Korfball Theory The Foundations of Korfball Coaching

 

Korfball Theory

The Foundations of Korfball Coaching

Introduction to the IKF Instructor Course — IKF Level 3+

 

International Korfball Federation — Development and Education Committee (DEC)

               Introduction to the IKF Instructor Course — IKF Level 3+

1. Mission, Vision and Introduction

1.1 Mission and Vision of the Development and Education Committee of the IKF

The mission of this program is to equip high-level korfball coaches with the knowledge, skills, and professional attitude needed to lead players and teams to top performance. The curriculum draws on scientific research, practical experience, and innovation, and reflects the latest developments in sports science, training methodology, and leadership. It supports continuous personal and professional growth, with ethics, sustainability, and player well-being at its core.

The goal is to develop coaches who are both technical experts and inspiring leaders within the korfball community. Through this course, the IKF's Development and Education Committee (DEC) aims to train qualified IKF coach instructors worldwide, thereby raising the overall level of play.

1.2 Introduction

Korfball has developed into a sophisticated international team sport, demanding effective communication, game insight, technical proficiency, and high levels of physical and psychological performance. Coaches today have access to an extensive body of knowledge from disciplines such as biomechanics, physiology, psychology, pedagogy, motor learning, and performance analysis (statistics)[1]. Yet however valuable these disciplines

This course therefore begins with the game itself. Rather than starting from separate scientific disciplines, it first establishes a theoretical framework that explains the nature of korfball — and only then connects that framework to the supporting sciences.

1.3 Why Does Korfball Require Its Own Theoretical Framework — Korfball Theory?

This framework provides the reference point against which knowledge from biomechanics, physiology, psychology, motor learning, and pedagogy can be evaluated and appropriately applied.

The theoretical perspective adopted throughout this course is Action Theory, grounded in a relational view of human action[2]. From this perspective, players are never understood as isolated individuals executing movements. Instead, every meaningful action emerges from the continuously shifting relationship between the player, teammates, opponents, the ball, the korf, space, time, and the rules of the game. Korfball performance is therefore described in terms of purposeful move-actions, rather than isolated bodily movements or abstract psychological constructs.

This perspective has direct consequences for coaching practice. Match analysis, player development, training design, and performance evaluation should all be expressed in korfball-specific action language. General statements such as “the team lacked confidence,” “the players lost concentration,” or “fitness was insufficient” only become meaningful once translated into observable game actions that can be analysed, practised, and improved.

The chapters that follow build this framework step by step. They begin by describing the essential characteristics and logical structure of korfball, before introducing the concepts of attacking, defending, transition, communication, game insight, abilities, and competition fitness. These concepts are then connected to representative learning environments through the Constraints-Led Approach and Scenario-Based Learning, enabling coaches to bridge theory and practice.

The ambition of this course reaches beyond teaching coaching techniques. It offers a coherent conceptual framework through which coaches can analyse the game, formulate training hypotheses, critically evaluate performance, and continuously develop their own professional practice. By integrating scientific knowledge with a korfball-specific theory of action, coaches become better equipped to support both high performance and the holistic development of players.

 

2. Korfball Theory: The Foundations of Korfball Coaching

The Framework of Korfball

2.1 The Game

A game does not exist independently of the people who play it. It comes into existence through their participation. Players accept a shared objective, operate within an agreed set of rules and voluntarily confront the challenges that these rules create. In this sense, a game is both a structured activity and a human practice.

Bernard Suits (1925–2007) described playing a game as the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles. These obstacles are unnecessary in ordinary life but essential to the game. They create the conditions under which playing becomes meaningful. Without them, there would be no challenge, no uncertainty and therefore no game.

However, a game cannot be understood from its rules alone. Rules establish the formal conditions of play, but they do not produce the game by themselves. The game emerges only when participants interpret these conditions, respond to one another and attempt to realise the purpose of the game.

The rules serve the game; the game does not exist merely to serve the rules.

Rules protect the identity of the game and regulate the interaction between participants. They define what players may and may not do, but within these boundaries the players themselves create the actual course of play. Every game develops differently because the intentions, actions and interactions of its participants are never completely predetermined.

A distinction can therefore be made between game and play. The game provides the shared purpose, rules and conditions. Play is what participants create within those conditions. The game gives structure to play, while play gives life to the game. The two cannot be separated in practice.

A game is consequently neither a collection of isolated movements nor the mechanical execution of prescribed techniques. Players perceive situations, form intentions and act in relation to teammates, opponents, space, time, the ball and the objective of the game. Their actions acquire meaning through these relationships.

The foundational axioms are:

•     A game is created by its participants.

