I think it is very important that a coach reflects on his vision and his approach every year.
At the moment I think a lot about the tension between control and risk taking in the korfball game.
Actually this topic has played in my head for longer time, but it has become more of an issue because of the Dutch soccer style; the so called “circulation football”.
The Dutch soccer game is characterized by ball possession and controlling. In this game-type the ball is played often wide or even backwards. Teams in the Netherlands take hardly any risks; they avoid losing the ball. They don’t play straight to the “16” of the opponent; they forget that you can fight for the ball and hunt the so called "second ball". It seems that this kind of risk taking have been banned in the Netherlands game-style.
But taking risk by playing with depth and with more players before the ball is actually quite natural, for several reasons.
- In soccer the ball is always playable; the ball is never really untouchable for the opposite party.
- Scoring goals is rather difficult; in the Netherlands they call a soccer match that finishes with more than 8 goals a “korfball result”.
- Relatively there are only a small number of real shots on goal. Compared to sports like korfball, basketball and handball scoring chances are scarce in football.
But “circulation football”, the modern Dutch style, is boring and annoying.
In korfball it seems that control is also starting to dominate in favor of taking risks. Moreover, controling the ball is something that is even part of the player-rules, because korfball has protected ball possession. Moreover, control while in ball possession is also reflected in the attack tactic. Because a shot is only taken when a fellow attacker is in a rebound position.
Just like in soccer, control in the korfball game also leads to boredom and boring patterns.
The tactic “only shooting if there is a rebounder” seems to have a reason, when one considers that shots from about 8-10 meters under the pressure of the defender has a 14% success rate (Source: distance shot season PKC 09/10). Besides that, the rebound from a failed distance shot has a higher success rate. Moreover, a defense with multiple shots per attack also creates a greater pressure.
But there is another consideration that may lead to a different tactic.
In the korfball game both parties get the ball around 80 times into an attack mode. The number of shots from distance in a match is about 70 to 80 attempts, of which about 14% is scored. So there are plenty of attempts from distance. The success rate of a distance shot is low. This is why the tactic “shoot if there is a rebound” sustains. When every player of a team can improve, the quality of the distance shot, for example 20 to 25%, the tactic of “just shooting with a rebounder in position” devaluates. So: the quality of the distance shot determines the balance between taking risk and control on ball possession.
It is clear to me:
Good shooters from distance can make the korfball game more attractive.
Shooters with talent are the key players.
This is why the distance shot with the “pressure” of the defender should get more attention in training.
The quality of the distance shot must go up!
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
6/20/10
Group process
Naomi Ellemers
The results of trainings and matches in our sport, korfball, is partly determined by the group process. A coach has to work with these process.
This article gives new and interesting information:
8/25/09
PKC Training 3
PKC preparationThis season PKC started the preparation as followed: 13th of August: training, 18th of August: training, 20th of August: match, 22th of August: match, 24th of August: training, 25th of August: training; match, 27th of August: match, 29th of August: match, 31th of August: training, 1st September match, 3th of September training.
The outdoor competition starts on 5th of September.
In my opinion we need more trainings before the outdoor competition starts.
The selection and building of a team needs more time. The specific coordination of the individuals and the cooperation in the line up costs more time than only 5 trainings.
But in the Netherlands the outdoor competition is just seen as the preparation of the indoor competition. So the coach and the players use the outdoor competition to prepare the most important indoor competition which starts half November.
The third training: exercises.1. Exercise 1: 2 players, one korf.Improve the shot and the specific coordination of passing. (from high to high)
Attacker asks the ball by moving sidewards (about 8 meters from post)
Assister near the post pass the ball with one hand to the attacker.
Attacker passes in and goes for running in shot.
Attacker rebounds his shot and........
(high to high means: passing with one hand. Pass starts from above the head to the height of the face of the attacker)
2. Exercise as exercise 1.
Now the running in finishing with one hand. After catching the ball, one hand with the ball moves along the body up as a spoon and brings the ball up to the korf.
Here we focus on the balance. The player has to move in the straight line to the post.
