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Vision and Decision- what’s missing?


Reaction!

Good decision makers are often associated with having an abundance of time. This equates to more vision. Basically greater time to see more! As coaches we really push our players to work hard off the ball. What we want are our players to be set early so they have time to see more and thus make better decisions. But then what?  Hesitation can be a real killer when under pressure. ‘Fight, flight or freeze’ are our natural reactions to these moments of pressure. 


Let’s look at ‘act or react’. If we work hard we have a better chance that we can dictate what happens next, we ‘act’. This is the perfect world and one we tend to train the most. But following on from a previous blog about the race, we have an opposition who are also trying to set early. Should they beat us then we are often forced to ‘react’. What this looks like can have a massive impact on the game. At some stage in a training session we need to throw in the unknown. Doing this can help check that communication is solid, eyes are up, skills can stand up to pressure and all of this can be executed in a split second.

Today I have highlighted a drill for vision, reaction, decision and communication. What appears a very basic activity but one that can be used at all levels by adjusting time and space. 

I would lead into a session like this with hand-eye activities to sharpen reactions and increase vision. Then finish with some sort of game to highlight the learnings gained.
Today I have highlighted a drill for vision, reaction, decision and communication. What appears a very basic activity but one that can be used at all levels by adjusting time and space. 

I would lead into a session like this with some hand-eye activities to sharpen reactions and widen vision. Then finish with some sort of game to highlight the learnings gained.
Drill Explanation.
A ball is passed to the first receiver who is under some pressure from player A. This first receiver must have enough depth to move forward onto the ball and allow enough time to catch and pass the ball on to the 2nd receiver. The 2nd receiver is under pressure from player B. Player B can bring a variety to their line-speed, from extreme to almost tracking back, forcing the 2nd receiver to engage . The 3rd receiver needs to read player C who will be either turning in or out or coming forward at varied speed. This 3rd receiver must communicate to his inside player using words such as ‘unders’ or ‘overs’, or ‘early’, ‘take it up’ etc.

Include another defender in player D. This is to make sure the attackers continue to work in support of the ball carrier. This player is not activated until the line break and can be positioned to the coaches liking.

There are no marked out dimensions as this can vary with the level of your players or by the positions of the players used. For example this could be an inside back/midfield set up or a forward carrying pod. Other players can be introduced and set ups tweaked to suit that of the situation. The same goes for the level of physicality used.

Enjoy!

See a related video that may provide some ideas

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