Johdat keskisuurta urheiluseuraa. Painit pienen budjetin kanssa, joten mikään ei saisi maksaa mitään. On uuden kauden alku ja viime kauden puuhamiehistä jokainen on jättänyt oman roolinsa, kuka mistäkin syystä. Kausi lähestyy, eikä uusia tekijöitä kuulu. Tekijöitä pitäisi saada aina huollosta markkinointiin, mutta edelleenkin kaikki tuo työ tulisi tehdä ilmaiseksi. Paniikki hiipii puseroon.
Onneksi edellä kuviteltu tilanne ei ole totta, ei ainakaan yleistä. Vai onko?
Olen työskennellyt vuoden alusta vapaaehtoistoiminnan parissa. Työni on käytännössä pitää vapaaehtoisista huolta. Jo ensimmäisten kuukausien jälkeen ymmärsin hyvin selkeästi vapaaehtoistoiminnan yhtäläisyyden urheiluseuroissa toimiviin tekijöihin, jotka eivät suuresta työmäärästä huolimatta saa työstään palkkaa.
Kansalaisareenan mukaan vapaaehtoistoiminnasta ei makseta palkkaa, eikä se korvaa ammattityötä. Toimintaan tullaan omasta tahdosta ja sen saa lopettaa niin halutessaan. Toiminta ei ole velvollisuus ja siihen riittää omat tiedot ja taidot. Vapaaehtoisella on myös aina oikeus tukeen ja ohjaukseen.
Urheiluseuran johtamisen kannalta olisi oleellista ymmärtää, että seurassa ilmaista työtä tekevät ovat vapaaehtoisia. On myös tarpeellista pohtia, miksi kukaan tulisi urheiluseuraan ilmaiseksi ”töihin” tai voisiko seurasi tehdä enemmän ollakseen houkuttelevampi ympäristö toimia?
Ihmisen yksi oleellisimmista motiiveista tehdä vapaaehtoistyötä on se, että hän saa siitä itse jotain. Koska se ei ole rahaa, se on jotain paljon tärkeämpää. Se on henkistä ja fyysistä palkkaa siitä, että oma toiminta on merkityksellistä. Tähän vaikuttaa esimerkiksi seuran arvomaailma ja sen noudattaminen. Itse pidän hyvin tärkeänä sitä, että lupaukset ja sopimukset pitävät.
Olen todistanut läheltä lukuisia kertoja urheiluseurassa, kun jo lopettamispäätöksen tehnyttä vapaaehtoista maanitellaan jatkamaan kauniiden korulauseiden saattelemana. On melko normaali toimintakulttuuri, että vapaaehtoisista pidetään kiinni, koska uusiakaan ei ole. Kenties niin ei kuitenkaan kannattaisi toimia. Sen sijaan vapaaehtoista tulisi kiittää hänen panoksestaan ja päästä hänet huilaamaan. Näin hän todennäköisesti myös palaisi takaisin toimintaan.
Hyvin yleistä urheiluseuroissa on myös se, että vapaaehtoisten ollessa kortilla, yhdelle ihmiselle ladataan useampi vastuualue kauden ajaksi. Lopputuloksena kauden jälkeen on ihmisraunio, joka on henkisesti ja fyysisesti täysin loppu. Sinun tehtäväsi urheiluseuran johdossa on pitää huoli siitä, että vapaaehtoistyötä ei tehdä liikaa. Karsi kuormaa, älä lisää sitä.
Kaikkein tärkeintä mielestäni on vapaaehtoisen oikeus tukeen ja ohjaukseen. Se kuulostaa mielestäni monimutkaisemmalta kuin oikeasti on. Itse ajattelen, että vapaaehtoista tulee muistaa kiittää ja hänelle pitää tehdä selväksi, että hänen panoksensa on tärkeä ja häntä arvostetaan. Järjestä ilmaisia koulutuksia ja ilmaisia virkistymishetkiä. Järjestä tapaamisia, jossa kaikki seuratoimijat voivat vaihtaa ajatuksia keskenään ja pidä huoli siitä, että olet itsekin paikalla. Vapaaehtoisen pitää tietää, että tuki ja ohjaus on olemassa. Aina.
Onko sinulla tapana soittaa tasaisin väliajoin seuran tekijät läpi ja tiedustella heidän kuulumiset?
Uskon tavan olevan melko harvinaista, koska en itse ole tällaiseen käytäntöön törmännyt urheilun parissa. Tiedän hyvin, että urheiluseuran arki on kiireistä, mutta olisiko siellä päivässä kuitenkin aikaa yhdelle puhelulle niitä varten, jotka tekevät palkatta asioita seuran eteen? Kalenteriin voi merkata joka päivälle yhden seuran toimijan, jolle soittaa. Helpompaa tapaa kertoa arvostuksesta ei ole.
