Whilst the Golden Thread is a guide, there are a number of elements that are important for coaches to create effective learning environments. Key aspects of developing highlyskilled players are motivational climate, questioning and practice design, which is through the more fun, decison-rich activities that are representative of the game, and less repeitive drills.
Games or game-like activity should be an essential focus of each training session, rather than an aspect of the session just played at the end.
This allows players to develop skills,‘ game sense’, and an understanding of the rules and tactics to play really good hockey. However, we’ re not delivering game-like activities for game’ s sake.
The skill of the coach is to identify the skill-related problem( area for development) and then think creatively about the best way to exaggerate the problem and create high volumes of repetition in a variable, game-like environment- think of it as‘ repetition without repetition’!
When delivering these sessions, the role of the coach is to be a facilitator, who optimises learning in open environments where players feel valued and actively participate in their own learning through‘ selfdiscovery’.
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