Decision Making

I'm currently doing a G.A.A. tutor training course in Ireland. The course is run over four weekends, in Maynooth College. Last weekend we reviewed the Level 1 syllabus and touched upon the area of decision making. The debate was lengthy and the master tutors said it was one of the trickiest modules to deliver because of the difficulties in nailing down practical examples of how to develop it.

As referenced recently, we had planned an intra-club league over the winter but player numbers have turned this into weekly head to head battles. One of the things we can't do enough of during the year is play full pitch games so this is a great opportunity to give lads more match practice and for them to learn how to cope with different situations in a match scenario. In summary, it can help improve our decision making.

There have been two main positives from the first two games. The first is that it has brought back in some guys who had drifted. Hieler, Bobby, Pat Barrett, Will, Alan Rowan, Deccie are a few lads who we hadn't seen much of during the 2011 season.

The second positive is that fellas automatically fell straight back into the style of play which we had in the latter part of the year, without prompting from me. This confirms that it is now engrained in the mindset and when we restart training in February we can look to build and improve on it, rather than having to spend time relearning it. The new/returning lads are also beginning to learn it and that will benefit them and the team when the new season arrives.

Of course, just because it is off season doesn't mean lads shouldn't use the opportunity to improve themselves. I'm currently reading 'Patriot Reign'. It's a book that tells the story of Bill Belicheck's early years in charge of the New England Patriots when he brought a very unfancied 'franchise' to Super Bowl success and onwards to create a bit of a dynasty in New England.

In the book, it mentions a meeting at the start of one season. He starts his address by telling the group that there is not one person in the room who cannot improve in the coming season, including himself. It's a simple and apparently obvious statement but not something we necessarily think about every time we step out on the pitch. It applies to everybody in every situation. Sometimes the stronger players get into a comfort zone because within the group they get the most plaudits and as a result feel they are doing enough. You can always improve but it's up to the individual to challenge himself to improve.

Back to the decision making point. To focus the minds, we just identified two improvement points for last night’s game. The first was to shoot more, as it is something we didn't do enough of last year. The second was to sharpen our passing as last week we gave very loose passes that weren't directly to the man and we turned over a load of possession as the ball skidded away on the surface.

The tricky bit for me is to keep my mouth shut and let guys have the freedom to make their own decisions. You have to hope by doing so they will see what works best most often and what doesn't. For example, some guys went for shots from outside their range or from tricky angles. You'd expect that next week, fellas would have learned, understand their range of kicking and make the right decision.

Relating to the passing, we pointed out after one of the 'quarters' that we were turning over a high percentage of balls with long kick passes. We showed only marginal improvement afterwards but the purpose of these games is not to continuously bang the drum. Again, guys need to think about their own game, figure out what they are strong at and make sure they play to those strengths. With that said, you also need to improve the weaker aspects of your game and by not ranting and raving (too much!) when kick passes go astray, it gives lads the freedom to find out by themselves.

The key to it all is what Belicheck said to his players; we can all improve. You must approach any game or training with that mindset and then you will reap the reward through continuous reflection and adjustment.