Miksi kirjoitan tällaisesta? Koska olen tänäkin syksynä törmännyt useaan kertaan seuroihin, joilla ovat tekijät vähissä. Esimerkiksi sosiaalialalla on useita aktiivisia toimijoita, jotka pyörittävät hurjaa määrää vapaaehtoisia. Haastan sinut tutustumaan jonkun vapaaehtoistoimintaa tekevän organisaation toimintaan ja pohtimaan uudelleen käytäntöjäsi vapaaehtoisten suhteen. Seuroissa tulisi siirtyä tilanteesta valittamisen sijaan oppimisen polulle.
Lopuksi yksi sana: maine.
Edistääkö sitä paremmin loppuun palanut ihminen vai hyvinvoiva vapaaehtoinen, joka saa kiitoksen ja arvostuksen omasta työstään? Voisiko maineella olla jotain tekemistä sen kanssa, ettei uusia tekijöitä tunnu löytyvän?
We have concentrated on adults in this blog. All of our writers have, however, coached kids and teenagers as well and junior floorball is very close to our hearts. Here’s a short example about a complex training session for kids, in this case let’s say U10 juniors. Rink time 60 minutes.
Before the practice
We start the training session with a handshake / fist bump with all the players. We say “Hello” to each other and the coach tells key points about today’s session. After that we go to a circle, put our arms around each other and start with some positive words. Maybe we want to shout the team’s name together or something similar.
Goals: Create a positive and safe atmosphere from the start, togetherness, team routines
Warm up 20-30 minutes
Warm up consists of play and games.
1. “Everybody burns”
Equipment:
2-3 soft balls
20x20 meters zone (grass, concrete etc.)
Rules:
Everybody try to “burn” everyone in the zone. If you are hit with a ball, you get a “penalty” for 1 minutes and go outside the zone. You can get back inside sooner if the player who hit you with the ball is himself burned.
You can’t move with the ball
You don’t burn if the ball bounces from the floor
You don’t burn if you get hit to the head
Variations:
You only get back to the game if the player who burned you gets burned
You don’t get back to the game, “Last man standing” (not the best option for a warm up)
More balls
During penalty, you do some simple physical exercise, for example 10 X-jumps
2. Different tag games
Simple tag game but with variations with the movement and / or what you do if you get caught
Normal movement
Move with one leg
Move with “bear walk”
Move with “crab walk”
When you get caught,
“Bridge tag” - wait in plank position - you are saved if another player crawls under you
“Squat tag” - wait in deep squat position - you are saved when another player gives you a high five
etc.
Floorball session (60 minutes)
The goals of the session:
Skills:
With the ball:
passing (with a purpose)
Looking for space / scanning
Pass if your teammate is in better position - dribble if not
Without the ball:
offering passing options (support)
Team level:
everybody attacks, everybody defends
Communicate with your teammate
Positive encouragement to try, fail and try again
Example group:
15 players with diverse skill levels + 2 goalies
1. a) 4v1 // b) 1v1+joker SSG(about 15 minutes if familiar, 20 if first time)
a) Two groups of five play 4v1 Possession game
Zone: 10x10 meters square marked with cones
Players: 5 (4 attackers, 1 defender)
Rules:
Four attackers are positioned at each side. They try to keep possession of the ball against a defender who can’t defend outside of the square. The four attackers should pass the ball always without rushing. If the defender intercepts the ball, the player who passed the ball goes inside.
Variations:
set time as a defender - if the defender intercepts the ball, he gives it back to the attackers
Set time as a defender - if the defender intercepts the ball, he tries to keep it while at the same time two attackers come to inside the circle and try to take the ball back
b) One group of five play 1v1+joker SSG with goalies
Zone: 20x6-8 meters, narrow playing field to encourage direct 1v1/2v1 challenges
Players: 5 (two teams of 2, 1 joker) + 2 goalies
Rules:
Play 1v1 (set shifts, 20-30 seconds) and a joker who is always on the side of the team that has the ball (numeral superiority). Encourage shooting to score to use that man advantage.
Variations:
joker plays with the team that doesn’t have the ball (underload)
Picture: On the left side we play 2 x 4v1 possession game, on the right side 1v1+joker SSG with goalies
Every group of five plays two times 4v1 and once 1v1+joker SSG. Play about 4minutes, 1 minute break and change of place.
2. 2v2 to four goals (15 minutes)
Zone: 15x20 meters (x2, both ends of the field)
Players: 8+7 + 2 goalies (four teams of four*)
* one team of three
Rules:
Set up two playing fields where there is two goals at each end. Two goals can be big goals (goalies) and the other 6 should be small goals or if there’s not enough small goals, you can also use cones. Play 2v2 games, the team can score to either of the goals in their attacking end. The idea behind this game is to help the players to use the width of the playing field.