•     A game has a shared and recognisable purpose.

•     Rules create and protect the conditions of the game.

•     The rules serve the game.

•     A game is both structure and play.

•     Players do not simply move; they act.

These principles provide the basis for examining korfball as a particular game. The next question is therefore not merely how korfball is played, but what makes korfball the game that it is.

 

2.2 Korfball as a Game

Korfball is a competitive team game in which two teams attempt to score more goals than their opponent by throwing the ball through a korf.

This definition identifies the formal objective of the game, but it does not yet explain what makes korfball distinctive. Korfball is created through the purposeful interaction of players who cooperate with teammates and compete against opponents within the conditions established by the rules.

The ball may not be carried or dribbled. A player in possession is therefore dependent on the actions of others. Teammates must continually create opportunities to assist and to shoot, while opponents attempt to disrupt these actions. Cooperation is consequently not an optional choice but a constitutive condition of the game.

At the same time, the korf can be approached from every direction. The game develops in 360 degrees around the scoring target. Players must continuously relate their actions to changing positions, distances, directions and opportunities.

Korfball is also characterised by the relationship between attacking and defending. Players contribute to both, although the formal structure of the game may organise these roles in different ways. They must therefore learn to recognise and perform a broad range of game actions rather than specialise in only one isolated task.

Korfball is a communication sport. Players continuously make their intentions perceptible through their positions, movements, timing and use of the ball. These actions communicate possibilities to teammates and threats to opponents. Communication is therefore not limited to speaking it is embedded in the way players act.

Korfball can be defined as a competitive communication and cooperation game in which players, acting within the rules and in relation to teammates and opponents, create opportunities to score through a korf while preventing the opposing team from doing the same.

Korfball is therefore not simply a collection of passes, shots, movements and defensive techniques. These elements acquire meaning only through the purpose and context of the game. A pass is not merely a physical execution; it is an action intended to connect players, change the situation and contribute to creating a scoring opportunity. A defensive movement is meaningful because it restricts an opponent’s possibilities and helps prevent a goal.

To understand korfball, we must therefore begin with the game as a whole. Only from there can we identify its defining characteristics, analyse its game actions and develop a theory appropriate to coaching it.

2.3 What Makes Korfball Unique?

 

Every sport has a distinct identity. This identity is not determined by one isolated rule or characteristic, but by the way its purpose, playing conditions, participants and rules interact. Korfball is unique because several defining characteristics combine to create a particular form of cooperation, opposition and communication.

The objective is to score by throwing the ball through a korf. Because the korf is elevated, has no backboard and can be approached from every direction, scoring is possible from anywhere around it. Attacking and defending develop in 360 degrees.

A player may not run with the ball or dribble it towards the korf. After receiving the ball, the player must act from that position by passing or shooting. Progression therefore depends on the coordinated actions of teammates. Cooperation is not merely desirable; it is built into the structure of the game.

Korfball is played through two inseparable relationships. Players cooperate with teammates while simultaneously competing against opponents. Every action affects both relationships. Moving into space may create an opportunity for a teammate while forcing an opponent to respond. Passing the ball changes the possibilities available to all participants.

Korfball was created as a mixed-gender sport. Women and men participate in the same game and contribute to the performance of the same team. This belongs to the historical and social identity of korfball and expresses the principle that participants share responsibility for creating and playing the game.

Within the team contest, players also act in direct relation to individual opponents. A defender attempts to restrict an attacker’s opportunities, while the attacker tries to create sufficient space and time to act. Players never act in empty space; they act in relation to resistance created by opponents.

Korfball players contribute to both attacking and defending. The game does not separate participants permanently into attackers and defenders. Players therefore need to understand multiple roles and situations.

Opposition is essential, but physical contact is regulated. Players must restrict opponents primarily through positioning, timing, anticipation and coordinated action. Defending is not based on overpowering an opponent but on intelligently limiting the opponent’s possibilities within the rules.

Because players depend on one another, korfball is fundamentally a communication sport. They communicate not only through words but through positioning, movement, direction, timing and ball use.

No single characteristic makes korfball unique. Its identity emerges from the combination of an elevated 360-degree scoring target, no running or dribbling with the ball, structurally necessary cooperation, simultaneous cooperation and opposition, mixed-gender participation, direct personal opposition, attacking and defending responsibilities, regulated physical contact and continuous communication through game actions.

Korfball is best understood as a competitive, cooperative and communicative team game in which participants jointly create and solve changing game situations in order to score and prevent goals.

