Repetition, Technique, Barcelona and Differential Learning

Repetition is important, right?  How else do athletes develop that perfect stroke that works in all environments?  How does Michael Jordan  have that perfect form even when off balance?  How does Messi chip the goalie moving at all speeds both left and right?   But, according to  an exciting new and revolutionary learning theory called DIFFERENTIAL LEARNING, these athletes did not develop through repitition but through the cultivation of superior  body listening skills (or cognitive perception) and because of it have developed a higher level of movement adaptability (cognitive flexibilty).  The best sport movements are not grooved through repetition-- just the opposite...

 
Differential Learning is a new teaching that focuses on creating "Cognitive Flexibility," by challenging the player to decipher complex messages through the introduction of  kinestetic "noise."  It's counter-intuitive and yet, it makes sense, and when you take a second look at why and how it works it's easy to see why the most successful and influential youth clubs have adopted it to great results.

“The idea is that there is no repetition of drills, no correction and players are encouraged not to think about what has gone wrong if they have made a mistake,” explained Professor Wolfgang Schoellhorn of Mainz University, an expert in kinesiology and a pioneer of Differential Learning."

This, of course, runs counter to the instincts of every coach. If you are not correcting or fixing mistakes, what is a coach to do? This coaching may not be appropriate at all age groups, as younger players definitely need to master the proper technique to improve as players. However, for beginners and as technique improves, allowing mistakes and constantly challenging players with new drills furthers the players’ learning more than doing the same drills over and over.

“Players have to take responsibility,” Schoellhorn added. “They have to be creative and take responsibility and have to find the optimal solution. It’s a whole philosophy.

When coaches answer all the questions, they take the responsibility and limit players creativity. Coaches who create novel learning environments, encourage mistakes and give players  responsibility for their learning develop better decision-makers through their more creative or novel approaches and better cognitive-perceptual skills.


2 KEYS TO THE THEORY:
1) There is no perfect technique because the technique is always different and changing.  For instance, Chistiano Ronaldo would be a good model in copying perfect shooting technique, the problem is CR does not shoot exactly the same way twice.  Ball movement, wind, grass, shoes, everything basically, forces him to slightly change the shot each time, he never shoots the same way twice. Since there is no perfect technique it is useless to pursue.  Instead the theory instead focuses on building the  "Listening Skills," around the objective movements.

2) Adaptability is more important that perfect.

"All techniques are Darwinian. Meaning, every skill is like an ecosystem filled with competing techniques. Weak techniques disappear; strong techniques thrive; refinement never ends."  --Daniel Coyle "The Talent Code"

Because Technique is changing the ability to adapt and try out new methods becomes more important. A good example is CR's new the new knuckle ball technique. The modern high level soccer ball that is lighter and allows CR to create dip and swerve.  But try this technique with a 1978 leather "Tango" Ball and the shot flies 12 meters over the goal.  Talk to anyone who was brought up learning ground strokes with a wooden tennis racket--those long and fluid, eastern grip stokes focused more on flat drives. Yet today the composite rackets with larger heads allow strokes that can provide violent spins, with extreme western grips and open body stance. If a player focuses only one the stroke, he is stuck in the 1960's, if the player was messing around, mastering lots of movements with the racket, spins, a large variety of of tennis "noise" is created from which you must extract the useful.  This extraction at the appropriate time, the ability to chose and then execute the appropriate movement seems to be the key skill and the secret to Differential Learning Technique.

2 KEY QUESTIONS ASKED BY THE ATHLETE
1) Cognitive perception: what is my body doing andf what is the outcome?
2)Cognitive flexibility: how can I change the movement to create the desired outcome?
Studies in shooting a soccer ball using differential Technique have shown to be more effective then tradition  techniques.    (download the PDF)

HOW TO TEACH:
Coaches provide lots of different variation around the objectives.  A coach focusing on free trow shooting for example, would get better results by NEVER having kids shoot free throws, but instead shooting from all other areas, using odd objects, like tennis balls, medicine balls, different level hoops, sitting down, backward etc.

