Every possession in a game is different. So why do so many practices run the same rigid drill the same way on every rep?
- Perception-Action Coupling: In a game, players never act without perceiving something first. Most traditional drills take that information away, so players never learn which defender, teammate or space to read before they move.
- Adaptability Through Exploration: You’ve heard the phrase “Every game is different”. Well, every single possession is different, too. Adding variability helps players explore the different affordances (opportunities for action) that are available to them.
- Contextual Interference: This is an old information-processing term that is still relevant within a contemporary approach. Practicing in diverse conditions helps players become more skillful as they learn to solve movement problems in different ways.
- Developing Resiliency Under Pressure: Building skillful, adaptable players starts by putting them in unpredictable situations in practice. If players have never trained within the storm, how can you expect them to succeed in the real thing?
Practical Ways to Add Variability
Some easy methods to incorporate variability include:
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21 SSGs for your next practice.
A free PDF of small-sided games you can run right away. A practical first taste of the approach.
- Changing start positions in activities
- Altering player spacing each repetition
- Introducing time or scoring constraints
These adjustments ensure players regularly face new problems to solve, accelerating their ability to adapt in real-time.
Variability Equals Better Problem-Solvers
At the end of the day, more variability enhances the ability of your players to solve problems. And problem-solving is the very essence of the game. Players who frequently encounter novel situations in practice develop better perception-action couplings, allowing them to read the game more effectively in real-time.
Our basketball skill acquisition guide explains the science behind this in more depth, and why repetition without repetition is the key to skill transfer shows how to keep variability in every activity.
Look at how different all these possessions are. Will the players be able to better adapt to these same or similar problems in the game if they have seen them prior at practice?
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