 

	Game Resources	Playing Rules	Playing Attitude
Two teams try to win by scoring more goals than the opponent	Ball Korf(s) Zone(s)	Rules based on the characteristics of korfball	Cooperation and communication Game and Play

 

 

2.4 Why Does Korfball Require Its Own Theoretical Framework?

Coaching always rests on assumptions about the game, the players and the way performance develops. Even when these assumptions are not made explicit, they influence what coaches observe, how they explain problems and what they choose to train.

Korfball therefore requires a coherent theoretical framework grounded in the game itself.

Knowledge from physiology, psychology, biomechanics, pedagogy and sociology can contribute to coaching. However, none of these disciplines can independently explain korfball as a whole. Each examines the game from a particular perspective. Without a korfball-specific framework, their concepts may become detached from the actual game.

The game comes first. Theory exists to explain the game, and science exists to support it.

Coaches frequently use expressions such as “The players lack confidence,” “They must concentrate more,” “The team needs a stronger mentality,” or “We have to want to win.” Such statements may express a genuine concern, but they do not adequately explain what is happening in the game. They do not identify which actions are ineffective, under which conditions the problem occurs or how the players’ actions should change.

A korfball-specific framework translates general impressions into observable and meaningful game actions. Without such a framework, concepts such as fitness, cooperation, communication and decision-making may be treated as separate components. They then acquire meanings that do not necessarily correspond to the nature of korfball.

The framework must preserve the defining characteristics of korfball: scoring and preventing goals, structurally necessary cooperation, opposition from opponents, 360-degree play around the korf, acting with and without the ball, alternating attacking and defending responsibilities, and communication through game actions.

A theoretical framework provides coaches and players with a shared language for describing the game. This language should refer to actions, intentions, relationships and situations that can be recognised in actual play. It enables coaches to describe what players are doing, explain why an action succeeds or fails, identify the match problem, formulate a training hypothesis, design appropriate practice situations, observe how players respond and adjust the training process accordingly.

The framework should help coaches understand relationships rather than reduce the game to fixed patterns. It must explain how intentions, perception, communication, movement and execution are integrated in purposeful game actions.

Scientific knowledge becomes valuable to korfball when it helps explain or improve performance in the game. Science supplies perspectives and evidence; the theoretical framework connects them to the game.

Korfball requires its own theoretical framework because it is a distinctive human practice with its own purpose, rules, relationships and forms of action. The framework must begin with korfball, remain connected to korfball and ultimately help players and coaches act more effectively within the game.

2.5 Why Action Theory?

 

A theoretical framework for korfball must explain what players actually do in the game. Players do not merely produce movements. They perceive a situation, form an intention and act in relation to teammates, opponents, the ball, the korf, space, time and the rules.

Action Theory provides a suitable foundation because it understands human behaviour as purposeful, meaningful and situated.

Players do not simply move; they act.[3]

A movement can be described in physical terms. A player accelerates, changes direction, raises an arm. Such a description tells us what the body does, but not what the movement means within the game.

An action includes an intention. The player may accelerate to become available for a pass, change direction to create space for a teammate, raise an arm to communicate readiness or release the ball to score. The same visible movement may represent different actions, while the same intended action may be realised through different movement.

Every game action is directed towards something. The intention gives the action its meaning. The execution is therefore not an independent objective. It is a means by which the player attempts to realise an intention.

Technique[4] has meaning only in relation to intention.

Korfball actions never occur in isolation. A player acts in relation to the purpose of the game, teammates and their intentions, opponents and the resistance they create, the position of the ball and the korf, available space and time, and the possibilities and restrictions established by the rules.

No game situation is reproduced in precisely the same form. Positions, distances, timing, pressure and the intentions of participants continually change. Players must adapt their actions to these changing conditions. There may be several effective ways to realise the same intention.

Korfball depends on players coordinating their actions (cooperation). This requires communication.[5] Communication is not limited to verbal instruction; it is embedded in positioning, direction, timing and rhythm. By acting, players make possibilities and intentions perceptible to one another.

Action Theory gives coaches a concrete language for analysing performance. Instead of attributing problems to vague internal states, the coach examines what the player was trying to achieve, what information and possibilities were available, how teammates and opponents influenced the situation, which action the player performed and how that action changed the game.

The coach does not simply transmit ideal solutions. The coach creates learning conditions in which players can explore, recognise and improve functional actions. The purpose of coaching is not to control every action but to develop players who can act competently within the game.

Action Theory is appropriate for korfball because it begins with purposeful game actions, connects movement to intention, recognises the relational nature of performance, incorporates cooperation and communication, accounts for the changing context of the game, treats execution as functional rather than fixed and connects match analysis directly to training design.

It provides the conceptual bridge between the identity of korfball and the practice of coaching.

