Reflections from the Road: The Critical Importance of Having Movements that are Information Driven in Practice

Today on the Perception in Action podcast, a few thoughts from the road, but what I'm now calling the second lowest hanging fruit in improving practice, keeping movement information driven. So it's time for a call to action. Hi everyone. Over the past month or so I've been on the road working with coaches, instructors and athletes interested in ecological approach. So I thought I'd start sharing a few thoughts as I had them in some road reflections. Over this time I've been observing a lot of practice and a lot of training across a wide range of sports and police training. I'm seeing a lot of great things, but also seeing some very traditional linear practice that goes against contemporary evidence for what makes good practice. If you're a regular listener or reader to my material, you will know I like to say adding variability to practice is the lowest hanging fruit for making practice better. Well, I think I now have a second lowest hanging fruit, changing practice so that the majority of actions are information driven, not coach driven. So much of practice I see has the athlete moving, shooting, passing at a location and shooting or passing at locations and times that are dictated by the coach. For example, in this drill I want you to drive past the defender, then pass to your teammate at the top of the court at the three point line, who will then pass it to the teammate in the corner, who will then shoot. Or an activity where officers will move to the end of the hall and enter from a certain location and a certain angle into another room. Zero of these actions taken here are information driven. That is, the athlete is not pat. That is, the performer is not. That is, the player is not passing or shooting or entering because the environment is inviting that action, i.e. they're not perceiving affordances. This is most evident when a player gets around a defender, is wide open ten feet from the net, and then passes. And then passes the ball just because they've been told to do so. Then passes the ball, then passes the ball just because they've been told to do so. Do we really. Do we really want our athletes to pass when a wide open shot close to the net is available? Do we want them to ignore the information in. Do we want them to ignore the information in the environment that is screaming at them? No, I don't think so. We want them to pass because they perceive or afford a teammate a good scoring opportunity. Enter a room at a time that. Enter a room at a time and angle that affords cover. We want actions that are based on information provided by the space and rate of. We want actions that are based on information provided by the space and rate of closure of other performers. Between us and the location we're trying to get to. Shoot when they perceive the information affords it, i.e. they're close enough to the net to make the shot without the defender blocking them. Move when they perceive open space to go, etc. Actions are driven by the environment, not pre-planned choreography dictated by the coach or director. Not pre-planned. Not actions driven by the environment. Not pre-planned choreography. Not pre-planned choreography dictated by a coach. Watch when a coach first introduces a new activity where actions are coach-driven. You will see that players often do things wrong the first few times. Why? Because there's no reason to do the actions the coach dictated to them other than the coach told me so. The actions are not functional solutions that fit the environment. They have no purpose in the moment. So the performer. So the performer. So the performer forgets what to do. They forget the dance steps because they're. They forget the dance steps they've been told because they're meaningless and often go against what the bright. And often go against the bright pink. And often go against the bright pink invitations they're receiving from the environment to do other things. Ask yourself if you. Ask yourself as a coach if you do this. What is the athlete supposed to do in a game or situation if there's a defender in the spot they've been told to do? The angle you told them to enter is blocked by an obstacle or there's a defender between themselves and the teammate they're supposed to pass the ball to. Are you going to provide them rules and play options for every possible variant of things that could happen in a game? Is all the intelligence going to come from you? Wouldn't you rather have game intelligent performers that can act based on what they see in front of them? And react to how the defense is playing them? Instead of giving dance steps, educate their attention to the affordances. Change coach-driven actions to information-driven ones. You will see immediate benefits. We move into space to spread the defense. We take the shot when it is open. We move the ball to teammates who are afforded better. opportunities than we are right now. Information-driven actions that fit any environment, just like a key fits a lock. Be information-driven. Develop intelligent players. Spend less time coming up with functionalist new dance steps that players have to remember. See you next time from the road of coach education.