Play 30 second shifts, 3-4 minute games, count the score (if you want) but start every time from 0-0. Change the opponent after each game.
Picture: 2v2 to four goals, 2 separate games at both ends. If you don't have enough small goals, use cones.
3. 2v2 + 2v2“The Cross game” (20-25 minutes)
Zone: 20x20 meters (half the field)
Players: 15 (four teams of four*) + goalies
* one team of three
Rules:
Play 2 simultaneous 2v2 games; one game is played vertically and one horizontally. Two big goals with goalies in one game, small goals in the other game. You must cross the (imaginery) midfield lane before you can score. The substitutes wait behind their own goal. 30 second shifts, 3 minute games and change the opponent. Key thing to ask players before the game - “What do you have to remember when there is two games played at the same time?” or “What should you do to avoid collisions?” (Answer usually comes quite fast).
There are couple of big ideas behind this game - first of all, it’s a fun game. Second, the players will self-organise and reduce their running speed almost automatically and start to scan their surroundings. Third, and this is more of a training structure thing - all the players are very active all the time. You can actually make 32 - even 40 players active this way if you use both ends of the field.
I like to play a small tournament in this cross game where we first play “a regular season” (2 points for win, 1 for draw) and after the regular season, we play the final and the bronze game.
Variations:
use jokers
Picture: 2v2 + 2v2 The Cross Game. You can even play two 15-20 player Cross games simultaneously.
After the practice
We might want to do some cool down and / or mobility exercise after the training session if you find it useful. In any case, after the session, the coach can ask if we had fun, what was the key points of the session and after that, hands together and shout the teams name.
Few sidenotes
What I try to do with young kids sessions is to create a “street floorball” -like environment with simple games and lot of decision-making action. I sometimes might use 2-3 minutes to show some technical movements what they can try to do at home if they don’t have the possibility to play the game with friends. The goal is to make the sessions as fun and engaging as possible and the idea behind it is that the games would continue back home.
There’s also some words to be said about the team structure. It is preferable to keep the teams local as long as possible to encourage the playing outside the training sessions - play before the practice with friends, come with the same friends to the practice and then go back home to play again with the same friends. This dynamic is threatened if we start to create “elite teams” where players travel longer distance. It also usually takes the costs up which then reduces the possibilities to do multiple sports.
Conversations comparing the individual and the collective as frames of reference often become a confrontation of opposites. Opinions are categorized either pro collective or individualistic. In reality these extremes do not truly exclude one another. It is only the discussion that gets polarised. This text covers the relationship between the individual and the collective and the problems of the conversation. There is no collective without individuals - the team consists of individuals, so the individual and the team cannot be separate things. They are inseparable and complementary. In team sports it is the collective that is competing, not the individuals. The concept “team” includes the individuals, but also consists of their interactions and interdependencies forming a complex system. Individualism on the other hand does not put up well with the benefit of a collective.
Figure 1. An individual is logically a subset of a team.The group “team” includes the individuals and thus is a wider frame of reference for understanding the whole. Looking at the actions of an individual only works in special cases and in sufficiently small details.
The goals scored in a match count for the team. Individual statistics are not the deciding factor for the result of the match (which team wins). Teams compete interacting with each other as whole systems. When a team wins, the individuals win. As the team develops, the individuals are also developing. Of course it is possible to win games without developing.
The complexity framework
Floorball is an invasion sport in which space and time are fundamental variables. They depend on the location and interaction of multiple players. Every player has an impact on the game situation and to possible solutions in the game. Simply the positioning of an individual player affects the spaces created on the field. In this sense, a true 1vs1 situation does not exist in an invasion sport.
Because of the interactions between the parts, the invasion game is defined as a complex system. These interactions allow the system to develop features that do not exist in individual parts of it. For this reason, the game cannot be deeply understood if these interdependencies are overlooked. The team (as well as the individual) is a complex system. Thus, neither the individual nor the 1vs1 situation cannot be isolated from the game environment if general conclusions of the game are to be made. Through the complexity paradigm, we seek to understand the game as a whole. This does not mean complication by adding variables, rather the game is explained by some simple principles - but in a different way.
Figure 2. Logically, the "isolated 1vs1" in a big space is a subset (special case) of floorball.In majority of the situations, it is not sensible to ignore the interactions with the rest of the players.
There are situations in which a player faces an opponent in a large space, so that the interactions of other players with these two are weaker. In such a case, the interactions could be temporarily ignored. These are exceptions that emerge as a result of collective behaviour - not a starting point for analyzing the game. Ignoring the interactions between players should be justified with careful analysis.
An "isolated individualistic performance" does not exist in the game. Every action - even standing still - affects other players and the emergence of spaces in between. Just positioning oneself may be a vital contribution to the team's performance such as attracting the opponent's defender and making space for teammates. Playing floorball is collective action - the game happens between players. You cannot play alone.