The game remains the starting point. Action Theory does not replace the game with an abstract model; it provides a way to describe without interpretations and understand how players create the game through their actions.

 

3. Acting in Korfball

3.1 Move-Actions

A move-action is the bodily execution through which a player attempts to realise a game action. The term deliberately combines movement and action. A movement is never examined as an isolated physical event. It is understood as part of purposeful acting within a specific game situation.

The distinction is:

•     Game action: what the player is trying to achieve in the game (decision).

•     Move-action: how the player attempts to realise that intention bodily (execution).

The same game action can be realised through different move-actions. Conversely, apparently similar movements may serve completely different game actions. A player who accelerates may be trying to become available for a pass, create space for a teammate, approach a rebound position, follow an opponent or intercept a pass.

A move-action should not be judged primarily by whether it resembles an ideal movement pattern. Its quality depends on whether it helps the player realise the intended game action under the prevailing conditions.

The organisation of move-actions is influenced by the intended game action, the actions of teammates and opponents, the position and movement of the ball, available space and time, the rules and the player’s individual abilities.

Move-actions serve game actions. Their execution describes how these move-actions are functionally organised.[6]

3.2 The Dual Structure of Korfball

Korfball is a team game. Its purpose can only be realised through the coordinated actions of the team. The logical structure of the game must therefore first be considered at team level.

This structure is determined by possession of the ball. At any particular moment, one team is in possession and the other team is not. Both teams cannot possess the ball simultaneously.

Korfball consequently has a dual structure of team functions: the team in possession attacks and the team without possession defends.

These two team functions are opposed but inseparable. Every attacking action takes place in relation to defensive resistance, while every defensive action responds to and influences the attack.

Attacking comprises all coordinated game actions performed by the team in possession with the intention of scoring. The related team tasks are creating a scoring opportunity, scoring and retaining or restoring attacking possibilities.

Defending comprises all coordinated game actions performed by the team without possession with the intention of preventing the opposing team from scoring. The related team tasks are disrupting the creation of scoring opportunities, preventing scoring and regaining possession.

Although korfball has two fundamental team stated , possession can change at any moment. Transition[7] describes the change from one team function to the other. It is not a third permanent state alongside attacking and defending.

The structure is dual: two team functions; the game process is continuous.[8]

When possession is lost, players who were attempting to create and score must immediately begin disrupting and preventing. When possession is gained, players who were disrupting and preventing must begin creating possibilities to score.

Transition cannot be reduced to players moving quickly from one position to another. At the moment possession changes, team intentions, player roles, relevant spaces, communication and possibilities for acting all change. Players must recognise that the game relationship has changed and coordinate their next actions accordingly.

All Korfball disciplines have a dual structure:

 

3.3 Team Tasks, Patterns, Interactions and Move-Actions[9]

A team task describes what the team must realise collectively within attacking or defending. Patterns, interactions and individual move-actions describe increasingly specific levels through which players contribute to that task.

A pattern is a recognisable organisation of coordinated move-actions. It describes how players collectively attempt to realise a team task. Examples include attacking organisations such as 4–0, 3–1 and 2–2, and defensive organisations such as front defending, back defending, switching relationships, supporting and collective rebounding arrangements.

A pattern structures collective action through the organisation of roles but does not determine every action in advance. Patterns flow into one another and roles switch. It develops and changes in relation to the actions of the opponent.

An interaction describes the direct relationship in which players act. Examples include passer and receiver, shooter and rebounder, attacker and defender, or two players contesting a rebound.

A one-against-one situation is not itself a move-action. It is a changing interaction between an attacker and a defender. Within that relationship, both players perform different move-actions.

Team function → team task → pattern → interaction → individual move-action.

This ordering keeps individual actions connected to collective acting and ultimately to the purpose of korfball.

Schematic organization of Korfball Actions:

TEAM IN Ball POSSESSION			TEAM NOT IN BALL POSSESSION
Team functions	Attacking	<<Transition>>	Team Functions	Defending
Team Tasks	·        Building up Attacks ·        Creating scoring opportunities ·        Scoring ·        Retain ball possession		Team Tasks	·        Preventing scoring opportunities ·        Neutralising scoring opportunities ·        Intercepting
Interaction	·        Playing patterns ·        Structures of communication ·        Role assignment ·        Role rotation		Interaction	·        Defending front and back ·        Preventing free positions of attacker ·        Hindering shooting and assisting
Move-actions Execution of Decisions	·        Attacking move-actions ·        Position; Direction; Moment; Speed.		Move-actions Execution of Decisions	Disrupting the opposition: Position & Direction Moment & Speed

 

 

 

 

3.4 The Anatomy of a Korfball Action

A korfball action is more than an observable movement. It is a purposeful attempt to influence the game within a specific network of relationships.

