2016 National Lacrosse Coaching Conference
Small Sided Games for
Play with Purpose in
Invasion Game Coaching
Shane Pill
Sport, Health and Physical Education
(SHAPE) Research Centre
Contact: [email protected]
Twitter: @pilly66
• Time
• Performer
• Quality
• Environment
Time
Accumulated hours invested in invasion
game activities differentiated the
accumulation of experience between expert
and less skilled
(Berry, Abernathy & Cote, 2008)
Performer
Skilled perception and decision-making are
defining characteristics of expert
performance in team sports
~ the technique is entwined with context:
“information-movement coupling”
Game Sense
Quality
Game based “open-drills” elicit significantly
larger volumes of game-like decisions and
are more physically demanding than the
closed drills commonly used in Australian
coaching
(Farrow, Pyne & Gabbett, 2008)
Quality
Game-specific activities best stimulate the
movement demands of competition
Drills designed to mimic game play do not
necessarily replicate the movement
demands of competitive games
(Loader, Montgomery, Williams, Lorenzen & Kemp, 2012)
Quality
The time between high intensity movements
at training was generally longer than in
games and many common game activities
were not practised at training, largely
because most possessions were uncontested
(Dawson, Hopkinson, Appleby, Stewart, & Roberts, 2004)
Environment
The relation between a player and the
situation around him is dynamic
Skills are performed under the conditions of
an unpredictable, constantly changing
environment
Require a considerable amount of contextual
processing – “reading the game”
Coaching Conference)
Closed-to-Open Drill Progression
How could you design a game to teach this concept?
Talent is the Right Practice
Shane Pill AFL High Performance Course December 2014
From Coyle, D. The Talent Code blog- How to be ready for
the big test. http://thetalentcode.com/2012/09/11/howto-be-ready-for-the-big-test
We are building a brain
that needs to work in this
type of environment
But mostly practicing in
activities that look like
this….?
Concept drills simulate situational aspects of a game
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/concept-drills-simulate-situational-aspects-of-a-game
THE EVIDENCE
Children perform skills better when the equipment and play area is scaled, and acquire skills faster
Buzzard, Reid, Masters and Farrow, 2016
Modified smaller scale versions provide more technical and technical actions per player and therefore construct a
better educational experience for game development than 18-a-side games on a full field, for junior players.
Pill and Elliott, 2015
Constructing the correct type of SSG may enable coaches to optimally prepare players physically, technically and
tactically – thus increasing the efficiency of training
Owen, Wong, Paul and Dellal, 2014
In the same playing area, coaches can use a lower number of players to increase aerobic demands or increase
number of players for higher velocity
Aguiar, Botelho, Goncolves and Sampaio, 2014
Periodised SSG training is capable of improving elite-level players’ physical fitness characteristics
Owen, Wong, Paul and Dellal, 2012
SSG’s can improve agility performance by enhancing speed of decision-making, and when well-designed are more
effective than change-of-direction drills for improved agility performance
Young and Rogers, 2013
Key Points
In general, intensity is increased as player numbers decrease in the same relative play space
Well-designed SSG’s can exceed match intensity and stimulate similar training intensities as high intensity
interval training
Fitness and skill (both technical and tactical dimensions) can be improved with well-designed SSG’s equal to
the more common ‘generic’ training drills
Children prefer playing games, but want to touch the ball and score goals – both of which are more likely to
occur in modified smaller-sided game forms
Youths that go on to be elite players have generally accumulated more hours in playful game-like activities
Random and variable practice activities (like small sided and modified games)are better for skill learning
retention
The duration and number of SSG activity periods during practice is an important variable in determining the
training stimulus using SSG’s
Tactical behaviours in SSG’s are constrained by field size and dimensions, and player skill level, which
need to be considered in the design of SSG’s for training activities
How to Do It?
Manipulate the constraints on player performance
TASK: What is the objective?
PERFORMER: What are the rules?
ENVIRONMENT: What are the field/play space
dimensions?
How well do you know the game?
Howarth, K. (2006) Lacrosse. In S. Mitchell, J. Oslin & L. Griffin (Eds.), Teaching sport concepts and skills: A tactical
games approach (pp. 125-178). Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics
Thank You