How does all this influence our practice?
The frame of reference and the language we use, affect how deeply we understand the game. This directly affects our activities in everyday life. If we want floorball to evolve, we must try to look at it through a more modern lens. The framework of complexity takes into account the above-mentioned interactions and collective behaviour. Individuals are not removed from it, but placed in the context of the game.
"There's Nothing More Practical Than A Good Theory" -Kurt Lewin
Interactions between teams and players set their own expectations for the skills that the game demands from a player. Opponents constrain the actions of an individual player. She needs to react and anticipate opponents and teammates actions that form the dynamic game environment. Isolated physical or technical training do not include the psychological abilities of adapting to the environment, which are crucial in floorball. A player's skill is not about the ability to perform high-quality technical and physical actions alone. Those should be performed for a real reason and also adapted to the actual situation on hand. This requires constant perception of essential information in the middle of the chaos of the game. Collective training of tactical situations enables the learning of this. Perception is intertwined with action and thus translates to interaction.Emphasizing individual technique or skill over the whole skill eliminates alternatives, mistakes, chaos, and disturbances. This is against specificity of training. The player doesn’t learn to match perception of game information and the technical actions. On the other hand, individual technique and fitness, do not disappear from collective training. Instead they happen in a representative context. Volume and (relative) intensity of training are accumulated to a sufficient degree from playing exercises. We should be looking for the minimum effective dose of training load that keeps the players developing, especially at the youth level. Instead, currently the individual physical properties are maximized in a hurry comparing players quantitatively with others in the same age group. In worst cases it is the training load that is maximized.
Technique and fitness are subordinate to the tactical dimension, because they are always tactical in the context of a game - they affect the game situation. A player spends the majority of the game without the ball. Even the best players make mistakes that must be collectively reacted to. These skills must also be actively coached, not dismissed.
A game situation cannot always be solved by quantitative amount of technical skill or fitness. Adapting by performing a suitable action is critical. Forcing the play with weak decisions will cause problems even if the individual wins her direct 1vs1-situation. Often, it is necessary to feint and surprise the opponent as a collective as well as individually. A player could dribble towards a gap in the opponents defensive line to attract and move them, then pass to a space created behind the line. Our own team should be able to anticipate such collective actions somehow, supporting the dribbler and observing the new space. Technically and physically the solutions may be "creative" but they should somehow align tactically to common principles of play. When a ball crosses the goal-line in accordance to the rules of the game, the goal registered as a goal regardless of the technique. Coaching such principles of play instead of techniques alone, makes the game model flexible and forms a language of game actions.
Figure 3. The best transfer-effect happens when training is designed taking into account all aspects of the game.First, choose the tactical goal and the moments of the game that you want to develop.After that, psychological training methods are planned, such as giving feedback and keeping score. Next come the optional added technical constraints and finally the physical demands by distribution of recovery breaks during the exercise.In Tactical Periodization methodology, training is designed in such hiearchy.
Players are communicating nonverbally in the game using floorball actions. The game model is their language. It must be flexible but clear enough. This needs a lot of focused training. An example could be as follows. The ball carrier dribbles, attracting one or two opponents towards the ball. He may keep them following until the pressure gets too high. This asks for support in certain available directions, and commands a possible teammate who is positioned on the way of the dribble to move and find space elsewhere. Clear principles create order in the chaos. A good team plays like "one organism", with fluent nonverbal communication. They form something of a ‘collective instinct’.
Training collectively in real game situations will afford the corresponding technical and physical (as well as psychologically competitive) repetitions without repetition. Traditionally, the technical skill of an individual is developed through the amount of repetitions of an explicit model technique. This is simply not how we acquire or perform skills. Even in very closed skill such as shooting, the skillful athletes technical details vary more than for the less skillful ones. Technique varies, but accuracy is better. A great shooter focuses on hitting the target, not how this is technically achieved. Variation is inevitable. In an invasion sport, adaptation and variation are manifold. Considering this in training design is critical.
Modern skill acquisition theory and the Constraints Led Approach
The design of modern skill training (Chow et al. 2016) implements the following starting points:
The exercise must represent the competition.
Manipulating the constraints will guide learning in the desired direction.
Combining information and movement, that is, observing your body and the environment is central.
Attention will be directed to the goal of the movement, not to the details.
The above principles are based on constraints led approach (CLA) and non-linear pedagogy. These methodologies were strongly highlighted at the Scientific Conference on Motor Skill Acquisition during the Autumn in Kisakallio. According to CLA, an organism (an individual or a group) is given a task that is solved while adapting to an environment. The constraints create a space (the triangle), within which the organism begins to solve the motor problem, self-organizing its actions.
Figure 4. Visualization of the constraints led approach.The constraints create a space within which the organism continuously perceives the environment in order to match actions to the information of the situation.Perception and action are intertwined, not sequential steps during the process.