Every korfball action includes: game intention; team function and team task; context and relationships; perception, communication; and game insight; decision; execution through move-actions; and an effect on the game.

These dimensions can be distinguished for analysis, but they do not occur as separate stages in the player’s experience. During play, they form one continuous action.

A player perceives[10], communicates, decides and moves as part of one purposeful relationship with the game.

Every korfball action is directed towards an intended change in the game situation. The intention gives meaning to the action. An individual action acquires meaning within attacking, defending or transition and through the shared team task to which it contributes.

A korfball action always occurs within relationships with teammates, opponents, the ball, the korf, available space, the rules and the developing match situation. These elements do not merely surround the action; they help constitute its meaning.

Korfball actions communicate possibilities and intentions. Communication may be embedded in the move-action itself, non-verbal through position, direction, rhythm and timing, or verbal through speaking, calling and coaching.

Before and during an action, the player must remain sensitive to possibilities emerging in the situation. This involves perceiving relevant information, recognising relationships, interpreting the intentions of others, anticipating how the situation may develop and assessing which possibilities can contribute to the team task.

A decision concerns the possibility the player commits to within the developing situation. Players do not merely choose from available possibilities; through their actions, they create possibilities for one another.

The intended action is realised through move-actions. The execution should be assessed functionally: did the player organise the move-actions in a way that realised the intention under the actual conditions of the game?

Every action changes the situation. A completed pass is not automatically an effective action. It may retain possession while reducing the team’s scoring possibilities. The relevant question is how the action influenced the team’s possibilities of scoring or preventing a goal.

3.5 The Modalities of Move-Actions

A move-action is not defined only by what a player intends to achieve. Its meaning also depends on how it is performed within the developing game situation.

Every move-action has four interrelated modalities: Position, Moment, Direction and Speed.

The quality of a move-action depends on how Position, Moment, Direction and Speed correspond with the player’s intention and the developing game situation.

Position concerns where a player acts in relation to the ball, the korf, teammates, opponents and the relevant playing space. Position is not simply a location on the court. It is a relationship. A position becomes meaningful through the possibilities it creates or restricts.

Moment concerns when a player initiates or changes a move-action. Possibilities emerge and disappear continuously. The same move-action performed earlier or later may have a completely different meaning and effect.

Direction concerns where the player or ball is moving and how that movement changes the relationships within the game. Moving towards the korf is not always more effective than moving away from it. Direction is functional when it contributes to the intended change in the game situation.[11]

Speed concerns how quickly a particular move-action is performed. Greater speed is not automatically more effective. A move-action may require acceleration, deceleration, delay or variation in speed. Speed is functional only in relation to Position, Moment and Direction. Acting with speed is good if this provides a lead over the opponents.

Position, Moment, Direction and Speed are analytically distinguishable, but they cannot be separated in play. They form a relational unity.

Tempo concerns the frequency and rate at which successive actions are connected. Speed belongs to a move-action; tempo emerges from the succession of coordinated actions.

Game rhythm is the changing pattern of tempo created through the interaction between both teams. It includes accelerations, decelerations, interruptions, repetitions, periods of preparation and sudden changes after possession is gained or lost.

Time is important, but too broad to function as a separate modality. It becomes observable through moment, speed, tempo and the rhythm.

 

 

 

3.6 Communication

Korfball actions are never exclusively bodily movements. Players continually interact with their environment and coordinate their actions with others.

Communication in korfball comprises all actions through which players make intentions and possibilities perceptible and coordinate their move-actions. It is embedded in position, moment, direction and speed and may also take verbal or non-verbal forms.

Players must sense, understand and coach one another in relation to the current team function and team task. Communication can therefore be characterised as game insight at team level.

To act in korfball is also to communicate.

3.7 Game Insight

Game insight concerns the actions of the individual player and acquires meaning only in relation to a team function and team task.

Players must be able to read korfball situations by perceiving, recognising and interpreting relevant relationships and by anticipating how these relationships may develop. This enables move-actions to be performed at an appropriate Position, Moment, Direction and Speed.

Game insight can be defined as the extent to which an individual player is able to perceive possibilities for move-actions related to a team task or team function, including possibilities for the player’s own actions and those of teammates and opponents.

Communication creates and clarifies possibilities. Game insight enables the player to recognise those possibilities and act upon them.

Perception [12]are individually, none of them, on its own, explains the game of korfball.

Perception →   Communication → Decision → Execution.