After 10 goals the player makes the same shot with the other hand.
3. Exercise as exercise 1
The attacker gets a "late" assist. The attacker had already passed the post when he gets the ball. Now he turns in his body and makes a one-handed- running in while he balanced in the air.
4. Exercise 1: 2 players, one korf. (Distance shot: rehearsal of training 2)
The attacker moves on an imaginary line 3-4 meters, in front of the korf, while the assist feeds the attacker with strong passes. When the attacker receives the assist, he makes a backwards step in the line from the korf, finds balance on one foot and makes a shot.
5. A.S.O: See training 2
The outdoor competition starts on 5th of September.
In my opinion we need more trainings before the outdoor competition starts.
The selection and building of a team needs more time. The specific coordination of the individuals and the cooperation in the line up costs more time than only 5 trainings.
But in the Netherlands the outdoor competition is just seen as the preparation of the indoor competition. So the coach and the players use the outdoor competition to prepare the most important indoor competition which starts half November.
The third training: exercises.1. Exercise 1: 2 players, one korf.Improve the shot and the specific coordination of passing. (from high to high)
Attacker asks the ball by moving sidewards (about 8 meters from post)
Assister near the post pass the ball with one hand to the attacker.
Attacker passes in and goes for running in shot.
Attacker rebounds his shot and........
(high to high means: passing with one hand. Pass starts from above the head to the height of the face of the attacker)
2. Exercise as exercise 1.
Now the running in finishing with one hand. After catching the ball, one hand with the ball moves along the body up as a spoon and brings the ball up to the korf.
Here we focus on the balance. The player has to move in the straight line to the post.
After 10 goals the player makes the same shot with the other hand.
3. Exercise as exercise 1
The attacker gets a "late" assist. The attacker had already passed the post when he gets the ball. Now he turns in his body and makes a one-handed- running in while he balanced in the air.
4. Exercise 1: 2 players, one korf. (Distance shot: rehearsal of training 2)
The attacker moves on an imaginary line 3-4 meters, in front of the korf, while the assist feeds the attacker with strong passes. When the attacker receives the assist, he makes a backwards step in the line from the korf, finds balance on one foot and makes a shot.
5. A.S.O: See training 2
8/19/09
PKC training
The 2nd training of the season: exercises.
Exercise 1: 2 players, one korf.
Distance of the shot: about 6 meters from the korf.
The attacker moves on an imaginary line in front of the korf, while the assist feeds the attacker with strong passes. When the attacker receives the assist, he makes a backwards step in the line from the korf, finds balance on one foot and makes a shot.
Focus
The attacker should move and step behind the ball, come into balance in line with the post, steer the ball with symmetric movements of the arms and give the ball speed by the coordination of speed and strength (that starts from the feet). After the shot, read the result and make conclusions.
The assist should pass the ball with one hand (from high to high) in a strong and straight line. He/she should look for the momentum, when is the attacker ready to receive the ball (centered to the post)? Pass the ball a little bit to the right of the head of the attacker. Read the result after the pass and rebound the ball with a bounce on the ground.
Exercise 2: 3 players one korf.
Add a defender in front of the attacker.
Focus
The attacker should use the step backwards to get out of reach of the defender. He should speed up durig the step back and slow down when finding the balance. Important conclusions can be found in awareness of the assist (in relation to working with the defender) and the result of the shot, where should it be improved?
The assist should pass the ball with a good speed. If the assist is not of a good length, the step backwards (taken by the attacker) is not possible. The momentum of the shot does not only depend on when the attacker is ready to receive the ball, but also when there is an open line from assist to attacker. Read the results of the assist, what could have been better?
Knowledge of process and knowledge of result are important to improve the execution.
Exercise 3: 3 players, one korf.
The attacker asks the ball at 10 meters from the korf. He passes the bal to the assist, brings the defender in a position towards the post and feints the running in (at 4 meters from the korf). Instead he/she makes a veer shot.
Focus
Keep the above criteria for a good result of the shot in mind. Again, knowledge of process and knowledge of result are important to improve the execution.