These contemporary theories of motor learning challenge our traditional concepts of learning. We do not act, learn or remember like a computer. The brain cannot store and retrieve countless different precise movement patterns from the memory and run them through like a script. Environment and context affect our memories. Techniques are not remembered, they emerge when an organism perceives the environment and matches its activity with the observed information. Perception is not just visual and conscious. It also happens through motion, proprioception etc. and is partly subconscious.
Performance depends on coordinating our actions with perceived information. What the player perceives is the meaning of a situation for herself. This means the opportunities for action (affordance) that are present in the game environment at a given moment. When action is intertwined with perception, the result is meaningful and the emotions are connected to perception-action. This way the instinctive, emotion-based decision making develops. Representative simulation of the game in training is a key factors in such implicit learning. The information, action and emotion from the observation are integrated during repetitions.
The theory is based on ecological psychology. Perception and action take place simultaneously in space and time, not sequentially. Perception is not just looking. It does not always happen consciously. Likewise, adaptation takes place in large part in the body and the subconscious (e.g. reflexes). Therefore, implicit learning in game situations is crucial. This differs essentially from the linear cognitivistic "perception, analysis, decision-making, excecution" view. Not every decision is conscious. We cannot stop and analyze the game while under time pressure. Locking up the technical solution in advance is also problematic. The opponent might step in in the middle of such decision making cycle. It is best to play “present in this moment" - using intuition and know-how to help when there’s no time for the conscious process.
Video.Movement helps observe things that would otherwise be missed.For example, a baseball catcher updates his running direction while catching a high ball. She does not run straight from the starting point to the ball landing position."We must perceive in order to move, but we must also move in order to perceive" -James J. Gibson
The collective coaching model is individualistic as well
Closed-skill technique drills do not encourage or foster creativity. If each individual is meant to repeat the same pattern multiple times, the intention is the opposite - making clones out of the individuals. In the current floorball culture (at least in Finland), there is a tendency to emphasize the importance of players' creativity by downplaying tactics. It is deemed tactics that kill creativity - but for some reason this is not the case for one-size-fits-all technical training. Model techniques are taught in detail by the coach but making decisions or adapting to situation are assumed to come from “mothers milk”. The players are expected to choose suitable technical action from a library in their memory. Either you have talent or not.
In a tactical sense, a lot of responsibility for decisions in game is shifted to the individual instead of the coach. In a team training like this, the tactical culture and nonverbal communication might be poor, but the players survive with individual skills and self-organization. Tactics are explained, sometimes drawn on the fly during a match. Individual mistakes and attitudes become the most common problem in functioning of such team. Some players will of course learn to execute the coaches tactics somehow even during a match - or adapt to such difficult situation with their individual skills. The rest are given pressure to find ways to survive. This often leads to more comparison of players and less of coaching each individual with good effort.
Collective coaching gives individuals room and appreciates diversity. It does not try to copy existing top players based on individual skills or properties. When the method of execution is not predetermined, an individual may use her creativity to reach a tactical task. Everybody does not have to do the same, but every player needs to align to the team values, cooperation and game model. In collective coaching, a player is free to make "well-intentioned mistakes" - to play brave and to take risks within the principles of the game model. Reacting to the mistakes as a team is achieved by practicing different moments of the game - transitions included in the training. This is how the collective tactics encourage the individual to play brave and try new or difficult things.
A collective’s coach will pick suitable players - not just the individuals with best physique or technique. It gives players the chance to succeed by diverse individual means. If the game model is flexible, not every player needs to be physically or technically peaked. They just need to learn to solve situations for the benefit of the team. A game model also helps team-building. Everyone is asked to play along common principles but not using the same technical-physical means.
This is also an important question of values in junior sports. Are we trying to find talent or develop it? Do we keep as many young players playing and participating as possible, or do we clean up the lesser material at an early age? Can we really predict by monitoring and testing individuals out of context to find out who will later become top players - in the context of the actual game? Is individual skill somehow different from the skill of playing the game floorball?
A session of small sided games for teaching tactical game principles
Yesterday's blog post from Mikael de Anna (in finnish here) started a discourse on the actual practice design by coaches in different clubs. Here I will open up a very simple session from the SC Classic C1-juniors. We do most of our training by playing different game-based exercises that are built for learning the principles of play of our pretended way of playing.
These training games are meant to be played with high intensity to simulate a game of floorball. It is demanding physically, technically and engages the players emotionally (scoring and allowing goals). It also gives the opportunity to learn the know-how instead of know-what of the principles of play. The opponents will make the time and space limited and challenge the players somewhat as a match would. If we can express the desired way of playing fluently in these games, maybe some of it will transfer into a real game situation better than merely drawing and talking about the tactical decisions and training in isolation.