3.8 Abilities (Skill)

Abilities describe what a player can realise through move-actions within concrete korfball situations. An ability should not be understood as a general quality detached from the game.

It is insufficient to say that a player has speed, strength or a good shooting technique. The relevant question is whether the player can organise the move-actions required to realise an intention within the changing relationships of the game.

A player may be able to accelerate at an appropriate moment to become available for a pass, establish a position that restricts an opponent, or organise the move-actions required to score under changing conditions.

There is no universally correct execution independent of context. Different situations and different players may require different move-actions (bodily solutions). The quality of an ability becomes visible through the correspondence between intention and Position, Moment, Direction and Speed.

 

 

3.9 Conditionalities and Korfball Fitness

The performance of move-actions depends on bodily and personal conditions. Players must be able to perform their actions appropriately, repeatedly and throughout the match. These conditions are referred to as conditionalities.

Conditionalities do not constitute korfball actions in themselves. Strength, endurance, recovery capacity, resilience and concentration become meaningful only when they support or restrict the performance of specific game-actions. These conditionalities are described in action language.

Conditionalities support action, but they do not replace action as the starting point for analysis.

Korfball fitness is the ability to continue performing and coordinating relevant korfball actions under the changing demands of the game.

It becomes visible in the player’s ability to repeatedly create or restrict space, accelerate, decelerate and change direction, maintain effective relationships with teammates and opponents, act after gaining or losing possession, preserve the quality of Position, Moment, Direction and Speed, remain connected to collective tempo and adapt to changes in game rhythm.

A player is korfball-fit when fatigue does not prevent the player from continuing to perceive, communicate and perform functional game actions (deciding).

At a higher level, useful space becomes smaller, relevant moments exist for less time, opponents restrict possibilities more effectively, move-actions must be performed more frequently, transitions occur under greater pressure, collective tempo increases and changes in game rhythm become more demanding.

Competition fitness is the ability to maintain functional korfball performance throughout the specific course of a match. It includes repeatedly recovering from demanding actions while remaining able to perceive, communicate, recognise the appropriate moment and organise move-actions effectively.

Once the demands have been identified in korfball language, knowledge from physiology and psychology can help explain and develop the relevant conditionalities.

Korfball action → observable performance change → relevant conditionality → scientific analysis → training intervention.

 

 

 

 

3.10 A Complementary Perspective: The Substantial Body View

The theoretical foundation developed in this book is relational. Players are understood as acting participants whose intentions and move-actions acquire meaning within the game.

Coaches may sometimes need to examine the bodily conditions underlying a move-action. This requires a different, more substantial perspective.[13]

The Substantial Body View considers the body as an identifiable physical and psychic entity that can be examined in terms of structures, processes and capacities. It enables specialists and coaches to analyse joint movement, muscular force, balance, coordination, acceleration, energy supply, recovery, fatigue and injury and also mental aspects such as, and persistence, resilience, confidence and perseverance.

This perspective can provide valuable information. However, it does not by itself explain the meaning of a korfball action.   [14]

The Substantial Body View can explain bodily conditions, but the game explains what those conditions are for.

Scientific knowledge only becomes meaningful when interpreted within the logical structure of the sport itself. Without a clear theoretical framework describing what korfball fundamentally is, concepts such as technique, fitness,  concentration confidence or team cohesion risk being interpreted in isolation from the game they are meant to improve. A coach may then apply scientific knowledge correctly within its own discipline yet still fall to translate ineffectively into korfball practice

Action Theory asks what the player is trying to realise within the relationships of the game. The Substantial Body View asks which bodily structures, processes or capacities support or restrict the execution.

Action Theory begins with the meaningful whole. The Substantial Body View examines selected parts of that whole for a specific analytical purpose.

 

4. Coaching Korfball

The preceding chapters established the identity and logical structure of korfball. They described players as acting participants who create the game through purposeful and coordinated move-actions.

The central question now changes: how can a coach help players and teams improve their ability to act within the game?

Coaching begins with understanding korfball. A coach must be able to observe what happens during a match, describe it in korfball-specific action language and connect the identified performance problem to an appropriate learning process.

The basic coaching process: match performance → action analysis → performance problem → training hypothesis → training design → observation → adjustment.

This repeats itself for an entire competition. It is a cyclical process. The game remains the point of departure and the point of return.

4.1 The Distinct Responsibilities of Players and Coaches

Players and coaches participate in korfball from different positions.

A player acts within the immediate and continuously changing situation of the game. The player perceives possibilities, communicates with teammates, responds to opponents and performs move-actions under time pressure.

A coach does not perform these actions on behalf of the player. The coach observes performance, interprets what is happening and creates conditions in which players can improve their ability to act.