Exercise 4: Triangle and centering a korf.
This exercise is 4 - 4.
One rebounder and 3 attackers around the post.
Every attacker has an opponent.
Action radius around 6 -8 meters from the post.
Attackers who do not possess the ball have to move:
a. Keep your defender with the back to the ball.
b. Be always centered to the post.
c. defenders try to follow the attacker (1-1) and try to keep contact with the position of the ball.
d. Make a shot when you get the ball in a free position.
e. Rebound the ball after the shot by blocking.
d. Defenders play one on one; they try to intercept the ball.
Focus
cooperation in the attack
Exercise 5: match with handicap
A match (8 - 8) with a handicap/ restriction: both teams play only 3-1 (triangle).
Exercise 1: 2 players, one korf.
Distance of the shot: about 6 meters from the korf.
The attacker moves on an imaginary line in front of the korf, while the assist feeds the attacker with strong passes. When the attacker receives the assist, he makes a backwards step in the line from the korf, finds balance on one foot and makes a shot.
Focus
The attacker should move and step behind the ball, come into balance in line with the post, steer the ball with symmetric movements of the arms and give the ball speed by the coordination of speed and strength (that starts from the feet). After the shot, read the result and make conclusions.
The assist should pass the ball with one hand (from high to high) in a strong and straight line. He/she should look for the momentum, when is the attacker ready to receive the ball (centered to the post)? Pass the ball a little bit to the right of the head of the attacker. Read the result after the pass and rebound the ball with a bounce on the ground.
Exercise 2: 3 players one korf.
Add a defender in front of the attacker.
Focus
The attacker should use the step backwards to get out of reach of the defender. He should speed up durig the step back and slow down when finding the balance. Important conclusions can be found in awareness of the assist (in relation to working with the defender) and the result of the shot, where should it be improved?
The assist should pass the ball with a good speed. If the assist is not of a good length, the step backwards (taken by the attacker) is not possible. The momentum of the shot does not only depend on when the attacker is ready to receive the ball, but also when there is an open line from assist to attacker. Read the results of the assist, what could have been better?
Knowledge of process and knowledge of result are important to improve the execution.
Exercise 3: 3 players, one korf.
The attacker asks the ball at 10 meters from the korf. He passes the bal to the assist, brings the defender in a position towards the post and feints the running in (at 4 meters from the korf). Instead he/she makes a veer shot.
Focus
Keep the above criteria for a good result of the shot in mind. Again, knowledge of process and knowledge of result are important to improve the execution.
Exercise 4: Triangle and centering a korf.
This exercise is 4 - 4.
One rebounder and 3 attackers around the post.
Every attacker has an opponent.
Action radius around 6 -8 meters from the post.
Attackers who do not possess the ball have to move:
a. Keep your defender with the back to the ball.
b. Be always centered to the post.
c. defenders try to follow the attacker (1-1) and try to keep contact with the position of the ball.
d. Make a shot when you get the ball in a free position.
e. Rebound the ball after the shot by blocking.
d. Defenders play one on one; they try to intercept the ball.
Focus
cooperation in the attack
Exercise 5: match with handicap
A match (8 - 8) with a handicap/ restriction: both teams play only 3-1 (triangle).
8/15/09
Playing level in international tournaments
2010: The European Championships
21-25 October: Qualification matches in Almelo, The Hague, Leeuwarden, Rotterdam and Tilburg.
25-30 October: Special qualifying rounds in Rotterdam (In the Topsportcentrum).
31th October: Finale in Rotterdam (At the Ahoy arena).
One of the biggest problems korfball is coping with today, is finding a competitive balance for international tournaments. If the results will follow any conventional outcome, we already know the order of the silver and golden rankings: 1. Netherlands; 2 Belgium. After the first and the second place, we can describe a battle for the bronze medal: Chinese Taipei, the Czech Republic, Russia, England, Portugal, Germany and Spain will be competitors to eachother.
The best promotion for korfball would be to make the matches harder: there is a need for international competition and national teams that can beat both Belgium and the Netherlands.
