It is a wonderful time to be involved in sport however there does seem to be some major differences in approach in the UK and abroad.  Standing at the side of a high school football game with 2000 people was a bit odd since it is unheard of in the UK.  The approach that testing and measurements are key and that each individual strives to be the best they can be regardless of stature are stark contrast to my experience in the UK  particularly in schools.  On more than one occasion I have been told that scores and times encourage elitism and leave the weaker behind.  Is this not the case in the real world?

Funnily enough our local MP when asked about a multi million pound sports village to be built in rural Worcester had a similar opinion in that it would not benefit the community.  In aspects of understanding British culture he may well be correct as are we actually motivated to achieve or mollycoddled into a sense of averageness?

The can  do attitude of the American people could do us all a favour in the UK in times of difficulty.  Do we simply look for someone to blame or find the solution?  Hotspot and Games Education are in the mind set of striving to be the best when it comes to our sport and training.  If you want to achieve in sport whether it is getting fitter, playing pro or in my case getting a free education in the states on a scholarship you have to put the time and effort in from a young age..like it or not!  Going back to the sports village what better way to motivate the local community to achieve than providing an opportunity to succeed?  Ok, so I have a had a little rant and in all honesty it is a free following dialogue that is just putting some thoughts out there.  I would love to hear back from anyone who reads this with there opinions on things raised in this rant and check back for more thoughts and feelings.

hope all is good…and make it count!

ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY FOR SPORT www.gameseducation.co.uk

HotSpot Training

Mission / Vision

Games Education believes that technology can be made readily available to all levels and arenas of sport and should not only be for the elite. Games Education suggest that in order to produce champions or even people who can enjoy sport and all that it offers to life, we must train and teach our young people as professionals. We must install good work ethic, motivate and enhance skill sets in order to allow maximum participation and increase the talent pool. Games Education’s Hot Spot training system can allow just that by bringing accurate timing and data collection alongside a completely flexible product to add the 3rd dimension of coaching that is currently missing.

Train the Brain, Train the Body.

Technique develops overtime alongside the physical and mental development of the athlete. Young athletes will practice closed skills specific to the sport they are learning in isolation but the real test of to what degree the skill has been acquired is being able to reproduce efficient technique in a game or pressure situation. This inevitably involves movement and a high degree of movement capability will make for efficient game play. Essentially technical efficiency will be limited by the degree of movement skill and general fitness.

A tennis player can accurately direct a backhand to all areas of the court at a certain pace/spin/flight of an incoming ball. The next step for the coach and player in looking to improve the backhand to reach the next level of performance is to push the player’s technique until it breaks. This could involve a greater pace/spin/flight of ball to increase difficulty and/or introduce a physical element that creates a pressure situation.

The HotSpot training system allows not only the physical element to be measured but also in physical activities that involve game specific skill. The time or score recorded by the HotSpot system directly relates to the technical efficiency of the player.

In the same way one might isolate a game specific skill the HotSpot training system can be used to train a particular movement pattern and/or some specific movement within a pattern.

Coaching / Teaching model

Skills can be broken down in to fundamental aspects that can be practised in isolation and incorporated into the game. When the skill is in a game situation and having to contend with external variables and game related pressures the players true acquisition of the skill can be observed. Most games / sports have a considerable movement and physical component that directly affects the player’s ability to execute the skill.

Games Education believes that in the same way a skill can be decompiled, so can the movement patterns associated with the skill and the game. The HotSpot training system allows movement activities to be accurately quantified in a variety of ways, allowing development to be monitored and as a result improvement to be ensured. Progression of movement based drills to incorporate sports or game specific skills can also be quantified and once again improvement of a skill in a more relevant game situation can be measured. Adding the element of time and fatigue to a skill can simulate the game and associated mental and physical pressures and is therefore a more true representation of the player’s current skill acquisition.

In essence movement and game specific skill can be trained alongside one another, enhancing the player’s understanding and preparing them for the actual game.

Areas of Use

Fitness/Conditioning

The HotSpot system will allow general fitness exercises such as shuttle runs to be measured and the athlete’s progress to be monitored. Accurate data collection will allow general fitness to be measured and improvement monitored. Immediate feedback can act as a performance indicator for there and then measurements and can provide the motivation needed to maximise sessions.

Introduction of resistance can enhance a player’s movement ability. Use of resistance bands, speed chutes, bungee cords and weighted vest’s coupled with the precision and accuracy of the Hotspot system makes for purposeful and highly intensive training.

Complementing the use of the HotSpot system and strength training techniques such as suspended body weight training can provided for a complete strength and conditioning program.

Sports specific movement development

There are a whole variety of movement patterns that commonly occur within a sport or game that can be trained in isolation. In the same way a sport specific skill such as the forehand shape is broken down into teachable parts, specific movement and footwork patterns required for the game can also be broken down and analysed.

The HotSpot system can be utilised to train a specific pattern related to the game as the pods can be positioned to achieve the desired practice. The positioning of the pods can also be altered as the player becomes more competent as to increase the difficulty or introduce a related situation. The player may also take control of the drills by positioning the pods themselves. This allows the player to gain ownership of their training.

The data feedback from the system will inform on current performance and can be collected to demonstrate progress and improvement. This idea is based on taking a game situation and replicating the movement required. Incorporation of the coaching model will allow rapid development of the athlete in terms of the player’s ability to cope within the game.

Incorporation of skill

This is really an extension or progression from sports specific movement development. However, the skill that is to be incorporated maybe a fundamental skill such as throwing and catching and is inherently a part of a vast number of sports. Alternatively the skill could be something more specific such as a controlling and passing a ball.

In the pressures and ever changing environment of games and sports players are required to perform efficient technique in a variety of situations. This could be turning a bad pass into a good pass or last minute adjustment before executing a stroke and at the heart of this is good fundamental movement and footwork skills.

Incorporating a skill element such as, receiving and sending a ball into a movement pattern can effectively simulate game play. Similarly introducing pressures such as defenders can also make a drill more realistic to the game.

The HotSpot system can be utilised as a means of applying additional pressure to a drill by having the athlete move and execute skills repetitively whilst contending with the timing element.

The data can then directly translate into a measure of the technical efficiency the player has of that skill. As the player fatigues or loses focus the movement will suffer and so will the execution of the skill. The pods only communicate when they are hit and so there is a high degree of movement skill required alongside good execution of the skill. As the execution of the skill becomes affected the player’s ability to move effectively will suffer further. This will be directly represented in the score or time achieved by the player and is therefore a measure of both movement efficiency and skill execution. This gives a more realistic view as to how the player will react in the game.

Skill Development

This area has indirectly been covered in the previous section but now there is more emphasis on a specific skill. Take for example, controlling a first time pass back to a teammate. The game requires a player to be able to pass first time whilst moving at speed towards to ball.

The HotSpot system can create a situation where the player is put under physical pressure and is required to execute a given number of passes. A single pod or a combination of pods is placed as a recovery and a simple pattern of movement. The player must execute the skill in a particular area and then recover and move through the designated pattern. A player is required to either achieve a given number of skill executions or execute as many as possible in a given time.

Scores and times will again be directly related to the execution of the skill. In the above example if the player passes poorly the ball will have to be retrieved or the feeding player will not be able to control the ball and this will affect the score or time.