Players solve game problems. Coaches design learning situations in which players can improve their ability to solve those problems.

A good player is not automatically a good coach. The ability to perform does not necessarily include the ability to explain performance, diagnose a problem or design an appropriate learning environment.

Competent players may recognise and solve game situations without being able to describe the process in detail. Much of their competence may be immediate and implicit.

Coaches have a different responsibility. They must make performance accessible for learning. This requires the ability to observe team performance, describe actions in korfball-specific language, identify the relevant team function and team task, recognise relationships, examine Position, Moment, Direction and Speed, distinguish intention from execution, identify a performance problem, formulate a training hypothesis, design a representative learning situation and adjust it in response to player behaviour.

What players perform intuitively, coaches must be able to translate into a learning process.

4.2 Conscious and Unconscious Competence

Experienced players and coaches often recognise patterns and performance problems quickly. This rapid recognition can be described as unconscious competence.

Recognition alone is insufficient for coaching. The coach must also understand why a problem occurs, explain it in action language and design a learning situation that addresses it. This requires conscious competence.

Unconscious competence supports rapid recognition, sensitivity to relationships and anticipation. Conscious competence enables the coach to describe a problem precisely, connect it to a team function and team task, analyse interactions and move-actions, formulate a training hypothesis and deliberately modify the learning environment.

Unconscious competence supports recognition. Conscious competence supports explanation and intervention.

Effective coaches move between both forms of competence. They recognise what appears to be happening, investigate the observation in action language, formulate a possible explanation, test that explanation through training, observe how the players respond and revise the explanation when necessary.

Coaching is therefore an iterative and reflective process.

4.3 Coaching in Action Language

The quality of coaching depends partly on the language used to describe performance.

Statements such as “The players lack confidence,” “They must concentrate more,” “The tempo is too low,” or “The team is not fit enough” may express a concern, but they do not identify which korfball actions must improve.

For example, “the tempo is too low” may mean that players make passing possibilities visible too late, the player in possession retains the ball after a useful possibility has emerged, players do not establish a new position after passing, transitions are recognised too slowly, or successive move-actions are insufficiently coordinated.

The coach must translate the initial impression into observable action language.

Instead of “The defenders lack concentration,” the coach might describe: “After the attacker changes direction, the defenders repeatedly recognise the new passing relationship too late and cannot establish an effective Position at the required Moment and Speed.”

Instead of “The attack lacks confidence,” the coach might describe: “Players recognise a favourable scoring possibility but continue passing, allowing the defenders to restore their relationships.”

The purpose is not to make coaching language unnecessarily complex. It is to make the performance problem sufficiently precise to guide observation and training.

4.4 From Observation to a Performance Problem

A match produces an enormous amount of information. The coach cannot respond effectively to everything at once. Observation must therefore be directed by the purpose and structure of the game.

The coach begins at team level, asking:

•     Which team function is involved?

•     Which team task is insufficiently realised?

•     Which pattern of coordinated actions can be observed?

•     Which interactions influence the problem?

•     Which individual move-actions contribute to it?

•     How do Position, Moment, Direction and Speed affect the result?

This order prevents the coach from beginning prematurely with an individual player or an isolated bodily execution.

The coach should first describe what can be observed before offering an explanation.

An observation might be: “During the attacking rebound, the supporting players repeatedly leave the relevant space before the shot is released. As a result, the team loses possession after unsuccessful shots.”

This description identifies the team function, the team task, the relevant interaction, the moment at which the relationship breaks down and the effect on the game.

A performance problem is the difference between the actions required to realise a team task and the actions currently performed by the players.

A useful problem description identifies the game context, the intended team task, the observable player actions, the relevant relationships and the effect on scoring or preventing goals.

A performance problem is not a judgement about the player as a person. It is a description of acting under particular game conditions.

The coach does not diagnose the person; the coach investigates the performance problem.

This provides the foundation for formulating a training hypothesis.

4.5 Methodology: The Constraints-Led Approach and Scenario-Based Learning

The Constraints-Led Approach (CLA)

The Constraints-Led Approach encourages players to explore the korfball context and develop functional behaviour through interaction with a dynamic environment. Training is grounded in match situations but is manipulated through constraints to guide learning. The structure of a CLA training session progresses from a simple korfball design to a design that captures the complexity of the korfball match.

Three types of constraints are distinguished:

•     Individual (performance) constraints: individual characteristics such as height, fitness, preferences, motivation and emotional state (personal individuality, quality and relationship).

•     Task constraints: rules or modifications in the training — for example, playing 4-0 against passive defenders who only follow without intercepting the ball (phases, variation, challenge).

