The Need for Speed
by Ben Darwin | 18 January 2010 (15:43)
Speed of the game is something that is often talked about from a literal perspective. For example, player A now hits the ball this much faster or player B has a quicker pass. But what about conceptual and cognitive speed? This may sound like total rubbish, but every time a player moves up to a different level, their response to how fast the game is moving changes as well.
The first time I played first grade football in Sydney I was nineteen years old and my only experiences to date had been under 20's or schoolboy rugby. As I entered the fray late in the second half, our team was being smashed by 80 points and was in death throes. I found that the game was moving so quick for me that it was almost impossible to think and make decisions. Five years later, playing the same standard but having come back to it from Super 12 test rugby, the game felt like it was going at snails’ pace. What was the point of difference? Had first grade rugby slowed so terribly? No. It was that my mind had adapted to a new velocity of the game.
So in layman’s terms, it appears that as more games are played at a higher speed, the more the brain is able to process information comfortably at a quicker rate.
Each time I moved up a grade in rugby, the new pace, at first, appeared to be impossible in which to play comfortably. As time would go by, I would become at ease and then the game would almost appear almost to slow down.
There are also the athletes who are able to reach the "zone". I have spoken about this before, so we wont cover old territory. In brief, often athletes who have performed at a better than there average level have spoken of how things were moving in slow motion and that they were able to react and respond appropriately on the run, in what was a seemingly impossible speed to those on the outside. They are able to make minor adjustments, see the texture of the ball and feel as though they can read the responses of the opposition before the opposition respond themselves.
So the game is actually moving at different rates for different athletes.
Usually the ability to not have to make decisions enables rookie performers to perform well above expectations. When they get more comfortable with the game’s pace, it is the new need to make choices that causes stress.
I am coaching a team at the moment that will next year be moving up to another division. How will I be able to develop them to be comfortable come game time functioning at a faster tempo whilst still making the right choices? I am still looking answers.