This kind of training makes it possible to simulate real game situations with a high frequency of the game situations we want to train. It is also repetition without repetition: the opponents are allowed to try their best to play against the other team. The desired situation will occur more frequently than in whole field 5vs5 play with stoppages and may be trained simultaneously on multiple zones on the training field. It preserves all the main moments of the game: offence, defence and the transitions. This is the core in our way of teaching players relationships in the game and perception-action. It is about learning “game intelligence” while training floorball fitness and technique in a real context.
Before the actual floorball training, we had a video meeting of the previous match and some warming up. On the training field, we usually have 2-5 minutes of free time for the players and after the training, 10-15 minutes of easy recovery activity, feedback, information about the next match and chilling together.
3v2 offensive zone play, corner/deep support. Both ends of the rink run same exercise. 2 x 6 shifts, 1 minute each.
This game situation might occur at least momentarily in a match: we have an overload on this part of field if the other defender is tied on the weak side and an forward is late from the situation or unable to drop below to defend one of our players
Starts with a pass to the wing, one player deep, close to the goal and one player in the centre
The ball carrier dribbles towards the goal/centre and attracts a defender
This player must continue the movement also after a pass to the corner support.
The player from the goal moves towards the corner to offer an easy passing option
Try to score and transition to defending the mini-goal (counterpressing) if the defending team gets the ball.
Starts with a new ball after a goal or if the ball goes off limits.
This principle of corner support is one of the important building blocks of our offensive zone play. Besides the positions and movements of the players in the exercise, the quality lies in manipulating the opposing defence. In order to build a good scoring change in this game situation, it is important to challenge the defenders with all the 3 attackers being continuously dangerous. A dribble may attract one defender to man-mark the ball carrier and after a pass to the corner, the new ball carrier might make a new quick dribble towards the goal, attracting also the second opponent to mark him. Either one of the dribbles is succesful or there is a free man in a scoring position if a pass may be completed. The players get to make their own creative actions to solve the problem according to these sub-principles:
When a ball carrier is pressured in the wing of the offensive zone, a corner support must be offered to him
After passing to the corner support, the player must move out of the way to make space for the deep support to move in to. He should try to dribble out of the corner and preferably towards the centre to present a threat to the defence, searching for a passing option to the centre or a new corner support if he is pressured.
This exercise could be expanded to run wider. Just add an offensive player to the weak side with the instruction to stay wide and be ready to score. A defender and a second mini-goal could be added to make it 4v3 to simulate the whole deep end of the offensive play. The mini-goals simulates a pass to the forwards for the red side, so they may also work on attacking againts a high pressing or a counterpressing opponent:
4v4+1 bottom support, 4 x 4 minutes
Effective and balanced offence has roles for each 5 players. In addition to the deep/corner support there should be options, so we also want the lowest player to offer a support below the wings when there is pressure. The supporting player must actively move to support the ball carrier close enough to the edges for a direct, clear passing lane.
For this (sub)principle, we built a game where there is a 4v4+1 running in each end of the rink. The space is limited with this many players in the deep zone, which forces the frequent use of the bottom support. This game was created by my assistant coach and brother Aleksi Hänninen.
In the game, the ball is allowed to travel as the green arrows show. The bottom support -player must move towards the edges to receive the pass down. The players are allowed to move on the whole half rink, so the defending team is allowed to press the bottom support and the offensive team may come down to offer support for him. This is a very simple game, where the play in the deeper end is a bit less organized. This makes the physical intensity high. We still wish to play according to our other principles also there, but it is not as directly controlled as the principle of the bottom support.
Start with one team attacking, the other defending. The attacking team has the yellow player on their side.
Ball may travel down and up the two zones according to the green arrows
Players may move freely, you could also allow the bottom support to move in the deeper offensive zone and make the player change roles with him that passed down
After receiving the pass, the bottom support should try to switch play or start moving towards the centre of the field while searching for an opportunity to get the ball back in by dribbling or passing.
There should be width in the positioning of the attacking team when the ball is played down to the yellow player
5v5
The rest of the session consist of simply playing 5 against 5. First we start playing and observe how well the previous principles work. Then maybe stop the play and remind the players about them. The very end of the session is play without stoppages to observe the learning effect in less organized setting.
The principles in action in some video clips from our matches this season:
I am also open for discourse with other coaches who are interested or have opinions on this type of coaching.
Glossary Nonlinear = The output of a nonlinear system cannot be simply predicted from the input. The function is not a line. Complex system = a system is complex, when it has emergent properties. This means, the whole is different from the sum of its parts. Living systems and organisms are complex. Complex systems cannot be explained solely by the parts, because the interactions between them are also essential. Complicated system = A complicated system is difficult to explain or understand, maybe due to the amount of the parts and interactions, but can be explained by researching just the parts. A sophisticated mechanical machine may be a complicated system. Invasion sport = a sport or game in which the teams try to invade each others territory in order to score points and try to distract the other team from doing so Co-adaptation = process by which two or more individuals undergo adaptation as a pair or group Reductionism = The philosophy that a system is understood simply by understanding the parts of it. Emergence = A system becomes more or different from the plain sum of its parts. A flock of birds or school of fish become stronger than the group of individuals randomly swimming in an area, when they move and act as a flock, swarm or school.
