As a hockey coach and teacher I still witness hockey training activities that appear to show little resemblance to what actually takes place during a game. There appears to be an over emphasis of practicing hockey skills in a closed environment [i.e., static, non competitive, non problem solving or decision making contexts] and games that are introduced as solely for fun rather than having an emphasis towards specific game simulated objectives, applications and values.
I do not believe it is the fault of the coach as often the coach is not fully trained to offer anything different than what they know or have experienced themselves. This approach to coaching falls within the tradition hockey coaching methodology, i.e., hockey being traditionally taught using the skill and drill or progressive part method. Hockey is broken down into their component skills and these are then taught. This technical approach, taught the skills isolated from the game and then the skills and the game are put back together, generally at the end of a training session. This skill focused method assumes there is an ideal skill performance however players at elite level can vary in the execution of a skill but the result is the same. This approach dominates the training session rather than have a place within it.
The other problem with this technical approach is that the thinking and problem solving aspects required for successful game performance are not central to the initial learning as the technical requirements are isolated from the game in skill drills. I can recall the generalised answer top Australian coaches from different sports gave when asked as to what they looked for in an elite player. The answer was a player who can make the right decision and then execute the skill to fulfil it. It was a turning point in my coaching philosophy. It became important to develop intelligent performers. I understand coaches may debate what I am saying and that is good, because debate is good.
This traditional technical approach begins with the question, “How is this skill performed?” and then focuses on teaching the skills of the game before putting the skills into practice. It conditions participants to attention technique during activity and not the joy of being active. It emphasizes correction of movement patterns rather than enhancement and, for many beginners, the most important thing they learn is that they cannot perform the complex skills necessary to be successful. The reality is that the majority of children wish to play and have fun, and so coaching with excessive emphasis on the technical requirements of the game tends to lessen motivation and enjoyment. In addition it does not foster thinking players.
So what is the answer?
An alternative approach: learning through enquiry – guided discovery using a games sense approach
The Game Sense approach is one method which develops the broader meanings of sport and physical activity as it focuses on developing thinking through problem solving using physical activity. The Game Sense approach is a variation of Bunker and Thorpe’s Teaching Games for Understanding model. The Game Sense approach became prominent in Australia following a visit by Rod Thorpe to Australia in 1996. The focus of the Game Sense approach being to place the participant in situations where decision making and problem solving are central to successful performance. The central strategy for teaching/coaching using the Game Sense approach is the use of questioning to stimulate thinking about the game instead of using more direct teaching/coaching approaches. Games are stopped at regular intervals and participants challenged to reflect on their participation in order to mature the play.
The Teaching Games for Understanding approach to the teaching of hockey is a holistic model because it focuses attention on the individual and not with the sub set of activity specific skills for the activity in focus. Learning the skills of the game are placed in the broader context of the game itself. The nature of the game is taught first, and the skills are added at a pace manageable by the participants. By doing this, the thinking and problem solving aspects of the game are taught in tandem with the skills. The result is a participant who is skilled in the broader sense of understanding the game rather than simply being skilful at the game. As a coach you are required to analyse what is going on in the training games, develop the questions so that players can develop decision making and problem solving skills. Also if you observe that a lack of skill is breaking down the game then the game is stopped and the skill is taught before resuming the game. This can be done on an individual basis or as a total team need.
The Teaching Games for Understanding approach is a method that can be used with all ages, from beginners to elite. The games need to directly relate to the playing needs of the team in terms of game performance. Therefore game selection is not random. It is clearly planned. The coach then is responsible for modifying the game by manipulating time, risk and space elements of performance with questions to make players think through the various aspects of performance, a rich understanding of the game and how it relates to team performance.
Instead of the question, “How is this skill performed?” Teaching Games for Understanding begins with a different style of question: “Why are we doing this?” and “How can we do it better?” The Teaching Games for Understanding approach is a holistic model where learning the skills of the game are placed in the broader context of the game itself.
The successful implementation of the Teaching Games for Understanding model revolves around the use of key questions to guide the conceptual, strategic and tactical requirements of the game, combined with game modifications that allow players to learn the game without having to excessively attention technique. When hockey skill acquisition occurs, players understand the significance of the skills within the game because they understand the game first. This is the key to the Teaching Games for Understanding inquiry approach.
An openness to experimenting with ideas and a flexible approach towards planning so that guided discovery through inquiry can occur are needed for the Teaching Games for Understanding approach. Use small sided games to maximise participation and to construct the environment for the game understanding that you wish to develop. Most importantly, move your thinking from the skills of the game to thinking about the nature of the game and the understanding of the game to be developed through a game-question-reflect-practise if appropriate-game cycle (as opposed to the traditional: practise -instruct-practise-culminating game cycle]
The Teaching Games for Understanding approach will challenge the way you think about coaching hockey. It shifts your thinking away from an assumption that once the skills have been taught a person can play the game. It turns traditional coaching for beginners or experienced players “upside down” as it begins with a well thought out functional game, and not the skills of the game.
It will challenge you to match content with context, to coach with meaning through reflective practice, and to coach players to think, analyse and problem solve. To successfully implement this games sense approach coaches need to be able to breakdown the hockey performance as to determine what parts of the game need to be attended to. Then to select appropriate training games to improve performance by analysing their objectives, skills, strategies, organisation, rules, and coaching questions.
In next month’s edition of Go Hockey News we extend this article by providing a working example of how it is done.
Adapted source: Author, Shane Pill, Flinders University School of Education and President, SA Branch, Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation
Issue: Volume 29 Number 2
