What talent developers can learn from farmers...

This is Jason Williams, he plays in the NBA for the Miami Heat. I saw this video on YouTube and was blown away. Not just because of the techniques he displays and his obvious ability but also because of the tremendous awareness he shows to be able to make some of the passes that he makes. People would look at this stuff and call it flashy and unnecessary, I would argue that they just don't understand the skill that is involved and they don't understand how this kind of unique mind works and how they see the world.

I decided to look into his backstory a little and discovered that he has the sort of story that we have come to expect from this kind of prodigious player. he came from humble beginnings, had a problem with authority, made a lot of bad choices and has probably underachieved as a result.

As the blog 'Jockbio' tells us...

"A combustible mix of high-maintenance personality and hi-test talent, he went through schools, teams and coaches faster than halfcourt traps—until he found love and success in Miami. For most of his hoops career, Jason embodied one of basketball’s most perplexing questions: Why make the easy play when you can spin 360 degrees and throw a behind-the-back no-look pass? Why indeed?"

It resonates with so many stories that I hear about talented players and it brings me back to a recurring theme that I talk about all of the time.

How often do we see players with amazing ability, struggle because they are unable to cope with the challenges presented by their environment off the court? What if we could give them the tools to manage themselves in that environment earlier? Could we then turbo charge their abilities?

The irony is that kids from more privileged backgrounds grow up surrounded by the sort of guidance that is necessary to thrive as an elite sportsperson but often they don't have the ability or the hunger to do what it takes to make it. While those with the ability and the drive don't get that kind of support and as a result they are ill equipped for this kind of life and can behave in ways that restrict their development and they don't become as good as their ability.

As my good friend Jamie Edwards from 'Trained Brain' will often say, "it's like asking these kids to climb Everest wearing nothing but a pack-a-mac...they just aren't equipped for the journey".

So many of these amazing athletes fall by the way side...that might be OK if you have enough talent coming through the system...the cream rises to the top as they say.

But if you have a small talent pool, you can't afford to lose players with ability like this. You have to find a way to support them and guide them. You have to give them access to people with the ability to create environments that are going to allow these types players to become their best...and as Mark O'Sullivan has written about on his excellent blog...you have to give it to as many as possible for as long as possible.

This is a resourcing issue for some, they assume that they have to have loads more athletes in various stages of the talent pathway and it will cost a lot.

This is limited thinking, it is based on the flawed assumption that more will equal better... like a farmer who thinks that if they buy a load more seeds then the quality of the crops will be better (or at least some of the crops will be good enough and the ones that are will make up for the ones that are lost).

But what if they invested in the farmer?

Invest in the farmer that can nurture the crops and create the environment for more of them to thrive and protect them from bugs and parasites so that some of the ones who would otherwise perish are able to become strong and productive.

If we provide the right support and training to the people at the centre of the developmental journey then for a relatively small investment we can see this returned to us multiple times through the athletes that they guide and produce.

But when I look at many talent systems and pathways I just don't see this. I see most of the resources going into funding the activity and a relatively small amount going into investing in the people at the centre of the activity.

And the further down the pathway you go...the more acute the issue becomes.

This is why talented athletes often refer to themselves as 'lucky' that they met someone who guided them on the journey who had the skill to give them the tools....

If only there were more of these people out there...then it would be less about luck and more about inspired planning and well thought out talent development investment.

Maybe one day people will understand that investing in the talent coach is a far better long term investment than investing in more of the same activity for a chosen few.

Maybe....

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More surprises from the gamified garden

In my previous post I explained how I experimented with constraints to see if I could help my son to develop his ability to hit a cricket ball to different areas and develop some different shots.

In this post I wanted to share how I tried something similar with my 4 year old daughter Isla...with surprising results.

My daughter is 3.5 years younger than her brother so when she wants to come and play cricket with us we have to adjust the game so that she can play. I bowl under arm to her from much closer and also bowl slower so that she can hit the ball more easily. She is pretty impressive in the way that she can judge the bounce of the ball and she does hit the ball pretty well.

But like her brother (and most young kids) she always wants to hit the ball baseball style across her body to her left.

Now she is only 4 and I don't expect her to be able to develop technique and I wouldn't do that anyway. But I did think it would be interesting to see what happened if I gave her the same challenge as her brother and take away the option of her being able to hit the ball to her left and only hit the ball to her right.

In this scenario I didn't do any modelling I just wanted to see what she would do..

I made this video to show you the process she went through and the way she chose to solve the problem for herself.

I was fascinated...she just played the same shot but the other way. That was the way she chose to solve the problem.

