Games Lead Approach

Games Lead Approach

Using the games lead approach within coaching allows the coach to use different shapes of play within a specific sport that influences play. This is also using to look at the different behaviors that you see within your players, as a result mainly to improve performance by practices in a realistic situation. 

This way of teaching is good because it helps the mental side of sport, thinking about how, what and why we use the different shapes of play. The task that you are on you can introduce constraints into your sporting practice that could affect the behaviors of the participants. 

Also within team sporting the games approach drills can also improve the team's cohesion and there moral therefore the team's communication will be stronger as a result their performance improves. 

You can also bring in technical tips within the games lead approach, for example a tennis deep forehand the tactic would be hit the ball to put your opponent under pressure and the technique would be to increase length of your swing and the speed. Professional coaches would always use this way of coaching use e.g. football players already developed the way how to pass and shoot it's about use different shapes of play and constraints to put it into practice.

Weaknesses of the games lead approach is that sometimes as a coach when doing the drill the coach may not usually coach just set up the drill and players may not get any feedback therefore the participants lose focus.  At participation level there may be a mix ability of players so as a coach you may need to adapt the drill for each participation but sometimes this is tricky within the games approach.  

The picture shows the three main aspects of constraints which are: task, performer and the environment.