In 2010 there is an opportunity for European countries to work on their playing level and to compete with the Netherlands and Belgium. But the countries that would like to work on these targets, have to start a real serious preparation. This might be impossible in their home countries, because to improve the playing level these teams will have to compete against strong(er) opponents.
A suggestion for those who would seriously want to improve their playing level, is to try to come to the Netherlands in May and in June and make a lot of matches during 4 weeks against the top clubs. They can travel around and ask these clubs what they can pay (I would suggest each match could pay about 800 euros). The clubs will be able to earn this amount back by advertising and by the profits they can make from income fees payed by the visiting supporters.(Not only European countries, also other countries from other continents are very welcome! In 2011 there is the World Championship in China. The preparation for that tournament should be started also in 2010)
I realize that the players have to leave their schools and their work. But in top sport there no other route: you can only totally go for it!
21-25 October: Qualification matches in Almelo, The Hague, Leeuwarden, Rotterdam and Tilburg.
25-30 October: Special qualifying rounds in Rotterdam (In the Topsportcentrum).
31th October: Finale in Rotterdam (At the Ahoy arena).
One of the biggest problems korfball is coping with today, is finding a competitive balance for international tournaments. If the results will follow any conventional outcome, we already know the order of the silver and golden rankings: 1. Netherlands; 2 Belgium. After the first and the second place, we can describe a battle for the bronze medal: Chinese Taipei, the Czech Republic, Russia, England, Portugal, Germany and Spain will be competitors to eachother.
The best promotion for korfball would be to make the matches harder: there is a need for international competition and national teams that can beat both Belgium and the Netherlands.
In 2010 there is an opportunity for European countries to work on their playing level and to compete with the Netherlands and Belgium. But the countries that would like to work on these targets, have to start a real serious preparation. This might be impossible in their home countries, because to improve the playing level these teams will have to compete against strong(er) opponents.
A suggestion for those who would seriously want to improve their playing level, is to try to come to the Netherlands in May and in June and make a lot of matches during 4 weeks against the top clubs. They can travel around and ask these clubs what they can pay (I would suggest each match could pay about 800 euros). The clubs will be able to earn this amount back by advertising and by the profits they can make from income fees payed by the visiting supporters.(Not only European countries, also other countries from other continents are very welcome! In 2011 there is the World Championship in China. The preparation for that tournament should be started also in 2010)
I realize that the players have to leave their schools and their work. But in top sport there no other route: you can only totally go for it!
5/26/09
Motor control and Training
Theory and Training
Korfball actions are intentional and always happen in a specific situation.
My professor of the PE university (CALO Arnhem, Netherlands) taught me what actions are. I would like to cite this famous sentence: “Actions are an indivisible unit of changes which are intentionally related to the specific situation”.
During action the motoral, sensory and cognitive processes are interacting with each other as a unity. By a specific program of the brains the player is able to control his movements and to reach the goal. The korfball player needs information to control his actions. The direction and the form of the korfball action is based on information. This information influences and organizes the brain programs by the interaction of the motoral, the sensory and cognitive processes. So a player who plays a korfball match needs to develop a korfball program in his brains, which is quite different from a basketball or a handball brain-program.
The information is taken out the specific (korfball) situation. The player is bound to this situation. This information is linked to the brain through different streams: A body related information stream (internal perception) and a situation information stream (external perception).
A. Internal perception (preconception) tells us what is going on in our bodies. We can sense where our limbs are, whether we are sitting or standing. We can also sense whether we are hungry, tired and so forth. The bodies information stream comes to the player by his different sensual organs: it is perceived by the eyes, the nose, the skin (limbs) and tongue. These organs are always bound or related to the brain to provide information.
B. The situation information stream comes from the specific situation in which the player acts. For these actions sight is often gives the most important source of information. External sensory perception (exteroception), tells us about the world outside our bodies. Using our senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste, we discover colors, sounds, textures, etc. of the world at large.
In korfball, players have to act intentionally, to solve korfball problems. They need to act wirh intentionality on specific information. Important information for korfball players in a korfball match are for example the position of the ball and the korf and the positions and movements of fellow players and opponents.
