Your clarity, your humility, and your refusal to reduce the complexity of learning into clean lines and sterile drills felt so right to me. I’ve been championing the ecological approach for almost 15 years, often from the margins, often having to explain it over and over to skeptical eyes. Reading this felt like oxygen.
There’s something deeply affirming about seeing a coach with your experience and platform speak this truth so plainly. Playing the game, in all its messy, emotional, chaotic brilliance, really is the best way to learn the game.
Thank you for that.
Thank you for showing that representative learning, emotional context, and variability aren’t fringe ideas or academic distractions. They are real coaching tools, and they work when we’re willing to trust the process.
I’ll be sharing this with the young coaches I mentor and the seasoned ones who are still curious enough to grow. And I’ll be re-reading it myself whenever I need a reminder that this strange, beautiful, ecological path I chose is not so lonely after all.
when i am designing practice i try to remember this quote from Thoreau, "The question is not what you look at but what do you see." am i allowing our players chances to "see" the ball crossing the net, leaving a setters hands, etc. am i creating a context that mimics what they are going to see when the "lights" come on? i love the idea of contextual interference and teaching within that environment. as per the usual, good thought provoking stuff.
That line just punched me in the face, in the best way. I coach flag football, yet every word of your volleyball breakdown felt like you’d been eaves-dropping on an invasion sports practice field. We set up cute cone-worlds, celebrate a flawless rep, and then—boom—real opponents stroll in and the kids look like me when I just opened the wrong Zoom meeting.
Like you, I’m chasing drills that breathe the game.
My cheat sheet is a little lens called PATE—basically a quick gut-check on how much decision-load, information, opponent mischief, and pressure a setup is really serving. If the PATE score stays low, I know I’m just polishing brass on the Titanic. :-) Crank one knob (let the rusher pick blitz or drop, for instance) and suddenly the drill starts barking back. I created PATE (P — Perception–Action Coupling, A — Athlete, T — Tactical Load, E — Engagement Format ) when Josh Peacock, a combat sports coach here on Substack, inspired me with his taxonomy. I just started a “Drill Roast” series on my Substack where I dissect invasion-sport practice clips with that lens—mostly to keep myself honest and maybe spark the same revolt you’re leading.
Reading your piece felt like finding another rebel cell. Here’s to more noise, fewer mannequins, and a movement that leaves the perfect drill in the trophy case where it belongs.
Tom - Awesome blog post. Thank you! I'm sharing it will all the coaches in our club. I was reading another blog post recently on this topic and the author talked about making sure your practice activities always maintain the requirement "to read and decide". That seemed like a wonderfully succinct way to explain it. I have been keeping it firmly in mind for everything I ask athletes to do, even as I'm coaching in summer camps.
Thanks Alex - great stuff. I like read and respond a little better. Sports happens so fast, the behavior we’re making is technically a “decision” but not in terms of a truly conscious one. Hope that doesn’t muddy the waters too much. My concern would be putting limited mental energy in buckets that could drain vs help our ability to perform. Thanks again for this
I don’t read many coaches talk about the importance of playing with emotion, I agree with you there. Our girls know this quote, “you have to play with emotion but you can’t be emotional.”
Please share an example of how we “micromanage” eye work. I thought eye work is what puts us at a different level of play than our opponents
Tom, this was beautiful.
Your clarity, your humility, and your refusal to reduce the complexity of learning into clean lines and sterile drills felt so right to me. I’ve been championing the ecological approach for almost 15 years, often from the margins, often having to explain it over and over to skeptical eyes. Reading this felt like oxygen.
There’s something deeply affirming about seeing a coach with your experience and platform speak this truth so plainly. Playing the game, in all its messy, emotional, chaotic brilliance, really is the best way to learn the game.
Thank you for that.
Thank you for showing that representative learning, emotional context, and variability aren’t fringe ideas or academic distractions. They are real coaching tools, and they work when we’re willing to trust the process.
I’ll be sharing this with the young coaches I mentor and the seasoned ones who are still curious enough to grow. And I’ll be re-reading it myself whenever I need a reminder that this strange, beautiful, ecological path I chose is not so lonely after all.
Grateful for your voice.
It’s a strange feeling when a comment completely eclipses the article. Thanks for writing this Loren it means the world
when i am designing practice i try to remember this quote from Thoreau, "The question is not what you look at but what do you see." am i allowing our players chances to "see" the ball crossing the net, leaving a setters hands, etc. am i creating a context that mimics what they are going to see when the "lights" come on? i love the idea of contextual interference and teaching within that environment. as per the usual, good thought provoking stuff.
You’ve been doing it well for a long time
but not as well as you have been!!
Tom, great blog post!
"Perfect perfect perfect. Bullseyes exploding everywhere."
That line just punched me in the face, in the best way. I coach flag football, yet every word of your volleyball breakdown felt like you’d been eaves-dropping on an invasion sports practice field. We set up cute cone-worlds, celebrate a flawless rep, and then—boom—real opponents stroll in and the kids look like me when I just opened the wrong Zoom meeting.
Like you, I’m chasing drills that breathe the game.
My cheat sheet is a little lens called PATE—basically a quick gut-check on how much decision-load, information, opponent mischief, and pressure a setup is really serving. If the PATE score stays low, I know I’m just polishing brass on the Titanic. :-) Crank one knob (let the rusher pick blitz or drop, for instance) and suddenly the drill starts barking back. I created PATE (P — Perception–Action Coupling, A — Athlete, T — Tactical Load, E — Engagement Format ) when Josh Peacock, a combat sports coach here on Substack, inspired me with his taxonomy. I just started a “Drill Roast” series on my Substack where I dissect invasion-sport practice clips with that lens—mostly to keep myself honest and maybe spark the same revolt you’re leading.
Reading your piece felt like finding another rebel cell. Here’s to more noise, fewer mannequins, and a movement that leaves the perfect drill in the trophy case where it belongs.
Thank you, Tom!
Rolf this is awesome thank you! That drill roast idea is gold. Great way to build community also. Just subscribed 👍🏼
Tom - Awesome blog post. Thank you! I'm sharing it will all the coaches in our club. I was reading another blog post recently on this topic and the author talked about making sure your practice activities always maintain the requirement "to read and decide". That seemed like a wonderfully succinct way to explain it. I have been keeping it firmly in mind for everything I ask athletes to do, even as I'm coaching in summer camps.
Thanks Alex - great stuff. I like read and respond a little better. Sports happens so fast, the behavior we’re making is technically a “decision” but not in terms of a truly conscious one. Hope that doesn’t muddy the waters too much. My concern would be putting limited mental energy in buckets that could drain vs help our ability to perform. Thanks again for this
yeah, "respond" is a nice improvement. All I could think of was "react" and that didn't seem right..
I don’t read many coaches talk about the importance of playing with emotion, I agree with you there. Our girls know this quote, “you have to play with emotion but you can’t be emotional.”
Please share an example of how we “micromanage” eye work. I thought eye work is what puts us at a different level of play than our opponents
I’ll provide an example soon - but only because it’s you coach