Skill is adaptation to an environment
A floorball player is a living human being and thus a nonlinear, complex system. A team playing floorball against another team is even more complex and nonlinear with a lot of meaningful interactions between the parts. In an invasion sport, the complexity is emphasized because the teams are trying to distract and disrupt the playing of each other - creating a more or less hostile environment. The skill of floorball is about interaction with and being able to adapt to this constantly changing hostile environment - not just as an individual but also as a collective.
Life is not linear, it is organic. We create our lives symbiotically as we explore our talents in relation to the circumstances they helped to create for us.
- Sir Ken Robinson
The learning process in these sports is nonlinear. It is impossible for the coach to control the learning and adaptation of the players by breaking the skill into parts or properties and improving them one at a time. This kind of reductionist training does not directly improve the skill in an invasion sport, because the team or player is not co-adapting or self-organising against anything while training - unless they immerse themselves deeply into some imagined game situation.
Figure 1. Life & reality is not linear
Improving the skill of floorball is about learning to become better at playing the game. That includes the functional technical ability, the psychological skill aspect and also the specific physical fitness of playing well the whole match. The game is not simply about comparing who is faster, stronger or more technical. We cannot assume a direct, linear transfer of training a single property or technique into complex game situations. Playing well is about quality and interaction, not about any set of quantities that may be measured out of context. In this blog text, a new definition for “technique” is explained in order to better understand our sport through this lens of complexity.
The current, mechanistic training paradigm
A large part of the training in floorball today is about improving parts of floorball skill out of context. Properties of individual players are trained one at a time, often one individual at a time. Transfer of speed, endurance, strength or technical model repetitions training into the complex game is taken for granted. Especially during the off-season, a lot of training targets the physical properties of the player isolated from the game environment. Even inside the floorball rink, the chaos and randomness of a real game situation is often erased “to get a lot of clean repetitions”. It is assumed that the game is a complicated system instead of a complex one.
The coaches try to control the training stimuli, maximizing the development of a single property at each session. Each player is assumed to adapt manner to this stimulus in a similar way. Everything is about developing the different properties, parts of the whole. The background for this system lies in soviet sports science of periodization, where the training stress is varied based on physiology only. This kind of reductionism ignores the interactions between the parts of a system. In a real game situation, the properties or structures of a player interact with each other, thus the quantities are not the solution. Something more than the sum of parts emerge from the interactions, just as it happens in a team of players interacting with each other.
What does the science really say about human movement and actions?
The science of motor learning and coordination has shown the previous is not the optimum way to learn motor skill. It is a different skill to be able to adapt to game situations than being able to produce clean techniques on an empty field, unlimited time and space. In a team sport, trainining techniques should be replaced with action and maybe more exactly - interaction. Optimal model techniques do not exist in the context of this kind of team sport.
Actually even a very closed skill such as rifle shooting or hitting a coin or a target with a hammer is not about repeating an identical motor pattern over and over. It was proven in a classic study by Nikolai Bernstein who is one of the pioneers in of motor learning and coordination sciences already in the 30’s. This does not mean that all drills or individual technique training are bad for the players. There is also variability in a drill, just less than when playing against opponents. Training drills transfers in a different way than the coaches think and are not the optimal method in a team training when you have opponents available. Movement is always about adapting to a situation. There’s always variability in the movement pattern even in closed skill events. Even more so in an invasion sport.
It is generally assumed that doing a lot of isolated repetitions would bring more order and stability to the performance of an individual. But it is the end result we want to stabilize, not the technique used. Variability is fundamental for adapting to changing situations. In invasion sports this is highlighted, but a living human is always in the process of change. Every situation we are in, is different. The repetition of any action is never exactly the same. We must be very adaptable to produce stable outcomes. This principle is called repetition without repetition. To understand human motor learning is essential in order to truly understand team sport skills and coaching.
Figure 2. Even for professional blacksmiths with years of training, there are no similar repetitions or a single technique to hit the coin. The blacksmiths that were less accurate, had more constant movement pattern and the more accurate hammer users showed more variability in their motor patterns.
The human, the brain and the motor system are adaptable and creative. They will try to find a solution that is adapted to any new problem on hand. The brain does not store complete movement techniques or other prefabricated solutions. It adapts. Memory works the same way - it is a process and it needs a context:
For multiple reasons, the over-analytical way of training and testing isolated properties are currently the dominant fashion. Reductionist way of thinking has given the humanity a lot of improvement and innovations in science, especially in the industrial domain. However, new and more holistic thinking is soon needed if we want to solve the current ecological and social problems. The status of scientific method as pure truth and especially reductionist science are challenged and questioned even outside of the sporting world. The subjective perceptions, social and environmental values must be acknowledged and appreciated. The complexity paradigm is gaining ground on different domains.
