Creating a buzz, video game design & more
Here's some Skill Acquisition content for you to explore over the weekend. I hope you enjoy it!
Before getting into this weeks newsletter I want to wish everyone a happy new year and thank you all for your support.
Over the last few months I’ve been a bit erratic with sending out the newsletter and one of my resolutions for this year is to get back to consistently posting. For the first few weeks of the year I’m going to send it out every second week before getting back to a weekly edition.
This week at a sconce
Research Insight: Using Principles of Video Games Design in Coaching
Podcast Snip: Giving the players the chance to drive the car
Quote: Laughter and Fun
Resource: Complex not Complicated
Tweet: Overview of Video Game Design Principles
Research Insight for Coaches
“Learning by Design”: What Sports Coaches Can Learn From Video Game Designs (Robertson et al., 2021)
This paper gives an excellent insight into how coaches can harness the power of the principles of ‘Video Game Design’ to create engaging and effective practice environments. Video Games are designed to be engaging and by using some of these principles we can make our own sessions more engaging for our players. The paper gives practical examples and insights into how coaches can benefit from integrating these principles into their coaching practice. The principles not only promote athlete engagement and motivation but also enhance problem-solving skills and support the development of ‘intelligent performers’. There are 13 Key Principles and I’ve shared a graphic in the ‘Tweet’ section of the newsletter that gives a list of these that you can save.
Here are my 5 Key Takeaways from the paper;
I need to start introducing more elements of co-design and customisation in practice. The will need to start off a bit structured. Even simple things like giving choices over where they start etc. -The way that we chose to introduce elements of co-design to our sessions is really important. I usually start by ‘directed choice’. This is where I give a choice between two options that I think would benefit the player. For example, giving a choice what type of modified tennis balls they would like to use for the warm up.
Giving an identity to the ‘team’ or player can help to shape their intentions. A player that is a finisher when attacking may look for more opportunities to display this behaviour.-This is really nice way for coaches to set intentions for players during a task. I really like using things like giving the player the identity of a player that they might admire.
The coach designs problems and the solutions will emerge. I don’t tell them how to solve the problems. While I may have an idea of what possible solutions may emerge the players may come up with unique ways to solve the problem. If they are struggling I can guide them towards possible solutions- The coach will often act as a ‘problem setter’ rather than a ‘solution giver’. A coach can carefully manipulate constraints that may help them solve the problem. Sometimes it can be necessary to give solutions, but coaches need to make an informed decision on whether that is right decision.
I want my players to be experiencing small levels of frustration with some of the tasks. Make sure that they are being sufficiently challenged in practice and include activities that are just outside their capabilities.- When we experience a pleasantly frustrating problem, we are much more likely to persist and get satisfaction from figuring it out. These are the type of problems we are hoping to design for our player’s during our sessions.
Make sure that the players you are working with are playing against lots of different types of players. -This is important to help players develop the ability to adapt. You can also manipulate players to play in a certain way by changing constraints or giving the player another identity as mentioned above
As always, if you liked to dive into the paper a bit more here is my more detailed breakdown of the paper
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Podcast Snip:
This clip is probably the best way that I’ve heard the concept of co-design explained in a simple way. The coach should maintain a grip on how training activities are designed, while also giving the athletes the opportunity to have input and occasionally take charge of the process. The analogy of a parent allowing their child to choose what they want to eat, where they would likely pick McDonald's every time, effectively highlights the need for directed choice and occasional delegation of decision-making
https://share.snipd.com/snip/db84dc22-294a-40c9-899f-8bd9099e1db4
Quote
“Something to be discovered in all the best cultures and teams I’ve visited is that there’s laughter and fun present. Their leaders understand the importance of creating an environment that promotes collaboration and high energy”-Allistair McCaw
The importance of laughter and fun during sessions is really important. The best ‘cultures’ embrace it, but it’s something that can be absent from a lot of sessions. I love to get a session off to a good start by incorporating this into the warm up. ‘Creating a buzz’ is a nice way to think about going about creating this during your sessions-credit here to Ian Renshaw.
https://twitter.com/AllistairMcCaw/status/1745788151296110925
Resource:
Complex not Complicated
This resource is highly recommended for individuals interested in Skill Acquisition. Alex consistently delivers exceptional content through her newsletter, Twitter, and 'Spaces' chats, where she skillfully breaks down complex concepts into easily understandable pieces. It is guaranteed not to disappoint, so be sure to stay tuned for upcoming videos and updates.
Tweet:
Overview of Video Game Design Principles
This is a thread that I did that goes through the ‘Video Game Design Paper almost two years ago now. The graphic might be handy for coaches to save to keep some of the principles fresh in the mind.
https://x.com/Mr_Tennis_Coach/status/1497263037035778053?s=20