A Tactical Games Approach to Teaching Sport Skills

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A Tactical Games Approach to Teaching Sport
Skills
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Why use a tactical approach?

• Critics of traditional teaching of sports games
  in physical education argue that sports are
• Elitist - focus is on the higher skilled
• Overly competitive - winning and losing is
  emphasis excessively
• Do not promote health and fitness - active
  participation is low for most participants

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In Traditional Teaching Approaches

• Skill development is not apparent during game
  play because skills have been taught in isolation
  outside of their tactical context.

In Tactical Teaching Approaches
Skills and tactics are linked by emphasizing the
proper timing of skill practice and skill
application within the tactical context of the
game.
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• Tactical awareness, critical to game
  performance, is the ability to identify tactical
  problems that arise during a game and to select
  the appropriate responses to solve them.

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Rationale for a Tactical Approach

• Greater interest and excitement
• Better understanding of game play
• Improved ability to play games

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Interest Excitement

• Research has shown that tudents find the tactical
  approach motivational and teachers prefer to use
  it as a way to teach games.

• Traditional approach is technical and focuses on
  answering the question, How is this skill
  performed?
• Skills are taught before students understand
  their significance in a game.
• Drills lead students to ask, Why are we doing
  this? and When can we play the game?
• Skilled students perceive isolated drills to be
  irrelevant.

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Better Understanding of Game Play

• If your students do not understand the game,
  their ability to identify the correct technique
  for a situation is impaired
• An increased understanding of games achieved
  through teaching for tactical awareness, will
  empower students to solve the problems that game
  situations pose more easily and skillfully.

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Improved Ability to Play Games
A tactical approach may provide your students
with carryover for understanding from one game to
another For example, tactical problems in
soccer, hockey, and basketball are similar.
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Classification System for Games
Invasion Net/Wall Fielding/Run Scoring Target
Basketball Netball Team handball Water polo Soccer Hockey Lacrosse Rugby Football Ultimate frisbee Badminton Tennis Table tennis Pickleball Volleyball Squash Baseball Softball Rounders Cricket Golf Bowling Croquet Lawns bowls Pool Billiards Snooker
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Rationale for Tactical Games Approach Summarized

• Greater interest and excitement for all students
  especially those of lower abilities
• Improvements in tactical knowledge help to
  improve game performance of skills
• Deeper understanding of game play helps students
  to transfer skills to new situations and other
  games

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Tactical Games Teaching

• Allows for individualization if students are
  presented with more complex tactical solutions
• Uses small-sided games to expose students to
  specific tactical problems
• Requires careful posing of questions from
  teachers to stimulate critical thinking and
  problem solving

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Tactical Games Teaching cont.

• Should start from a game form modified to
  represent the advanced form that poses a tactical
  problem and stimulates students to think
  tactically
• Students must be challenged to think
• What do I need to do to succeed in this
  situation?
• How will I perform the necessary skills?

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Tactical Teaching Approach Summary

• Consider the tactical problems to address during
  your unit and decide on the complexity of
  solutions to these problems
• Within each lesson students practice skill
  development after they have experienced a game
  form that presents a tactical problem requiring
  use of that skill

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Tactical Teaching Approach Summary cont.

• Make the link between the initial modified game
  and skill practice through your questions - the
  quality of these questions is critical
• After practicing the skills give your students
  the opportunity to apply their improved skills
  and tactical understanding in a game

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Questions?

• For more information read
• Griffin, L.L., Mitchell, S. A., Oslin, J.L.
  (1997). Teaching sport concepts and skills A
  tactical games approach. Champaign, IL Human
  Kinetics