The Games Approach: a Tactical Way to Learn

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The Games Approach: A Tactical Way to Learn Michael J. Burris SPHE318 I001 Sum12 American Public University System Joseph Rice The Games Approach: A Tactical Way to Learn There are two approaches to coaching a sport. The traditional approach is teaching student/athletes skills (technique) to play the sport through drills and repetition. A game is usually played at the end of practice to see if they understand the skill’s execution (Martens,2012). The games approach, in contrast to the traditional approach, emphasizes first learning what to do (technique), then how to do use it effectively in a game (tactics). Both are effective ways to teach a sport and each should be used. However, the games approach lets student/athletes determine what to do in the game not by the coach telling them but by the student/athlete experiencing it (Martens, 2012). This aspect makes the games approach more effective. Too many times over my coaching career, I have been frustrated when my student/athletes did not use the skills we practiced in a game. I was unaware of what “I” was doing wrong. Taking coaching classes through the USSF (License E&D) has opened my eyes to the importance of the games approach. The courses taught me that I was not putting my student/athletes in situations during practice that closely imitated game conditions (U.S. Soccer, 2008). This clearly was not preparing them for actual competition. The philosophy of the games approach is based on the idea that technical skills can be learned within the context of a game instead of teaching fundamentals in the more “drills and skills” format (Sheridan, 2011). The primary benefit is that practicing and learning skills in game settings is more likely to result in long-term retention of skills in actual competition and reduce game slippage (Sheridan, 2011). The games approach can
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