Episode VII: Purpose of Play, Reverse the script, Planting Trees and more. . .
Episode VII: Purpose of Play, Reverse the script, Planting Trees and more. . .
"Successful leaders look beyond their own field to discuss new approaches, learn best practices and push the margins" - James Kerr
Every week, I share a couple of things that I’m reading, learning or actively doing in my personal and professional life. This week, we dive into:
Current Book: Play by Stuart Brown
Practice Idea: Reverse the Plan
X’s & O’s: Motion Offense Breakdown - Dribble Hand-Off Actions
Leadership Thought: Plant Trees You’ll Never See
Recommended Article: 5 Kinds of Leaders
Reflective Question: Listen to Understand
Current Book: Play by Stuart Brown
The act of playing has a couple of properties that most would agree on. These are:
purposelessness - the idea that gives rise to the concept that playing is a waste of time.
Voluntary - play is compulsory or required at any stage.
Attractive - Play is fun, it feels good and cures boredom.
Diminishes Consicouness - Play allows one to be themselves, completely free to accept who they are in that moment, not having to worry about judgement or conscious thoughts
However, Stuart Brown dives deeper into this book to present how play is crucial to the development of our brains, in developing communication contracts and much more. Whereas once thought of as something to do when bored and perhaps a waste of time, Stuart Brown discusses how play has a bigger purpose than one that we’ve ever imagined.
Practice Idea: Reverse the Plan
Traditionally in practice, there is a set series of progressions that are followed when practising. Following the warm-up, perhaps there is a shooting segment, a defensive segment, followed by some skill development aspects and only towards the end, is there the long-awaited scrimmage.
Try this out at your next practice - reverse the script. Following the warm-up, play a short game of 5v5 emphasising certain parts of your play. For us, this would either be the Screen Away or DHO action that we’ve already shared.
During this game, we are observing where our players are struggling in terms of executing. In the example of the screen away, perhaps our players are struggling to make the right reads and cuts, or it could be that they are not setting the screen correctly.
So, we will move on to a small-sided game of this action. In the below example, we will play 3v3 Cutthroat, emphasising the screen away action. With Cutthroat, the segment remains competitive, and everything is predicated on the chosen action, so we get a chance to really rep out the screen away.
If we feel that we still need to break it down further, then we go into a Teaching Block, where we focus on where it needs the most attention. We don’t spend too much time here as we progress back into another small-sided game, before building it back up into 5v5.
X’s and O’s: Motion Offense Breakdown - Dribble Hand-Off Actions
Last week we shared our Screen Away Action from our Motion Offense. This week, we’re going to take a look at the Dribble Hand Off Option. Generally, we use Dribble Hand-Offs (DHO) for one of three reasons:
False Motion
Entry into Action
Hunt Advantages
When using the DHO to hunt advantages, we want to punish the defense, so we have more emphasis on reading the defense. To simplify this for our players, we have adopted the terms, “clean” and “dirty”.
Check out the article as we break down the various reads and how we use them to attack the defense and create an advantage.
Leadership Thought: Plant Trees you’ll never see
There is an ancient quote that goes something along the lines of, “the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now!”
As leaders, we are in a position to make a difference and influence the lives of those around us. Oftentimes, we will not be there to see the result of those interactions that we’ve had with our athletes. Yet, they will have made all the difference in the world.
Leaders plant trees that they will never see.
Recommended Article: 5 Kinds of Leaders
In case anyone is not familiar with Jeff Janssen, then this is the perfect chance to dive into who he is and some of his work. This article looks into the different types of leaders that we often see in sports teams.
Not everyone has to be a rah-rah, loud-mouthed, talkative type of leader. Silent leaders can be just as powerful as guiding a team to be at its best. Janssen dives into the Five Leaders that every team needs to be successful
http://www.janssensportsleadership.com/resources/janssen-blog/the-5-kinds-of-leaders-every-team-needs-to-be-successful/
Reflective Question: Listen to Understand
In discussions, arguments and debates, do you listen to understand or listen to reply?
That’s all for this week. If you found this interesting, I would appreciate you sharing it on your social media accounts.
Until next week.
Nabil Murad