Experiment:
During one training with the National Chinese Taipei Team, in Kaohsiung I did an experiment.
In the airplane to Taiwan I got a blindfold of the stewardess. I used this blindfold to keep the light away when I tried to sleep in the plane. During training I gave this blindfold to one of the best Tigers (top scorer in the Dutch Korfball League) to blindfold one of his eyes. I challenged him to make shots from about 3 metres with one eye blindfolded. Normally with two eyes open, he will score about 90 % - 100%. Now he missed the first tries and scored one goal after 6 tries. I did this experiment to show the players how you can intimidate a Tiger.
The routine of the Tiger is based on control of information which has a normal korfball information pattern. When a defender can change the perception of the Tiger, the Tiger will step out of this routine. By breaking the normal information stream of the Tiger, the defender can even influence the effectiveness of the shots of the Tiger.
Conclusion:1. Korfball training can only be effective when the trainer organizes korfball-game-like situations.
2. Playing matches is probably the best situation for learning: the hard match is the most effective training.
3. Players can improve their skills only by a hard competition: you need real competitors to improve the skill.
4. Variability in learning is a must, this teaches the player flexibility in the ways to reach his goals.
Korfball actions are intentional and always happen in a specific situation.
My professor of the PE university (CALO Arnhem, Netherlands) taught me what actions are. I would like to cite this famous sentence: “Actions are an indivisible unit of changes which are intentionally related to the specific situation”.
During action the motoral, sensory and cognitive processes are interacting with each other as a unity. By a specific program of the brains the player is able to control his movements and to reach the goal. The korfball player needs information to control his actions. The direction and the form of the korfball action is based on information. This information influences and organizes the brain programs by the interaction of the motoral, the sensory and cognitive processes. So a player who plays a korfball match needs to develop a korfball program in his brains, which is quite different from a basketball or a handball brain-program.
The information is taken out the specific (korfball) situation. The player is bound to this situation. This information is linked to the brain through different streams: A body related information stream (internal perception) and a situation information stream (external perception).
A. Internal perception (preconception) tells us what is going on in our bodies. We can sense where our limbs are, whether we are sitting or standing. We can also sense whether we are hungry, tired and so forth. The bodies information stream comes to the player by his different sensual organs: it is perceived by the eyes, the nose, the skin (limbs) and tongue. These organs are always bound or related to the brain to provide information.
B. The situation information stream comes from the specific situation in which the player acts. For these actions sight is often gives the most important source of information. External sensory perception (exteroception), tells us about the world outside our bodies. Using our senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste, we discover colors, sounds, textures, etc. of the world at large.
In korfball, players have to act intentionally, to solve korfball problems. They need to act wirh intentionality on specific information. Important information for korfball players in a korfball match are for example the position of the ball and the korf and the positions and movements of fellow players and opponents.
Experiment:
During one training with the National Chinese Taipei Team, in Kaohsiung I did an experiment.
In the airplane to Taiwan I got a blindfold of the stewardess. I used this blindfold to keep the light away when I tried to sleep in the plane. During training I gave this blindfold to one of the best Tigers (top scorer in the Dutch Korfball League) to blindfold one of his eyes. I challenged him to make shots from about 3 metres with one eye blindfolded. Normally with two eyes open, he will score about 90 % - 100%. Now he missed the first tries and scored one goal after 6 tries. I did this experiment to show the players how you can intimidate a Tiger.
The routine of the Tiger is based on control of information which has a normal korfball information pattern. When a defender can change the perception of the Tiger, the Tiger will step out of this routine. By breaking the normal information stream of the Tiger, the defender can even influence the effectiveness of the shots of the Tiger.
Conclusion:1. Korfball training can only be effective when the trainer organizes korfball-game-like situations.
2. Playing matches is probably the best situation for learning: the hard match is the most effective training.
3. Players can improve their skills only by a hard competition: you need real competitors to improve the skill.
4. Variability in learning is a must, this teaches the player flexibility in the ways to reach his goals.
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