Skill Acquisition

As a coach you are concerned about a lot of things regarding your players.  You're concerned about what offense or defense your team is going to run or whether they are in good enough shape to play through a game or what nagging injuries they may have.  The number one thing on the list for me is player development and because of this the main question that I always ask myself is what is the best way for my players to acquire a given skill?  The question is answered in 4 steps, 1v0, 1v1, small sided games (ssg), and 5v5.  The first of the 4 steps deals with skill acquisition and the next 3 deal with skill application.

1v0 - Skill acquisition

In 1v0, the player is just practicing on his own at first introducing the skill to his body and mind and then trying to get comfortable doing the given skill.  As he gets more comfortable with the skill he will need to push himself to do it faster and faster until he is up to game speed.  He can help himself get better by visualizing that there is a defender in the way and he is making the given move on them.  He can also use cones or other props to help him at this stage.  This stage is all about acquiring muscle memory and turning a new move into something instinctive.  Keep in mind that even the pros work on this level continuously.  You are never to good to practice your game even when you are all by yourself.

1v1 - Skill application

In 1v1, the player has the opportunity to try the given move against an opponent.  This is a valuable experience because another player is a lot better to run against than a cone.  It provides the player great feedback on whether the move is being set up correctly and if it feels good while doing it against a defender.

SSG - Skill application

In SSG's, the player will be participating in 2v2 or 3v3 and can get to use the move in a situation which is larger than 1v0 but less than 5v5.  It gives the player a game like environment but with more space to work on the move. In many cases, I will even use odd man teams (2v1, 3v2) in order to give the offensive players more of an advantage to apply the skill being taught.  It should be mentioned, playing in games with less players on each side usually assures that each player on the teams will get the touches they need to practice applying their skills

5v5 - Skill application

In 5v5, the player will get to try the move in a game like situation while the floor has the same number of players it does during a game.

Sequence of events

As a coach, I like to follow the above sequence with players who are first acquiring the skill.  I will mix the skill application side of things with players who have more experience.

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