•     Environment constraints: external factors such as playing outdoor or indoor, or zone size (materials, participants, rules).

Within the Constraints-Led Approach, no fixed techniques or tactics are prescribed. Instead, constraints are deliberately manipulated to invite functional solutions.

For example, in a 4-0 situation against low defensive pressure, passing becomes a key challenge. A pass must enable a teammate to create a scoring opportunity. Players must organise themselves to solve this interaction problem.

The coach creates a learning environment in which players arrive at functional solutions through self-organisation. Players perceive, communicate, make decisions, and act on affordances. As constraints become more representative, training increasingly resembles match conditions.

The coach’s role is to guide attention and reflection by asking questions such as: What did you see? What made the interaction successful or unsuccessful? In this way, the coach manages cognitive load and supports learning through shared reflection.

 

 

Scenario-Based Learning (SBL)

Scenario-Based Learning is a methodology derived from the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) model. It focuses on developing players’ understanding of game situations. Players learn to act in competitive situations through purposeful, constrained scenarios that put decision-making and cooperation at the centre. The learning objective is clearly formulated by the coach.

In Scenario-Based Learning:

•     Realistic game scenarios are designed.

•     A specific problem is embedded in the scenario.

•     Players must recognise and solve the problem.

This approach is often referred to as situational coaching.

The coach constructs scenarios based on previous matches, anticipated game situations, and recurring tactical problems. These scenarios may include structured attacking patterns or defensive set-ups designed to challenge players’ perception and decision-making.

 

Literature:

 

Buytendijk F.J.J. (1979) Algemene theorie der menselijke houding en beweging. Utrecht. Het Spectrum.

Crum Ben (2012) The IKF Guide to Korfball Coaching. Zeist. IKF.

Crum Ben (2014) Eenvoudige Korfbalvormen en Helden van nu. Zeist. KNKV.

Crum Ben (2021) The Art of Korfball Coaching  E- Book. Erasmus Program.

Houterman Aldo (2019)  Wij zijn ons lichaam/ Amsterdam. Ambo/Anthos.

Tamboer Jan W.I. (2016) Football Theory Amsterdam. World Football Academy.

Technische Commissie KNKB (1949) Dat is Korfbal. Rotterdam / ’s Gravenhage. Nijgh & van Ditmar N.V.

Verheijen Raymond (2020) Football Coaching Theory. Amsterdam. Football Coach Evolution.

Verheijen Raymond & Marcel Lucassen (2025) Designing Training Situations. Amsterdam. Football Coach Evolution.

Van Yperen Nico.W. (2021) Focus, Vertrouwen, Veerkracht. Nieuwegein. Arko Sports Media.

 

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[1] Knowledge from these sciences can help solve match problems. First identify the korfball problem. Then use the scientific knowledge in the korfball context.

[2] Besides the relational view of people there is another view that support the relational view: the Substantial Bodily view. This is discussed later:3.10

[3] Stretching an arm is a bodily movement. By itself it is not a purposeful move-action.

[4] Technique is a biomechanical word. When it comes to the assessment of a move-action then knowledge of biomechanic can support the skill.

[5] Communication actions coordinate the move-actions of players. Reading korfball situations means perceiving, recognising, interpreting and anticipating.

[6] Move-actions are meaningful in the context of the game and can be described by time-space qualities. The description explains how the action is organized in the context. See: 3.5 The Modalities of Move-actions

[7] Transition can be understood as a separate structure. Unless possession of the ball also be scored from the defence zone, then transition is part of attack structure.

[8] A function is a meaningful whole of changes, that is connected to something outside those changes . (F.J.J. Buytendijk)

[9] ‘The IKF Guide to Korfball Coaching” and “The Art of Korfball Coaching” discuss Game-actions, such as Team tasks, Patterns and Roles.

[10] Perception means the way a player interprets the korfball context. It is how information is organised by senses and brain. Perception in the korfball context is a game-action.

[11] Winning a running rebound is often the consequence that the flight of the ball (direction) is well read.

[12] Perception means that a player with knowledge of the game and understanding of the teammates good intentionalcommunication is possible.

[13] Houterman A. responds to Swaab, a famous Dutch neurologist. Saab: “we are our brain”. Houterman argues, what a purely neuroscientific view become dualistic because it treats the living body as secondary to the brain. Seeing the body as an empty shell in a dualistic view, not an embodied view of action.

[14] An example of incorrect application is when prolonged running is viewed as a hallmark of korfball in such cases, coaches might attempt to improve this interpretation of korfball with the help of a running coach or physiotherapist conducting tests, using the shuttle-rum test.