We’ve played our game, how did we do?

Key Performance Indicators and principle based evaluation

Last Summer I met my nephew for the first time. He’s two and lives in Australia. Over a short period of time we got to hang out a little and play some fun games. One of the memories that will stick with me is playing with a tube of bubbles with him and my cousin’s daughter. We started by just me blowing the bubbles and them trying to pop them. But my ever so capable relations decided that they should be the ones blowing the bubbles. What followed was some of the cutest pursing of lips and least effective bubble blowing I have ever seen. Now, when I look back on that day and try to tie it ever so carefully into the point of this blog post I got drawn to a simple idea. The intended lesson, or the win for me, was that they would each successfully blow bubbles. This failed. But they did work on another important lesson. How to take turns. In this regard the game was a success.

Similarly, when we play games or compete with our teams we have to find the truth of what happens. We will enter the game with an intended outcome – usually to win. But if we determine success purely by wins and losses, it’s likely that we’ll be unsuccessful a lot. So when we reflect on these games we need to refer back to what our principles are. These principles are what is supposed to determine whether or not we’re playing the game the right way or not. The more often we do things right, the more often we should win.

The frequency with which we “do things right” is referred to in the world of sporting analysis as Key Performance Indicators. These will be very different from one team to another. Last season Leicester City were champions of the English Premier League. At a time when the world is going mad about the importance of possession in football they achieved this feat while ranking 18^th/20 in terms of possession and having the lowest pass success rate. So clearly, their KPI’s are quite different to that of a team that prides itself on possession.

One of my favorite books, Switch: How to change things when change is hard, talks about a concept I love. Bright spot coaching. In the book they talk about a man who is sent to India to try to help solve the problem of malnutrition. Rather than launch studies to find the cause of the malnutrition (evaluating why we’re losing) he finds some well-fed kids, meets their parents and finds out what they’re doing right. He invites other children’s parents along and they adopt the habits. Suddenly more and more kids are getting fed better, and in these small communities the problem of malnutrition decreases. This is the approach to coaching that I strive towards. One where we find what we’re doing well, and aim to make these moments bigger and longer.

So, you’ve just played a game, or competed in a meet, or participated in your sport. Now you have to look back on the event. Look back in the right way. Look for what’s really happening, and whether or not it’s what you set out to have happen. Are you finding the player in front of the goal with a dry pass?

I know what I want, how do I make that happen??

Planning with your principles in mind. Games, games, games.

A few years ago I sat down with a Women's Tennis coach. Without a doubt one of the kindest people I've met through sport. Now my experiences with tennis are limited to running around after the little ball whilst getting beaten by an array of family members during our summers in West Cork. The only way I've seen Tennis coached is badly. We got to talking about how they train, and what that looks like. In my innocence I asked if they played a game I've seen kids play at summer camps. Where you have to run around the net, and try to return the ball. It's a knock out game, one for kids. I think it may actually be for ping pong. Needless to say Coach Wharton was not impressed. He looked at me with a kindly smile and said "We only do things in training, that we would do in a game."

Similarly, I've talked to a number of coaches who have described the practice planning meetings going as follows:


"Any ideas of things you want to work on at practice today?"


"Let's have a look at the drill book, and see which ones we haven't done lately."


Essentially, in my opinion, they're taking a paint by numbers approach to coaching. They're assuming that by covering the same curriculum every year they are delivering what their athletes need. Now, if these "drills" are carefully designed to teach this coaching staff's principles of play then maybe this approach might work. But I think we both know that this probably is not the case.

Instead I'd like to propose another method. Now, as with everything I will write here, this is not a revolutionary new approach that I have personally arrived upon. Sadly this is more my way of trying to share the lessons I've learned along my path in the hopes that they may help you.


Start with the end in mind.


Have a clear idea of what it is you want your athletes to understand.




Design a game that will allow them to experience this.




Allow them to fail at this. Over and over and over again.



Make it fun


Sounds like a lofty goal right? Well let's embark on this journey together, and see what we can come up with. Let's try this with a sport I have very little idea about, and see if we can come up with something. Let's look at water polo. My experience of water polo is limited to one night of struggling to keep my head above the water in my local swimming pool when I was about 16. The game went on around me, and I have to admit, I hated it.

I've read a little of the rules of water polo on their wikipedia page. According to wikipedia "The key to the offense is to accurately pass (or "set") the ball into the center forward or hole set, positioned directly in front of the goal ("the hole")." So as we prepare our session, our aim will be to create this using what's known as a "dry pass" (thanks wikipedia). This is a pass where we play the ball to a teammate in the air without the ball touching the water.

So in principle we're going to be similar to Ireland's world cup team in the golden age of Jack Charlton. We're going to play direct. 

The principles we'll be focusing on are our goal attack and defense. Especially in relation to the Dry Pass.

The technique we're going to develop: How to play dry passes.

Water polo is played with 7 players on a team. 1 goalkeeper and 6 field players.

For this game let's play with these numbers. 

Regular rules, and one stipulation.

Stipulation:

There will be a specific sized zone in front of each goal that can only be occupied by the goalkeeper and one attacker.

This stipulation allows this player the opportunity to receive these "dry balls' at first. Forcing our team to work on creating these chances, while also creating offensive 1v1s. These are always fun.

After a while we can change the stipulation to allow for a defender to join the attacker in this zone.

So let's review and see how we did:

Have a clear idea of what it is you want your athletes to understand.


Design a game that will allow them to experience this.


Allow them to fail at this. Over and over and over again.


Make it fun.


I think this game allows for all of this to happen. While staying true to Coach Wharton's message "We only do things in training, that we would do in a game."


I'm off to see what other sports I can try and come up with some games for. Why not give this approach a go in your own coaching.