Playing Facts

Playing facts refers to the ability to identify playing strengths and areas where improvement is required, and to accept why changes in training, tactics, team line out etc may be required.

In Gaelic games, it is difficult, if not impossible, for coaches to notice and remember all the key events occurring within a training session or match, equipped only with their knowledge of sport and their powers of observation.

That’s where the relatively new discipline of the playing facts come in. The Playing Facts have developed rapidly over the last decade and has been facilitated by advances in IT resources available to coaches. This area is now acknowledged as an aid to performance enhancement at all levels. Essentially, the Playing Facts about creating a reliable record of performance by means of observations that can be analysed, with training programmes and team line ups adapted based on these observations.

The process of identifying the Playing Facts typically involves the coach identifying key factors to be studied within the game or training session and recorded. Depending on the time and technology available to coaches, this can be done manually - using paper and a pen - or using a variety of computer based analysis systems.

Why should a coach gather the Playing facts?

The Playing Facts are a very useful tool in the armoury of the Coach. The Playing Facts allow for an independent analysis of the performance within a game or training session. Specifically, the Playing Facts can be used to:

• Protect Players from the world of opinion
• Help Players stay in reality
• Give Players the right type of attention
• Help Players set realistic goals
• Increase motivation
• Depersonalise issues

The Process of gathering the Playing facts

The first step is to outline the possible events in a game and prioritise which to include in the analysis. This means defining the range of possible actions in the game and linking these actions with possible outcomes – for example a goalkeepers puck/kick out would constitute an action, with Won Clean, Lost Clean, Won Break, Lost Break, Free Won, Free Conceded the possible outcomes. In Gaelic games there are an almost infinite number of possible actions and outcomes ensuring that the coach must prioritise those which influence the game most. Therefore the Coach must limit the information being recorded to solely that information that will be of benefit.

Using these events and outcomes, it is possible to create a paper template – or an electronic template if using a software package – that the coach uses to analyse the game. Each time an action occurs in the game, the coach notes the action and the outcome.

By analysing all of the outcomes it may be possible to pinpoint areas that require adjustment within the team. This type of analysis enables the coach to create an objective statistical analysis of the match to use when giving feedback, whether that be during the game or in subsequent coaching sessions or team meetings.

What to do with the Playing facts?

It is important to be careful with how the data is presented since, in isolation, these can give a distorted impression of performance. Video footage is usually presented via television, although presentations on a computer enable much more flexibility when presenting information to players. Computer software (e.g. Power Point) can be used to enhance the visual information that players are shown, by highlighting key situations in the game and using these for feedback purposes.

Reducing the total amount of information presented to those that highlight the main objectives of the analysis is recommended, as large amounts of statistics can often be confusing for players and coaches. As well as this, statistics from categories that are too general may not be very informative (eg a chart showing the number of passes).

The Playing facts Process - a summary

Follow the diagram above to follow the Playing Facts process:

1. A Game is played
2. The Coach observes the game and analyses the performance
3. During the game, changes or substitutions are made
4. After the Game, the coach plans forthcoming coaching sessions to rectify issues highlighted within the Game.
5. Coaching sessions take place, leading to
6. Another Game

From here the process continues. Effective Communication is a crucial part of the process.