The Most Important Thing In A Drill

My previous post talked about figuring out the most important things to concentrate on as an individual. In this post I will go a little bit deeper and try to explain why each and every drill should be analyzed to get the maximum benefit from doing it. Too often have I seen a player just mindlessly execute drill after drill without ever considering what the point of it all is and then seeing little to no improvement in the skill the drill is supposed to train. This is at least partially always the coach's fault and I must admit being guilty of not explaining the purpose of a drill simply and clearly enough way too often. As usual I look at the issue from the point of view of a floorball coach and player but this one applies to any team sport and for the most part to any sport, even individual sports.

Once again, the most important agent in development is the athlete him/herself. Every drill contains multiple distinguishable parts and goals and the athlete is the only person who, in a normal team sport context, can choose the most important thing in the drill for themselves. Picking one or a few things to focus on is very important because the human cognitive system is not capable of concentrating on many things on conscious level at any time and conscious concentration is the key to development. If it sounds like I'm repeating myself it's because I am. And I will keep repeating it, over and over again until everybody everywhere understands the importance of this message.

For an example of what this means in practice take the simplest drill I can think of in floorball, passing to a team mate from a standing position. No movement involved, single recipient who is stationary and everything in the drill is very stable. In that drill there are at least the following parts: passing accuracy (does the recipient have to move to receive the pass), passing strength (faster is always better), pass quality (does the ball bounce or spin), reception quality (is the ball immediately in control) and general smoothness of execution. When doing a drill like this every athlete should think what should they most concentrate on, what is their achilles heel in that drill. Someone might have perfect passes but struggle when receiving a pass thus making the transition from reception to passing take too much time and effort. They should then focus on the reception part and let the other parts of the drill be handled with best possible subconscious effort.

From coach's point of view there are two important issues. First, there should always be a reason for every single drill. I have seen too many coaches run through too many training sessions with little to no consideration to how the drills executed fit into the bigger picture and what the expected gain from them is. No coach should ever just run a drill just because "that's what we always do" or "I saw this being done by some other team". Minor modifications to drills while keeping the development targets the same also makes a lot of sense to keep the team from getting bored.

The second issue for coaches is communication. When explaining the how, the coach must always explain the why. With younger players the drills are usually quite simple and figuring out the point of the drill is usually also quite simple but the coach must remember the players aren't automatically able to do it and that he/she is also a teacher and if the players are taught to train correctly at a young age they will be able to carry that all the way to the adult leagues with huge benefits on the way. With older juniors and adults the drills usually get more complex and the point might get lost in the intricacies of execution unless communicated clearly. It is also worth mentioning that it is quite a bit easier for the athlete to figure out their own goals and targets if they understand the bigger picture.

To put my message in a nutshell: know what you're doing and never just execute without thinking why. And for the coaches: never run a drill without a reason and remember to communicate the reason and the goals of the drill clearly enough. It sounds so simple when put in writing but it really isn't.

Analyzing Self

The only road to success is constant improvement, this much is known to all. What improvement means and how to achieve it seems not to be clear to everyone though. Improvement means change for the better. Please note the word change as it is the most important one in the previous sentence. What I mean is if you find that something works you cannot just rely on it to work forever. No, you must analyze it and try to find ways to improve it. In team sports context it is certain that the opponent will sooner or later figure out what you are doing and will create their own plan to counter it. If you stubbornly keep using the same thing you end up in the losers' corner.

The most important subject for improvement for anyone is their own self. Even if there are coaches and team mates and moms and dads running around trying to give their advice nobody else can actually facilitate change in an individual but said individual. If you yourself don't believe you need to change you are not going to change and if you have been taught to take whatever the coach says at face value and just oblige to his/her every wish you will never rise above the level of your coach. The key to the best improvement is analyzing your own actions and making your own plan of change according to the analysis. Nobody else but you is watching your every move 24 hours a day. If someone is, call the police.

What analyzing yourself means is taking all the information you can have and then filtering it based on the reliability of the information. Major part of this information is feedback from the coach, as he is most likely the most experienced and has a plan for improvement, but your own feelings and your team mates comments should also play a notable role. Mom and dad might have good advice but, unfortunately, more often don't. After filtering the information you must choose plan of action and stick to it until you see results or lack thereof. When you've chosen the plan yourself you know exactly how to implement it in any possible situation. It makes sense to discuss your plan with the coach and whoever else you think is reliable and experienced enough to be able to help and support you.

The importance of analyzing self is not limited to the players. The coach must also pick apart his/her own actions and try to improve them. Starting from behavior in front of the team in different situations to the team tactics to how said tactics are taught to the team everything must be scrutinized and preferably discussed with the coaching staff to find ways to improve and to avoid getting too deep in one's own little hole.

Remember that there are times when change actually results in worse. It might be a temporary slump caused by the disruption or it might actually be a step to the wrong direction. The situation must then simply be assessed again and a possible action needs to be taken. Don't be afraid of making mistakes when trying to improve, be afraid of stagnation and the fallacy that there is nothing to improve.