Been a while - AFL Training

Hi All,

Been a while, sorry for the delay, PhD's do take a lot of time and energy.
For the AFL and invasion aficionados, had a few games you might want to try in your coaching or units in invasion sports that build on some of the previous posts. In the last 4 weeks, we had a variation to the 9 squares, simplifying it down to two halves but adding a couple of primary rules to get the play we wanted.

In essence, our training game was two teams of nine
in a field that was about 50 - 60 m x 25m. We divided it in half and two players had to stay in the front half at all times and two players had to stay in the back half. The rest could be everywhere in the field. A goal running the width of the field about 3 m wide was set as the initial area to score in just like Ultimate We also placed two markers in the middle of the field about 15 m from the scoring area as additional scoring. As in Ultimate, to score, you had to get the ball on the full behind the end zone but to make it more AFL like, we added that it had to come from a kick and taking a 'mark' (catch the kick on the full for the OS readers). If this was taken, then the receiver could then have an extra shot (using a kick back towards the markers. Thus we practiced the play to get the score but also could work on the set shot.
We also added one very important primary rule (rules that set the parameters of play. The play action before the score had to involve a movement away from the scoring area and towards their own defensive end. I left it up to the players to decide this (but it could be a lead and a mark, a backward hand pass or kick and importantly, actually running backwards the wheeling around towards the attacking goal. What we were working on was the important aspect in 3D invasion sports of often heading in the opposite direction, the action rule of playing the object the way you are facing.

Initially, I set different primary rules for each team to see how they develop their strategy and tactics. One team had to make ten passes before they scored, one had to have two switches of play before they scored. We then examined why I added these rules, the limitations of each and then I asked the teams to make adjustments that best reflected the AFL play. The came up with ten passes (for managing possession and controlling tempo of play) unless there was a turnover, which needed to allow a free flow of transitional play. They also felt that one switch was a worthwhile element of play to keep.

Of interest was an action rule that came out of the switch of play. Initially the players tried to switch from one side of the field to another in a straight line or slightly forward. As a result, it left the team switching very vulnerable if the switch was not absolutely perfect. Thus we created an action rule that the switch had to travel backward to a midpoint in the field. This gave the team in possession not only an option on the next pass wider but also an option up the middle of the field as they spread across the field.

Of interest was that after four weeks of developing this game, one of the switched on 15 years players suddenly said,

'You know what, this is what we should play like in the game!'

Patience and persistence is a vital area when using Game Centred Approaches.

Give this a go and adapt it to the invasion sports you are teaching. Let me know how it goes.


Greg