Guided Discovery.

 Author: Oscar Méndez.

After seeing the new "trend" in pandemic times, where we are bombarded with all types of courses, clinics and shops online where they can teach you either about scouting or different types of methodologies, teaching things that for example in Spain we have been doing for over a decade (Real game like context training), and selling it and speak about this as if it were something new.

One of the mistakes that I see over and over, are examples of exercises or tasks in real game-like context situations, where the coaches explain to the footballers (especially British) the exercises and what they expect from the athletes. This is due to the reason that they learned to train in real context game like situations but still do not understand seeing football through complexity and from a systemic point of view.

When we begin to work in game like context situations, it is a good start, a solid "first step" as far as working through complexity or systemically, because it allows us a greater comprehension of the real game.

It is an aspect that we see a lot, especially when we watch matches on TV, when commentators try to explain unsuccessfully, due to the lack of tools to understand the game through its complexity. Impoverish, over simplify and reduce it; take it away from its real context.

Reduce without Impoverish, it is one of the objectives….

"Each leaf is a Fractal representation of the tree itself".

Professor Vitor Frade.

             Training in real game-like context.

t is rather important and very positive to do this, in my humble opinion, training something that our team is going to do in matches. But this is merely the beginning, and complexity must be present, because it will be present in matches as mentioned earlier.

The main challenge lies on that when we are going to work on with a systemic approach, there are certain methodological tools that we are going to use where "what we look for with the exercises and tasks, is to create a context where these problems come up and where the athletes can solve these problems, either with problems related to a moment of the game, a change of the moment, a functional aspect, or something related to the structure or the tactical formation (1-4-4-2 or 1-4-3-3 for example), a general concept of the game or several ones that can occur during a match that will show up in the matches and that exercise".

                        GUIDED DISCOVERY

                                                Characteristics of Guided Discovery.

-The coach must plan open, flexible teaching, which does not follow a characteristic order.

Tasks and exercises must be open, creating chaotic situations within aspects where there are levels of organization and disorganization that are changing, dynamic.

The footballer must reach the resolution of these chaotic situations on his own at times and know how to solve them, since in matches we do not pretend that the footballers are looking at the sidelines, so that we indicate the solutions, since it is not possible. As I always tell them, this is not a video game where footballers operate with a Joystick.

The various situations are often spontaneous since there is an innumerable number of situations that arise in a football match in a changing, dynamic way.

They must arrive at the solution to experience it; it must not be indicated by the coach, but discovered.

The various situations are often spontaneous since there is an innumerable number of situations that arise in a football match in a changing, dynamic way.

-No full cognitive implication- works for a single solution.

There is no single solution, but multiple solutions. I remember a German friend or colleague, where he told me how in his country, if the boy did not finish a play with a certain part of the foot, it was wrong. The solutions are in multiple ways and there is no single correct solution.

The objective is to create the context, create a task which has a certain type of information and we guide the footballer to discover it.

-The Coach guides the learning where he unconsciously wants the athlete.

It is worth remembering that in sport, learning is not conscious. It is preconscious.

The objectionable and correctable thing from my point of view, is that I see applying exercises in real game-like context, although later:

a) They give away the solution when they explain the exercise previously.
b) The footballers can't solve the exercises because it is too difficult.
c) The exercise is too easy or simple, and it doesn't generate a stimulus for the players.
d) It is an exercise in a real game-like context, but it has no meaning or information to the players.
e) Players are not guided to solve problems.

This way we will not be preparing our players correctly and not developing intelligent footballers.

That is, when you are on the field of play and you face an opponent, you do not consciously think about what you are going to do, any more than you do when you get out of bed or when you walk. They are motor actions, preconscious; that is, we do not consciously think about doing them.

This is trained, through systematic repetition, to generate these situations and solve them in various ways and repetitively.

-Problems: already known solution (too easy), or too difficult solution, not very objective evaluation.

As I wrote in another article about the characteristics that tasks with a systemic approach should have, they should not only have a meaning but a certain level of complexity, not too easy to be solvable, nor too complex that they cannot.

Coach performance: he/she will never give the answer, will always give positive reinforcement, he/she will have patience.

The coach, as we mentioned, must reinforce positively or negatively and guide them so that they discover the different solutions, so that they experience it, that it is something acquisitive.

Only as a last resort, if he does not reach the solution, will he be pushed further.

-It is based on the fact that the coach does not provide solutions to the situations proposed to learn.

Through questions, the coach guides the athletes to find the goal through their answers.

He/she only helps that it is the student himself who discovers him, through the decisions he makes, which are incorrect in many cases.

Every question that is asked has to be based on the previous answer.

The coach needs to be aware of the following possible solutions and problems. He/she has to wait for the player's response and reinforce it.

It is based on the athlete learning a lot, without the teacher apparently teaching him.

-More participation and cognitive involvement of the athlete in the process.

By actively involving the soccer player in the learning process, he will be directly involved in this process and will have to participate by dragging.

The knowledge will not be taught vertically as in previous models (Banking) but in a feedback way.

- The coach raises a problem that has a solution.

All the tasks, as we said, must have a possible solution, although it must have enough complexity to make it difficult to do it, but not too easy to do it without effort.

Something that I was asked a lot (especially by younger coaches). How or when do we know that they acquire those concepts that we are teaching?

"When they manage to do it (solve problems) repetitively and without thinking, that is, preconsciously".

Playing “Football” without restraints.

The other aspect that catches my attention is how colleagues simply train in a game-like  context, although without objectives, restraints or conditions, which as a start is very good. but they do so without giving the players information.

What was traditionally called in South America “playing football/ soccer” or the day of formal football. Normally on this day, teams play an 11v11 match, either friendly, or between teammates.

To begin with, if we systematically play 11v11 football matches, the different situations that occur that have the most relevance, for example finishing and scoring the plays or defending our goal  (since this is where matches are won or  lost), will not be reinforced or practiced enough time, because as we know in a match, these actions will not be repeated very often. For this I can mention endless examples, such as changes in the moments, principles, etc.

Consequently, with the tasks we seek to REDUCE WITHOUT IMPOVERISH as Professor Vitor Frade says, but also to generate many repetitions of tasks in a real context where they have to overcome them again and again, over and over.

"Creating a game context is very important and very positive, it is always better to do this than to run  around the pitch or in the park or beach, although as I mentioned earlier the tasks/ exercises must be of different types, guided  to changes in the moments of the game, related to a principle (Macro-Meso-Micro or Nano) of our Playing Model, to the scales of a team, to the space on the pitch, to the system (1-4-4- 2 or 1-4-3-3 for example) or even functional / Physical aspects according to the sub-dynamics of the session during the week, call it morpho-cycle or micro-cycle ”.

"Scientists have recently determined that 400 repetitions are needed to generate a new synapse in the brain, unless it is done with the GAME, in the case that only about 10-20 repetitions are needed".

Dr. Karin Purvis.