Quote is from a book I have.
Developing Sport Expertise – researchers and coaches put theory into practice
edited by
Damian Farrow
Joe Baker
Clare MacMahon

Ps. researcher is Jean Côté

Kai

Kai

[hockeygod]

Kai,

Thought it looked familiar… I have the book! (Routledge Publishers) Thanks!

Dean

Tom – you only gave me one DVD. I will call you to see if we can meet tonight as I will be at Optimist tonight from 1800-2000. Looking forward to the Duff Beer avatar!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[DMan]

Dean- I lent my Dryden books to our assistant coach, but look for a chapter that focuses on a Habs/Oilers game….I think it's called "Mere Players."

Dave

[Author]

Posts