Tactical Prowess

Tactical Prowess is the ability to weigh up match situations and decide on what option to take and when to take it - for example, to shoot for a score, carry the ball, pass it on or play it into space when in attack; or place the opposition under maximum pressure when defending.

Tactics are a set of plans designed to maximise your strengths or target an opponents weaknesses to gain an advantage in a match situation. Developing Tactical Prowess is about enabling your players to make good tactical decisions on the field of play.

A lot of emphasis is placed on developing the technical abilities of players - especially at younger ages. As the players develop and are exposed to more competitive situations, the coach should focus on the development of decision making and problem solving skills - developing the players Tactical Prowess.

In Hurling and Gaelic football it is rare that a player will have a prolonged period of time for this process to occur. Therefore the best way of developing a players’ decision making skills is to expose them to game situations in training.

Developing Tactical Prowess

Making good decisions on the field of play involves using a set of tactical skills that can be developed with good coaching. To develop tactical prowess, players need to have the ability to read the play or situation, develop the knowledge needed to make the correct tactical decision and apply their decision making skills to the on field situation.

Reading the game involves players using the skills of concentration, attention and perception. Players gather information using the senses of sight, sound, touch and their sense of place on the field. Perception involves the players gathering and interpreting this information. Players with good tactical prowess develop the skills to direct their attention to the important information and to eliminate information that is not relevant to the decision. It is possible to coach a player as to which clues to look out for in a game situation. Once a player knows what clues to look out for, it is possible to develop their attention and concentration skills

Activities to Develop Tactical Prowess

In order to develop Tactical Prowess, it is important that the players have the ability to perform the techniques of Hurling and Football. This will ensure that in any given match situation, the player will have the ability to perform any technique correctly. In analyzing any match situation there are two key questions to be asked:

• Did the player choose the correct technique to perform?
• Did the player perform the technique correctly?

If the player chose to perform the correct technique i.e. play the ball to a team mate first time instead of taking possession, but performed the technique incorrectly there may be a problem with that players Technical Proficiency. If the player chose to perform an incorrect technique for the situation that was facing him/her, (but performed the technique correctly) the player needs to develop their Tactical Prowess. In order to develop a players’ Tactical Prowess, there are a number of different types of activity that can be performed.

Game Play Routines

Game Play Routines involve placing players in a situation where they are forced to weigh up the choice of which skill to perform, and how to perform the skill in order to complete the drill. In this case, the players' pattern of movement may or may not be restricted. Therefore, the player must adapt to the situation by being aware of his/her options, chose the correct option, and be technically proficient enough and physically fit enough to execute the option and recover in time for the next situation.

Game Play Routines train improvements in adapting technical proficiency to pressure situations and improving tactical awareness which are vital elements in ensuring a player is competent in a match situation. Game Play Routines are the essential link between the development of technical proficiency and being prepared to play in full game situations.