Session 1:
Creativity in creating games/drills with limited equipment
In the session done today we were put into groups of 5 and rotated around pre-made stations. There was a limited amount of equipment at each station and we had a card which specified a set of skills our activity had to include and look at, as well as being a way of improving said skills.
Below is a description of what equipment we had at each station and what skills we had to consider when making our small games/drills.
Game 1 -
- Equipment - hurdles, bench and cones.
- Skills - agility, Balance and Co-ordination
With the equipment given to us at station 1, as a group we decided to devise a small obstacle course. With the cones we made an agility section in which the participants would run to the first cone, back to the start, to the second cone, back to the start then to the same again with the third. After doing that they would move on to the small hurdles which would test their balance and co-ordination to ensure they did not fall or touch the hurdles. They would then walk across the bench and do the course again but back the other way.
Game 2 -
- Equipment - plastic tennis rackets, soft sponge balls and cones.
- Skills - co-ordination, movement, spacial awareness, balance.
At station 2, all we had was some plastic tennis rackets, soft sponge balls and some cones. With these we came up with a keep ball type of game where we played "piggy in the middle". The aim was for the 5 attackers to keep the ball away from the defender and this would cause people to talk and be aware of where there team mates are... promoting two of the skills needed. We also handicapped all the players by saying they could only stand on one leg (bringing in the balance element as well as causing them to focus more on their co-ordination).
Game 3 -
- Equipment - tennis ball, tennis net.
- Skills - movement, court awareness, Balance, Agility, Co-ordination
Station 3 had nothing but a badminton net and a couple of tennis balls. We kept this one fairly simple and just played tennis using our hands as rackets. As we got more settled into the game though we kept adding a new rule in such as could only use weak hand, ball wasn't allowed to bounce, everyone on your side of the court had to touch the ball. This game helped us improve the skills outlined as we had to think about where our team mates were (spacial awareness), hitting the ball with our hand (co-ordination) and moving around the court (balance, agility and movement).
Game 4 -
- Equipment - cones.
- Skills - social aspects, movement, communication, spacial awareness, team work.
Using the equipment (or lack of) at station 4 to come up with an invasion style game was quite tasking as all we had was 12-15 cones. We eventually came up with a "capture the flag" style team-based game where both teams would have to steal and return a coloured cone from their opponents side of the game area. Too make this harder each participant had to keep a cone balanced on their head. This game turned out to be a great success, especially in a social aspect, as all we were doing was laughing and joking and communicating a lot (making it a good game for kids) but at the same time whilst trying to get the cone and keeping an eye on opponents the spacial awareness, communication and movement skills were also tested.
Game 5 -
- Equipment - hand balls, cones
- Skills - communication, movement, balance, co-ordination
In this game we referred back to a recent success and played "keep ball" again but the difference here was how points were scored. As all of us in the group are level 1 football coaches we used a drill called "through the gate" where the goals are in the corners but instead of passing through, we had to pass to a team-mate when they were stood in the corner marked out by cones. With their being 4 goals and 3 players a team, movement, communication, and balance were crucial in finding space to score points where co-ordination was tested in the judging of throwing and jumping to make catches.
On the whole this session was very helpful in allowing me too see where I am with my ability to think on my feet and come up with fun but skill related games with a limited amount of equipment. Although I was working with other people and 6 heads are better than 1, I feel I made some good contributions to the group and that what we all came up with as a group really helped us all benefit one and other.
As far as making improvements go, I do believe that I need to think a little more outside the box as I did suggest similar drills for each station because I knew they worked. Taking risks in coaching within a lecture/practical environment is a lot safer than me than doing it with a bunch of kids who could well be paying to be there and it not working for them.
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