Free Play Academy Newsletter #2
What will be covered:
1. What is “Free Play” and how it is related to coaching?
2. The Faceoff Game.
3. Excerpt from The Free Game - The Principle of Self-Image.
What is “Free Play” and how is it related to coaching?
I am heavy influenced by the concept of “free play” in sport development for athletes. Free Play is an ecological approach for sport development. Simply put, we place athletes into environments with context and constraints and see what emerges as a means by which to navigate through those learning spaces. Which means the players are forced to be SELF-DIRECTED.
Influenced by the likes of The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle, Joy of the People with Ted Kroeten and JM3 Sports with Jamie Munro, I’ve come to believe that coaches are simply meant to be facilitators, to place them in dynamic and stimulating environments and to encourage the players to be creative and allow for the game to do the teaching. Here’s a great quote from The Talent Code: “To stop the game in order to highlight some technical detail would be to interrupt the flow of attentive firings, failing, and learning that is the heart of deep practice. The lessons the players teach themselves are more powerful than anything the coach might say”.
Here’s a neat clip of what joy “free play” bring to the athlete and the team.
*Audio on*
The Faceoff Game.
An extension of the Free Game Academy to the Faceoff position in lacrosse.
I’d like to shoutout the crew of boys I’ve been working with here in Gainesville, Virginia every Monday. They come to compete and be coached, it’s a highlight of my week, thank you fellas.
The Free Game - The Principle of Self-Image.
The Free Game is..
The part of lacrosse that is played with the mind.
The Principle of Self-Image is one of the 8 Principles of Performance.
Enjoy this excerpt from The Free Game, this is a favorite with the athletes I work with. You can purchase the 2nd Edition of The Free Game here.
Dive in, do the work, stay focused and become uncommon.
Have a great week.