Short introduction to Nonlinear pedagogy & the Constraints Led Approach
Human beings in a complex game demand a nonlinear framework for coaching and training. Such frameworks are nonlinear pedagogy and constraints led approach (constraints based learning). In the constraints led approach and nonlinear pedagogy, the performance emerges as the interaction of three constraints: the task (objective), the environment and the organism. The organismic constraints mean the properties of the organism that limit which solutions are possible for the organism (an individual or a team).
The learner/performer exists in an environment, where he/she searches and finds solutions for the situation to complete the given task. Within these constraints, solutions can emerge creatively in the situation. This is also called self-organization. The learner has the freedom to develop any individual technical-physical solution that produces the desired outcome inside the constraints.
Figure 3. The image represents the basic theory of constraints based learning: the organism is put in an environment with a task to achieve. These three constraints create a “triangle” of constraints. Performance or movement emerges from these constraints as the organism perceives and acts according to the situation that is updated also during the action itself.
Skill is about perception-action
There is no perception and action, only perception-action and this happen “online” as a continuous cycle. It is constant adaptation to the situation and could be understood by “being in the present” or a kind of mindful playing. It is not a sequence of perception, analysis, decision and execution. The performer adapts into the situation “online”, solving the given motor problem by adjusting the movements in real time while executing the action. In a pressure situation, there is no time for analysis and decision making. Large part of the perception-action happens subconsciously. A movement pattern cannot be selected from any "library" and ran through after the decision is made.
Skillfully dodging the opponents while dribbling through a gap in defence into an open space is an example of perception-action. In such cases the player cannot just “run” a pre-planned movement pattern that he/she goes through, but must be present in the moment and adapt to the opponents actions. This cannot be learned in isolation - but only playing against opponents. It is the skill of percepting-acting in the specific sporting environment and real game situations.
Video: Perception-Action in a floorball match. You cannot just execute techniques, you need to perceive the environment around you and adapt to it with technical skill structure. This is about interaction and cannot be learnt by dribbling cones.
So to play better - you need to play. Training should not fragment the game into separate technical or physical components. The coach does not need to know which properties of the player are developed during the current session. Instead, he helps to create a learning environment and lets the players find and improve their solutions individually. The players get opportunities to adapt in a game environment. Some find the solutions more based on physicality, some technical skill and some by using tactical intelligence and for example deceiving the opponents. Instead of every player performing the same techniques, the actions may vary. Everyone has the opportunity to develop and use his or her own strengths.
We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it's an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish.”
― Ken Robinson
Redefinition of technique
In a sport such as floorball is, the outcome of an action is what matters - points are not awarded for using model techniques. The actual technique is of no interest if it yields the desired tactical outcome. It doesn’t matter how you shoot the ball if it ends up in the opposing goal, or how you pass if the teammate receives the pass into a good position and situation.
Technique in floorball and other team sports is to be understood as the functional ability to adapt to the situations and generate action. This demands training the perception-action of the players in the game and team context. The ability to produce any number of out-of-context clean model techniques is not the same thing. Technique in floorball is a qualitative structure of technical ability rather than a quantitative amount of individual technique.
Figure 4 On the left, a person has a dense structure of connections in the brain and may adapt to specific situations with multiple solutions. On the right instead, only a few routes are available. In a video lecture, Sami Kalaja is speaking about a similar situation in controlling the calf muscles and comparing a figure skater and an endurance runner. Both have trained a lot, but the former with much greater variability.
Everybody agrees that technique is important in floorball, but if our concept of technique means the skill on an empty field, it simply does not represent the game. We need to examine what is important in order to effectively solve sport-specific motor problems in a game environment. Defining technical skill as a qualitative structure instead of quantitative amount recognizes the true nature of the sport performance. It is adaptability that should be coached instead of any number of model techniques. The players should be given the freedom to creatively use their individual talents and find their own solutions and strengths. Training may be supplemented with individual training on the players free time, but in a team session it is a waste of resources to train technique in isolation. We have limited time to gather the team together and coach perception-action in real game situations. The team and groups inside it need to train co-adaptation as a collective (a topic for a new blog). These skills of co-adaptation and perception-action are essential for the players to become skillful instead of just technical.
Someone who has juggled the ball in the air during a game, after which four defenders of the opponent get the time to run back, that’s the player people think is great. I say he has to go to a circus.
Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate.
- Johan Cruyff
There are a lot of good texts available on the internet on these topics. Here’s a couple of links into suggested reading:
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