Tactical training is an area in which coaches really have to rely on their instincts and creativity. They can really have fun with tactics because there is no limit to what they can do and use, and there is certainly no limit to how they can teach them. More often than not, drills are well-thought out before they are used. They are developed to teach movement patterns, to practice offensive and defensive plays and also to solve specific problems directly on the ice, on the court or on the field.
Between technical training or the whole combination training, I think there has to be a link. How do I link it is an interesting question. I had a talk with a younger coach who had just stopped by the library for a book of drills. To me that is a foreign concept because you do not need a good book of drills. You need to use your imagination and picture what happened in the game, and then design a drill that is going to work on the particular problem. (FH4) One coach likes to spontaneously create drills on the court when he encounters a problem. He is not the only one involved in this process; his athletes are included in the decision-making right there on the floor. Thus drills are not always all pre-packaged; some are instantaneously created.
I think about the game a lot. I don't have any drills, I create drills. I see a problem on the floor, I will create something right there and then do it. Our offense is pretty conceptual in the sense that the kids have to make decisions. They have sequences, they have principles that they abide by, but they make the decisions on the floor. (BB3) We often can only learn through our mistakes and this is so true in the world of coaching. A big part of coaching is done through trial and error experimentation. There is no guarantee that a particular strategy or technique is going to work but to become successful, coaches have to set up a great variety of game situations and find the best possible way to get things done. In many cases, they are continuously making new guesses of what will work. They also have to keep in mind that a particular strategy might work with one individual or with one team and not work with the next, or that a drill will work on one day but not on the next because athletes are just too exhausted and cannot concentrate well. Expert coaches sometimes create drills off the top of their heads, realizing that they will not always work. Yet they are still adamant about trying them out.
For further information on drills, see Chapter 4 of Great Job Coach!
