 If you are involved in the high-performance world of modern sport today, 80 percent of your time is spent deciding what not to use, or investigating things you won’t use. Despite this, we all have access to multiple types of technology or measuring equipment and metrics.
Over the past 7 years, many teams have gathered store rooms of technologies and tools, some gathering dust. There often are periods where teams will reevaluate their approach. The following are 3 simple questions I always use when I reevaluate or audit a team’s performance system or sports science approach—as I explain in Game Changer. Does what they assess or what it provides fall into 3 simple categories: 1] Useful 2] Interesting 3] Useless  by Fergus Connolly Continuing on the lessons from #GAMECHANGER...
Space creates time, but time cannot always create space. The most important law in all sports, regardless of moment, context, or phase, is the law of space and time. Often you hear people refer to an athlete who seems to have more time on the ball, or a player who creates time for others. In reality, what is really being referred to here is the creation of space. Time and space are both created using the four macro principles of team sport. The law of space and time states that space can create time. This law is not reversible in sports—time does not necessarily create space.  by Fergus Connolly Over the next few weeks I’d like share some of the principles and topics from my upcoming book GameChanger.
It 'might' satisfy the emails I’m getting from people and teams looking for advance copies, especially now the NBA season is over (for most). Some regard coaching as the process of getting an athlete to do something, by telling or showing them how to do it. One secret I've focused on for years is getting an athlete to do something without having to instruct them at all. How can get an athlete or tactical operator to do something without interacting with them?  People have asked me about the “3 answers” poster mentioned in Paul Kimmage’s (excellently) written article.
Here’s the background story. Many years ago in the U.S. I was given a book as a gift by a coach I was pestering for information. I was a little more than 19 at the time. Many of the details in the book made little sense to me. It was about a sport knew nothing about—college football (life goes at you fast!). Amazingly, the manner in which the stories were told and the skill of the writer were so enthralling the fact it was about a game I had never seen never mattered—the sign of a great writer. The book, written by John Feinstein, is A Civil War: Army Vs. Navy a Year Inside College Football's Purest Rivalry. In it, he tells many stories, but one of which is the tale of Ryan Bucchianeri, a first year place kicker who takes a kick in dead time at the end of game. Feinstein tells the story of … well why not just let Feinstein tell the story!  by Fergus Connolly All Team Sports Tactical Principles are based on 4 basic foundations.
In my upcoming book "Game Changer" I explore tactical concepts—and they all start here.
These are the most important tactical understandings for team sports coaches. Next time you watch any children’s playground, NFL, Soccer or NBA game, you will see these universal principles in action at all age groups. Every time there is an engagement in team sport or combat these are the 4 key principles at play in unison. These also form the basis for all improvement and player development. They are the basis of what we refer to colloquially as ‘game sense.’ |