It is interesting that this method is now being adopted by T20 players as a means to get maximums over the off side of the field as pioneered by a certain Mr Pietersen,

I was fascinating watching her refine the technique all on her own. At the start it was a direct switch hit but after a few unsuccessful attempts she was going for more of a reverse ramp shot!

I could have taught her the 'proper way' but she came up with something else.

I think I might let her carry on and see how she gets on!

It is magic giving kids problems and seeing how they go about solving them!

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The joy (and the power) of experimenting in the 'gamified garden'

I like to think of my back garden is a lab in which I conduct experiments in skill acquisition...

My experimental methods are backyard games...

My children are the lab rats!

So here is a story about my latest experiment...

My little boy Evan is 8 years old and he is mad about cricket. He's not fussed about watching it (he doesn't know who Alistair Cook is and has no concept of what scoring 10,000 test runs would be like!) but he loves to play.

Almost every day he asks to play and most days I am only too happy to indulge him and his 4 year old little sister Isla (although she always has to bat first and then has a massive strop when she gets out and storms off).

We have been playing off and on for the past 2 years or so. He has a plastic bat and we play with either tennis balls or plastic 'wind balls' which bounce a bit lower and are better for development.

One of the interesting things for me has been watching his technique develop with me giving him hardly any instruction.

We play games, a lot of games...

We have loads of them...

"Pressure 6"

"12 balls"

"Runner runner"

the latest one we called...

"Maker's name"...

Evan has developed a really effective 'pull shot' (a shot which he hits to his left in a baseball style for those that aren't into cricket). But the problem is that he wants to hit it every tine and their are times when the ball is in the wrong position to play that shot and him trying to play would get him out which was frustrating for him.

The problem is that he is a product of his environment...in this case and 'L' shaped garden.

Let me explain...

This is what our garden looks like...

The diagram (hopefully) shows that the best place for even to score his runs is to his left towards the patio. If he hits it straight then there is a chance that I will run him out or I will catch him out. So hitting to his left means that he can always score and is pretty safe from being run out.

I have been trying to get him to play other shots by bowling the ball in a spot to see if he would work out a way to adjust on his own. I have asked him questions about whether the pull shot is the right shot all the time. I have tried modelling a lot of other shots when it has been his turn to bowl but he always seemed pretty keen on hitting that pull shot.

So I got all 'Dr Frankenstein' on him and decided to do some experiments...

The ingredients that I used when mixing my experimental concoction were game constraints in the shape of rules, restrictions, targets and scoring.

First I said that he could get 6 points for hitting the ball over the fence over my head (previously it had been 6 and out!)

Next I gave 4 points for hitting the ball through the A frame of the swings or under the trampoline. Previously they were just runs.

Then I said that he didn't have to run if he hit the ball (previously we played that you had to run if you hit the ball which meant that he could get run out if he hit it straight back at me)

Then I said that he couldn't hit the ball to his left. If he did he was out.

And finally I showed him a shot where he presented the face of the bat towards the bowler and held the finish. I described this as showing the bowler the 'Maker's name' on the front of the bat. If he showed me the 'maker's name' then he got 10 bonus points.

He started playing shots on the other side of his body and trying to make contact to get the ball at the new targets. He had a bit of success and he also struggled a bit. I modelled a couple of times for him and reminded him of the makers name concept.

And then the constraint based 'chemicals mixed' in the just the right way...

BOOM!

If he didn't smash the next ball over by head for 6, hold the finish like a pro and claim that he should get 16 points (the little monkey had found a loophole in my clever scoring system).

Oh...and the delight on his face! He bounced up and down like a pogo stick and had an amazing smile on his face coupled with a great big giggle as he watched me walk out of the gate to go and get the ball from the front garden.

What was interesting about this experiment was the way in which he got so absorbed in the process of working out how to get the ball to the other side of his body. He did need a little bit of guidance, it helped him to have the 'makers name' as a visual image of a way to get success but the rest he worked it out for himself.

He couldn't get enough of the game and was asking me when we could play next the following morning.

Like Frankenstein I may be in the process of creating a monster...

It is a total joy though!

I highly recommend it!

So here are my takeaways....

• Playing backyard games are great to develop skills.

• Change the aim of the game and the game can change the techniques that the player uses in order to solve the problem presented.

• This can be way more powerful in engaging the player in the learning process. It is exciting for them to think that they have discovered a method for themselves.

• Having the emotional connection with that experience is more likely to see the learning retained.

• This method is also powerful in getting them engaged and wanting to come back again and again. 'In the ongoing battle against the highly addictive digital narcotics that are video games this is extremely important'.

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