Research Summaries Research summary 32 Moving to Games Sense | Page 2

Moving to Game Sense – One Coach’s Story

Introduction
This research investigated how a community Australian
football coach (let’s call him Chris) adopted the ‘Game
Sense’ approach to coaching. Australian football is
described as ‘a high intensity intermittent movement
sport’ where ‘configurations of play emerge, dissolve,
transform and reconfigure moment by moment’. The
game is inherently variable, and adaptability among
players is essential.

To Chris, what he read and was told about Game Sense
fitted in to how he thought about the game. He saw this
as a chance to move away from a ‘traditional’ approach
to one that suited what he saw on the field of play.

Chris’s idea of ‘traditional’ coaching was when techniques
were progressively developed through coach
demonstration/explanation followed by practice. He was
breaking down technique into small parts and showing
his players how to put it back together again. Such an
ordered, production-line technique did not correspond
with what happened during the dynamic, complex
matches. Chris felt his current coaching was unable to
give his players the complexity of decision making and
flexibility of movement required – and Game Sense
seemed to be the answer.

The Game Sense approach

As it developed in the 1990s, the differences between the
more common type of coaching and Game Sense started
to emerge more clearly. Rather than see player
development as a linear process of ‘learn technique then
play’, the Game Sense approach regarded these as
complementary – they happened at the same time.This
was especially evident in coaches’ session plans where
drills and instruction were replaced by game play mixed
with questions and answers.This also required a change in
coaching style towards more of a facilitation role, guiding
players to solve problems, rather than providing the
answer directly.

However, the history of Game Sense does not match the
neat thinking behind the theory. Reviews in rugby league
and Australian football found it has made limited impact,
especially at community level. Reviews of games-based
approaches (Game Sense and others such as Teaching
Games for Understanding) have found the shift in practice
required for coaches has made it difficult to implement. It
challenges their depth of understanding, their ability to act
as facilitator rather than director, and questioning skills. In
addition, the planning process for sessions can be daunting
and often leads to just playing games while neglecting skill
development. Many of these were evident in the story of
Chris as he tried to change his coaching style.

© Lee Smith/Action Images Limited

In the early 1990s, the Australian hockey coach Rick
Charlesworth mentioned Game Sense as a player
development tool within the concept of ‘designer games’.
This would integrate technical, tactical and fitness training
into a match-like context, with the coach acting as the
facilitator who allows players to think through solutions.