All this sounds like messing around, appears like play doesn't it?  (Perhaps this is another key--but that's another blog).

Three top academies are using Professor  Schoellhorn ideas: Michael Bruniniykx of Standard Liege, F.C. Barcelona, and Joy of the People :)

If the best and most entertaining football team in the world is using Differential Learning, shouldn't you?  As you watch them play you see their ability to read the play, make decisions and play creatively. Do you see the same in the players that you coach or train? If not, how can you change your approach to stimulate better learning and more cognitive flexibility on the field?

No mistakes, only learning, listen to your body. Adapt. Invent. Enjoy!

Give it a try.

Finishers are made, not born, here's how

change the ball, change the surface

An interesting thing happened one day. It was hot, mid nineties and humid. Outside we placed a large sheet of canvas, put goals on them kept the hose running and the kids cooled down on a splash court. As the kids filtered back inside the gym they stayed barefoot. The game going on was a pick up game of 7 v 7 in the gym to futsal goals (3 x 2 meters) with a soft play practice volleyball. This ball is very soft, it is very safe, and the kids had discovered perhaps the most surprising teaching moment of my career.

We have all seen it, the kid who breaks away through three defenders, facing the goalie they drill a perfect strike right into the the keeper's belly button. So this lefty, faster than a jungle cat, broke free and nailed that play volleyball at a good 50 mph right...into the smiling face of a six year old.

For a second I was worried. But the 6 year old was smiling even larger now, he had just made a save vs the best shooter in the gym.

"Finishing can't be taught," this is coaches speak for "I have no idea how to teach it."  Current methods  put kids in situations to replicate the situation, and pare down the decision making process "Low to the far post, high to the near post." We train functionally, with pressure, with loading, conditionally, and still the highest level of skill in players, putting the ball in the net, remains a general mystery.

So the lefty turned the corner again, this time he took something off, but he still pinged it, the little 6 yer old stayed active and went for it, deflecting it away at the last second.

The gym went crazy, this goalie was hot!

Now the lefty comes again, but this time he saw the keeper cutting off the angle, a very soft chip. The six year old, slow to recognize the vector backpedaled late, the ball dropped just over both arms outstretched, no chance to jump the 6 year old picked the ball still smiling...he know it took a great finish to beat him.

In a "Finishing environment" their are two antagonists, the keeper and the attacker. Perfect learning situations involve simple to complex game theory.  It starts out with the very rudimentary "I am just hitting this as hard as I can." 99 percent of our players are in this category.  But to progress you need the problem to progress. In typical systems the keeper is the variable.  Most teams have one keeper who does only a so so job of staying active as players are in close, they are too smart and don't feel like getting hurt with a size five ball from five meters into their stomach.  Certainely they can not keep this up for the hours and hours required for a player to repeat lots of chances.  On top of that keepers at  9-12 years old they are not keeper sufficient enough to require anything but a mediocre finish to guarantee that the ball goes into the net. 

So at the wheelhouse of learning U7-U13, We don't have situations real enough to reward high level finishing.

This is where the ball came in.  It made every keeper great. Even a six year old stays active at the final finishing moment.  This requires the shooter to present a better solution in order to solve the finishing problem, not just any shot will suffice, it has to be finished, and with this ball, that is what the kids do they chip, tuck, slide, power, roof, drag, back heel, rainbow, to get the ball into the net.  They are becoming finishers.

Kids are smart...here is a good example of them teaching us.  I could easily have commanded that a regular or futsal ball was used that day in the gym. They wanted to use that ball to learn something more!  They knew before I did, though they could not articulate it, they understood that this ball would teach them finishing.

So my great learning moment was not how the ball helped to create finishers, but how the environment helps come up with the right questions.  Without those questions there are no great answers, no genius, no invention.

Three  lessons:  1) get a ball like this, it's fun and the kids love it. Then collect as many different balls you can and see what is learned from them.  2) let kids pick the ball rules and parameters of the game. They are smarter then we are.. 3) The environment is everything, mess with it, have fun with it, take care of it.